Van Gisbergen is hoping for a win in Race 2

Van Gisbergen took a clean break from pole and led the field into Turn 1, while those immediately behind him moved into second place.

Cam Waters, who started second, found himself wide in the first turn after contact with old foe Chaz Mostert, dropping him to fourth behind Brock Feeney.

Waters continued to lose places in the following laps, the Tickford star dropped to seventh.

At the front van Gisbergen made light work of the early leader, closing the gap to Mostert and Finney to more than three seconds.

The second and third place drivers stopped together on lap 14, Mostert continued without drama.

Finney, however, saw his race unravel when his car stalled as it fell off the jacks and the delay dropped him back into the field.

Van Gisbergen went long at the first stop, not stopping until 21 laps.

The Kiwi recovered with a 2.5s advantage over Mostert, which turned into a 7.5s lead by the time he crossed the finish line.

The win means the T8 has now won eight of the last nine races at Sandown after Will Davison’s seven-race winning streak ended yesterday.

“The car was really good, much better than yesterday,” van Gisbergen said.

“It was the best [start] I have. I passed Turn 1 and I can’t remember the last time I passed Turn 1 with the leader. I thought, “Shit, what do I do now?”.

“Usually I have to think about fighting someone. The first few laps I was a bit lost.’

Due to dramas with Waters and Feeney, David Reynolds and Will Brown found themselves in third place at the end of the race.

A slightly later stop gave Brown better tire quality when it mattered, with the second-year driver able to sneak past his former team-mate Bathurst to take the final podium spot.

Reynolds was fourth ahead of Scott Pye and Andre Heimgartner, while a stronger second stint saw Waters come home seventh.

Anton de Pasquale and James Golding were next as Feeney recovered from pit stop drama to finish 10th.

Davison, who started 11th due to a battery fire during qualifying earlier today, looked to have had a good first meeting.

However, his Dick Johnson Racing team threw him off the jacks with a gun attached during a pit stop, resulting in a drive-through penalty.

That left him finishing 15th.

Sandown SuperSprint Race 2 results