Photo: supercars.com

Cameron Waters fends off Shane van Gisbergen for Townsville win

By

Cameron Waters won the final Supercars Championship race of the weekend at Townsville, defending hard from championship leader Shane van Gisbergen in an eventful race.

Triple Eight driver van Gisbergen headed the field in the first part of the race.

The safety car was called into action on lap 17 as Macauley Jones had hit the wall.

This saw van Gisbergen heading into the pits while Tickford Racing driver Waters remained on track, making his stop a lap later – enabling him to rejoin the track in the lead.

Van Gisbergen then set out on a furious chase of Waters, but was unable to get past, with the Ford driver winning the race nine tenths ahead of his Holden rival.

Dick Johnson Racing driver Will Davison claimed the final podium position, 1.4 seconds behind.

Todd Hazelwood of Brad Jones Racing finished fourth from fifth on the grid, with Dick Johnson Racing driver Anton De Pasquale and Triple Eight driver Jamie Whincup rounding off the top six.

Van Gisbergen still heads the points, 276 points ahead of team-mate Whincup and 412 points ahead of race winner Waters.

The next Supercars Championship race takes place at Queensland Raceway on August 21-22.