Gisbergen wins final V8 race of 2015
He led home his soon-to-be teammate Jamie Whincup by 0.4 seconds, winning his third consecutive Sunday race at the street circuit.
The Kiwi appeared lucky to avoid investigation after an early incident with pole sitter and then-leader James Courtney at turn nine. Courtney hit the tires, dropped to fourth and struggled with damage to the rear for the rest of the 74-lap race, ultimately finishing 12th.
Rick Kelly in his Nissan Altima made it home third, with Champion Mark Winterbottom fourth.
"Thanks to my team here, it's an awesome way to finish – thanks for a great three years," van Gisbergen said getting out the car, after congratulating Winterbottom on his title win.
A heavy hit for Tim Slade triggered the safety car on lap 11, ending the Supercheap Auto driver's last run with the Walkinshaw squad.
The front-runners dove into the pits for the first of two required pit stops. It was disaster for Nissan, with James Moffat's wing catching and pulling down the pit boom, after Will Davison's wheel nut wandered into the fast last several laps before.
Van Gisbergen controlled the race with Whincup, Kelly and Winterbottom in tow. While there was some action in the pack – including a gutsy pass from Garth Tander in between Fabian Coulthard and Scott Pye – it was business as usual for ‘SVG' at the front in Sydney.
A sixth-place finish for Craig Lowndes means Red Bull will win its sixth straight teams championship, as Steve Owen (standing in for injured Chaz Mostert) failing to finish and triggering the Safety Car, bunching the V8 Supercars up and releasing them with five laps to go.
An incident with David Wall and Chris Pither ended Wall's full-time career after a strong run in qualifying this morning.
Whincup pushed in the closing laps, but van Gisbergen drove it home, taking his second race win of 2015.
Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Started | Laps | Race Time |
| 1 | SvG Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 2 1 | 74 | 01:59:24.7480 |
| 2 | JW Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 3 1 | 74 | 01:59:25.1539 |
| 3 | RK Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 5 2 | 74 | 01:59:27.4881 |
| 4 | MW Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 4 0 | 74 | 01:59:28.4260 |
| 5 | DR David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 6 1 | 74 | 01:59:29.1567 |
| 6 | CL Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 13 7 | 74 | 01:59:30.2106 |
| 7 | LH Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 16 9 | 74 | 01:59:31.5100 |
| 8 | MC Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 9 1 | 74 | 01:59:32.1633 |
| 9 | SP Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG | 18 9 | 74 | 01:59:32.7974 |
| 10 | FC Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 11 1 | 74 | 01:59:33.4411 |
| 11 | GT Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 15 4 | 74 | 01:59:38.1313 |
| 12 | JC James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1 11 | 74 | 01:59:40.2686 |
| 13 | TK Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 19 6 | 74 | 01:59:41.0666 |
| 14 | TB Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 22 8 | 74 | 01:59:42.1219 |
| 15 | AD Alex Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 23 8 | 74 | 01:59:42.9939 |
| 16 | JM James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 17 1 | 74 | 01:59:47.6495 |
| 17 | DW David Wall | Volvo S60 | 12 5 | 74 | 01:59:54.6730 |
| 18 | WD Will Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 14 4 | 73 | 01:59:51.7820 |
| 19 | SM Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 7 12 | 69 | 01:59:43.7482 |
| 20 | JB Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 10 10 | 69 | 01:59:43.9611 |
| 21 | DW Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 20 1 | 69 | 01:59:48.9818 |
| DNF | CP Chris Pither | Ford Falcon FG | 21 1 | 72 | 01:57:06.4805 |
| DNF | SO Steve Owen | Ford Falcon FG | 25 2 | 52 | 01:44:29.2699 |
| DNF | TS Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 8 16 | 9 | 14:18.0701 |
| EXC | JP Jack Perkins | Holden Commodore VF | 24 1 | 0 | – |