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Supercars championship leader Shane van Gisbergen has won his fifth consecutive race to open the season after another clinical drive in the rain at Sandown.
Holden star Shane van Gisbergen has become the first driver since Mark Skaife in 1994 to win the opening five races of a Supercars season.
Van Gisbergen completed a clean-sweep of the Sandown Supersprint on Sunday - two weeks after undergoing surgery on a broken collarbone.
The wounded Red Bull Ampol ace wrapped up the weekend trifecta by winning the final 36-lap race at the Melbourne track in wet and slippery conditions.
Van Gisbergen's 45th career win was his fifth from as many starts this season to take maximum points from the opening two rounds.
He finished 13 seconds in front of first-time podium sitter Brodie Kostecki (second), while Kelly Grove's David Reynolds ended up third.
Van Gisbergen was touch-and-go to even drive this weekend after injuring himself in a mountain biking accident earlier this month, but the pain of his fragile collarbone had no affect on his performance.
His overall win streak is out to six when including his Bathurst 1000 triumph to end the 2020 season.
"It's unreal. I've got to thank the team so much. The car's been awesome and everyone's been helping me through the last two weeks," he said.
"I just hoped I'd be OK (after the surgery), yeah I'm hurting but it was fine."
The 31-year-old New Zealander will have an opportunity at matching Skaife's six straight wins to open the season 27 years ago at next month's round in Tasmania.
"Symmons Plains is always good, that track, and always good racing so I'll rest up the next couple of weeks and can't wait to get there," he added.
Three-time defending champion Scott McLaughlin, who moved to America in October, won six consecutive in 2019 but missed race five of that season after an incident on the warm-up lap.
After pulling off one of the greatest wins in modern Australian touring car history on Saturday, Van Gisbergen comfortably handled the next two races.
Van Gisbergen has asserted himself as the new man to beat in McLaughlin's absence.
In a jaw-dropping performance on Saturday, the New Zealander made up a record-breaking 16 places on the grid to claim a famous win.
Van Gisbergen smashed a 56-year-old record for the lowest starting position to take the chequered flag at the Melbourne track.
SANDOWN SUPERSPRINT RACE TWO
1. Shane van Gisbergen (Holden)
2. Cameron Waters (Ford)
3. Jamie Whincup (Holden)
4. Chaz Mostert (Holden)
5. Andre Heimgartner (Ford)
SANDOWN SUPERSPRINT RACE THREE
1. Shane van Gisbergen (Holden)
2. Brodie Kostecki (Holden)
3. David Reynolds (Ford)
4. Jamie Whincup (Holden)
5. Will Davison (Ford)
SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIPS STANDINGS
1. Shane van Gisbergen (Holden)
2. Jamie Whincup (Holden)
3. Chaz Mostert (Holden)
4. Cameron Waters (Ford)
5. Mark Winterbottom (Holden)
