This time nothing could stop Red Bull Racing from savouring Supercars victory - not even another dreaded time penalty.
RBR's Shane van Gisbergen has bolstered his hopes of a maiden Supercars title by claiming the opening Gold Coast 600 race on Saturday.
The Supercars series leader had to do it the hard way, overcoming co-driver Alex Premat's 10-second pit lane penalty midway through the race for a safety car infringement.
He finished ahead of Volvo's Scott McLaughlin and Holden star Jamie Whincup.
"It was a surprise Alex got the penalty but in the middle stint I was basically just against co-drivers so I had to go crazy and go as fast as I could - it worked amazing for us," van Gisbergen said.
It was a shot in the arm for RBR after a time penalty sabotaged their recent Bathurst 1000 campaign.
RBR's Whincup crossed the line first at Mount Panorama, only to be relegated to 11th by a late 15-second time penalty.
RBR received plenty of flak for appealing the Bathurst result, even copping it from Supercars boss James Warburton, who described it as "un-Australian".
However, there were no complaints after van Gisbergen's dominant win which extended his series lead to 160 points over Whincup ahead of Sunday's final 300km race.
"There's only five races to go. There's not much left now. But we will continue to fight on," six-time series winner Whincup said of his title prospects.
When van Gisbergen served the 10 second pit lane penalty, it bumped him from first to 10th with 39 laps left in the opening race.
However, the flying Kiwi showed blistering speed to maintain his Midas touch on the concrete wall-lined street circuit.
To date van Gisbergen has snared three wins, five podiums and three poles on the tourist strip.
He will be in the box seat to claim a maiden Supercars title and the Enduro Cup, which will be decided at the Gold Coast - the third and final endurance round of the year.
Mount Panorama champions Will Davison and Jonathon Webb failed to back up their upset win on the mountain, finishing 16th after copping an early pit lane penalty for their role in a turn four pileup that cost Nissan's Russell Ingall and Holden's Craig Baird.
Overall, five cars failed to finish in the 26-strong field including Fabian Coulthard's Ford which looks like a write off.
He was involved in a spectacular 265kph late crash after tangling with Holden's Garth Tander, who copped a pit lane penalty and will drop back 10 spots on the grid for Sunday's final 300km race.
"It was unneccesary more than anything," Couthard said of Tander.
"I expected a bit more from him. It's pretty sad but I guess I am still here and can talk about it."
