It was an eventful evening of racing for the BP Supercars All Stars ESeries at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Shane van Gisbergen won the first and third races of the evening while 17-year-old wildcard Broc Feeney won the reverse grid race.
Controversy arose regarding a last lap incident between Van Gisbergen and De Pasquale, as well as incident points accumulated by a number of drivers.
The results remain provisional with post-race penalties expected to affect positions in all three races.
Qualifying and Top Ten Shootout
Van Gisbergen took provisional pole from Anton de Pasquale and Lando Norris.
Jayden Ojeda was the first driver out on track for the top ten shootout. The young Super2 driver set an early benchmark of 2:18.883.
Bryce Fullwood was the next driver in the queue. After a relatively safe approach to the first-half of the lap, Fullwood managed to claw back three tenths on Ojeda to top the timing sheets.
It was an early elimination for Nick Percat after having exceeded track limits at Raidillon, annulling his time. Will Davison made the same mistake shortly afterwards.
Cameron Waters managed to avoid any off-track penalties, but he was unable to usurp Fullwood’s time.
The next driver in line was Fullwood’s WAU team-mate, Chaz Mostert. After locking a front brake on the approach to Les Combes, Mostert slid wide and the resulting off-track penalty eradicated his lap time.
Scott McLaughlin completed a tidy lap to shoot to the top of the leaderboard with a 2:18.326.
McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris was the next driver out on track. However, he fell by the wayside at Raidillon, putting him out of contention.
Anton de Pasquale eclipsed McLaughlin’s time in what was a committed lap from the Erebus driver.
The final car out was Van Gisbergen. The 2016 champion used every bit of his driving prowess to extract a 2:17.547, taking pole position for the first race of the evening.
Race 1
McLaughlin attempted to an early pass on De Pasquale on the approach to Eau Rouge but was unable to pull it off as Van Gisbergen sped away.
It was a relatively clean start to the race and Norris almost immediately began to climb through the field.
The majority of the leading cars made their compulsory pitstops at the beginning of lap 5. Only De Pasquale and Mostert elected to run longer.
Norris lost out to Waters in the pitstop shuffle but would keep the pressure on for the remainder of the race.
Both De Pasquale and Mostert completed their stops on the following lap. De Pasquale came out in front of Van Gisbergen, but the Kiwi used his momentum to surge past on the Kemmel Straight to retake the lead.
De Pasquale began to reel in Van Gisbergen in the dying laps of the race.
At the bus stop chicane on the final lap, De Pasquale passed Van Gisbergen on the outside for the lead. However, the two drivers tangled on exit, sending the Erebus driver hurtling into the wall and out of contention.
Van Gisbergen then came under attack from McLaughlin and Waters on the approach to La Source. McLaughlin was escorted wide, leaving the door wide open for Waters.
Van Gisbergen emerged victorious as McLaughlin managed to claw his way back past Waters for second place.
However, the Red Bull driver would receive a post-race penalty for his role in the incident.
Race 2
James Courtney and Broc Fenney occupied the front row for the reverse grid race.
Carnage ensued at the back of the grid even before they had approached Eau Rouge.
Mark Winterbottom took the lead at Les Combes as Courtney was spun. McLaughlin too was escorted wide in an effort to avoid a stranded car.
Most drivers elected to pit early. Included in that pack was Norris, who had been turned around by Chris Pither coming out of La Source. In an effort to get back to pitlane, Norris had blocked the pit entry, causing chaos for those still attempting to enter the lane.
McLaughlin’s race was thrown into disarray after having to pit twice due to insufficient fuel.
As the field completed their pitstops, the battle for the lead was down to Will Davison and Feeney.
With David Reynolds being the only driver left to pit, Feeney passed Davison at Les Combes on lap 5 to take the effective lead of the race.
Garry Jacobson and Mostert latched onto the back of Davison in their efforts to catch Feeney.
The battle for the lead had extended to the top five cars as race leader Feeney started the final lap.
However, the 17-year-old managed to fend off Davison to take his first victory of the season. Davison and Jacobson rounded out the top three.
Race 3
The third race of the evening was to be run time-certain, and Van Gisbergen led off the line in what was a relatively clean start to the race.
However, Heimgartner, Will Davison, and Norris came to blows at Les Combes, sending all three drivers tumbling down the order.
Van Gisbergen ran wide at the bus stop chicane and fell into the clutches of Mostert heading into La Source.
Jamie Whincup elected for a longer strategy and was the last car to make both his compulsory pitstops.
Norris and Percat engaged in a tight battle for the minor placings toward the end of the race, with Percat almost spearing into the wall after the pair attempted to negotiate Eau Rouge side-by-side.
De Pasquale was also looking to pass Van Gisbergen, but it ended in tears after the Erebus driver locked his rear brakes into the bus stop chicane, sending him into a spin.
McLaughlin meanwhile began to apply the pressure to Mostert. On the last lap, Mostert spun at La Source, handing the final podium position to McLaughlin.
Van Gisbergen emerged victorious with De Pasquale second and McLaughlin third.
Next week, the championship heads back to the United States, travelling to the Circuit of the Americas and Sebring International Raceway.
