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Supercars Gold Coast 500 preview: SVG on the edge of glory

Shane van Gisbergen completes Red Bull domination on the Gold Coast - Photo: InSyde Media

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: October 28, 2022

After three long years Supercars will be roaring around the streets of Surfers Paradise again this weekend for the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.

It will be a spectacle not to miss, with 25 cars walking on a tightrope as they bounce between kerbs and concrete under sunny skies and high-rise buildings.

While a lot has changed since 2019 including a new format, the form guide remains the same with series leader Shane van Gisbergen the undisputed favourite as he closes in on back-to-back championship crowns.

Despite the previous Gold Coast event landing in the heart of Scott McLaughlin dominance, no one could stop Triple Eight Race Engineering from clean-sweeping the weekend in crushing fashion.

The Red Bulls driven by van Gisbergen, Garth Tander, Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes were in cruise control to share the honours in back-to-back one-two finishes.

Shane van Gisbergen and the Red Bulls were a cut above the rest at the previous Gold Coast Supercars event in 2019. Photo by Dirk Klynsmith / LAT Images

Fast forward 1098 days and it is hard not to imagine history repeating.

Van Gisbergen is in the form of his life having a set a new record of most wins in a season thanks to a run of 10 victories in the last 12 races, which includes the Bathurst 1000.

The Kiwi is also the king of the soft tyre, having been victorious in seven on the nine races on the rubber this year, while he has always enjoyed the Gold Coast street circuit, scoring a breakthrough 2010 podium for Stone Brothers Racing and two wins in as many years for TEKNO Autosports before continuing his success at Triple Eight.

Car #97 is almost certain to secure a third Supercars Championship crown, needing just 33 points this weekend to lock it away with a round to go.

In addition to the 2019 success, Red Bull Ampol Racing has been running these streets for ages having won half of the races held at Surfers Paradise since 2008.

The concrete walls are never far away at Surfers Paradise. Photo by Dirk Klynsmith / LAT Images

But one thing the rest of the field hopes to plays in their favour is the new format.

For the first time since 2009, drivers will take on the physically-demanding track on their own during two 250km journeys around a concrete-canyon where they can hardly take a breath.

It will also be the maiden solo race held on the current 2.96km layout, which means drivers will be racing into the unknown as they try to survive 85 laps of madness.

Tickford’s Cameron Waters is the last man standing in the championship fight and needs a miracle to keep the fight alive at a venue he has never won at before.

Cam Waters will be pushing hard over the Gold Coast kerbs to keep his faint championship hopes alive. Photo by Dirk Klynsmith / LAT Images)

The only man to beat car #97 on the soft rubber in 2022 is Dick Johnson Racing’s Will Davison, who is seeking for redemption after his championship campaign took a big hit at Bathurst.

He and Anton De Pasquale will be out to improve DJR’s barren record at Gold Coast, which includes just one win since Gold Coast became a championship round two decades ago.

In what will be his first and possibly only visit to Surfers Paradise in a Holden, Chaz Mostert hopes to unlock similar speed to what made him so successful in 2017 and 18 and keep gaining ground to steal P3 in the championship from De Pasquale.

Mark Winterbottom won the previous solo Supercars race on the streets of Surfers Paradise in 2009. Photo: Mark Horsburgh/LAT Photographic

The only current driver to win a solo race at this location is Mark Winterbottom, but he is unlikely to go back to back in his Team 18 Holden ZB Commodore 13 years on from his ultra consistent weekend for Ford Performance Racing.

David Reynolds has been historically fast at this track, but it will be interesting to see how he, Andre Heimgartner and James Courtney fare in their recently rebuilt cars.

The locals will also have plenty of reasons to cheer with the Gold Coast based PremiAir Racing marking its hometown debut with a special livery on James Golding’s car celebrating everything the venue has on offer, while van Gisbergen’s teammate Broc Feeney has grown up on the city’s famous beaches and was attending a Surfers Paradise school during the previous Supercars visit, but will now be chasing a surfboard.

Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Broc Feeney hopes his home crowd can cheer him on to a surfboard at Surfers Paradise this weekend. Photo by Mark Horsburgh / LAT Images

Keeping the cars clean will be near impossible, with the track punishing the slightest mistake as McLaughlin and Mostert found out with some monstrous qualifying crashes that ended both of their weekends early last time out.

With chaos a certainty, the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 will be action packed and drivers only have one hour of Practice today before the big stuff begins during two loaded race days which also include Qualifying and a Top 10 Shootout.

2022 Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 schedule

Friday

Practice 1 13:35-14:05 EDT

Practice 2 16:15-14:45

Saturday

Qualifying 12:25-12:45

Top 10 Shootout 14:05-14:30

Race 31 (85 laps) 16:45-18:50

Sunday

Qualifying 10:55-11:15

Top 10 Shootout 12:35-13:00

Race 32 (85 laps) 15:15-17:20

For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the latest issue of Auto Action.

AUTO ACTION, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport.

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