It was a fitting farewell for one of the most iconic circuits in New Zealand motorsport history, with hometown favorite Shane van Gisbergen clinching victory from Cam Waters after an intense battle for the lead. It was racing at its finest.
The two were within touching distance for the closing eight laps, and nearly undid it all in an overtake attempt on Lap 35 from the Kiwi, the cars side-by-side through the sprawling turns 9, 10 and into 11. Sensibly so, van Gisbergen backed out of that move, but he was able to get it done three laps later to take the lead, and the win.
Andre Heimgartner rounded out a great weekend for the Kiwi’s, his second podium in three races as he stormed home for third. The BJR crew have really helped out Heimgartner this weekend with some of the fastest stops of the season, and it was one of those that put him in with the front-runners come race end.
The win also saw van Gisbergen claim the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy with 289 points over the weekend, ahead of Waters’ 264 and Heimgartner’s 246.
From the beginning it appeared it would be Davison to take the event, the better-starter of the two from row sitters saw him lead Waters into Turn 1, with de Pasquale picking up third over Broc Feeney.
Back in the pack, a fast starting Jake Kostecki went around a small outside gap on James Courtney on the entry into the first turn. This saw Courtney squeezed and turn across into Todd Hazlewood on the outside, the Snowy River Racing Mustang spinning off into the outside barriers of the turn at speed.
The contact withdrew Courtney from the race with severe damage and Hazlewood limp to the lane with a broken left rear. This brought about a lengthly safety car period to remove Courtney’s car and repair the barrier impacted.
Davison quickly led the field on the restart, with multiple mid-field cars immediately making their stop.
Davison to continue to lead over Waters, de Pasquale and Feeney, before the Red Bull stopped on Lap 19.
De Pasquale and Heimgartner followed a lap later, a quick stop for the Kiwi seeing him jump the Shell V-Power Mustang for track position.
Davison and van Gisbergen, who will still sitting eighth by this point, remained out on track while Waters took his stop on Lap 22. Davison followed suit a lap later to prevent an undercut.
Unfortunately for Davison, an error during the stop saw his left rear not attached properly and requiring him to return to the lane, eliminating him from contention and giving Waters the lead.
Van Gisbergen came in on Lap 26 to return to the track in net third, only behind Heimgartner and Waters who had made stops.
Van Gisbergen managed a move to overtake Heimgartner on Lap 32.
A lockup for Waters at the hairpin on Lap 34 brought van Gisbergen within a length, where it remained in a tight battle over the following laps.
The very next lap saw the Red Bull racer pull along side the Mustang at Turn 9, knocking doors as they went side-by-side through one of the faster parts of the circuit.
As Waters started to get squirrelly, the Kiwi kept a cool head to back out of the battle and give Waters some clear air for a few laps.
The battle resumed again on Lap 37, with the attempt replicating the one previous, a fast exit from the hairpin seeing him getting it down before the entry to the main straight.
Waters put in a strong fightback, all over the Red Bull bumper until the dying stages.
Heimgartner had stayed in contact in third, waiting to pounce should the opportunity present itself.
That was how things remained, however, van Gisbergen over Waters and Heimgartner, with Broc Feeney in fourth and de Pasquale rounding out the top five.
This concludes the final-ever race weekend for Supercars at Pukekohe, with the next time out coming at the great Bathurst 1000.
