Shane van Gisbergen has a chance to send Holden off on a high as the Red Bull driver leads the Bathurst 1000 at the halfway mark.

In pairing with three-time winner Garth Tander, van Gisbergen has made up three places from the start to be in front of Ford trio Scott McLaughlin, Cameron Waters and Fabian Coulthard at Mt Panorama after 81 laps.

It shapes as a great opportunity for New Zealander van Gisbergen to win the 161-lap enduro, with his previous best finish the second places he managed in 2016 and 2019.

A Van Gisbergen and Tander victory would ease the pain for Triple Eight after star veterans Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes crashed out not even a quarter of a way through the race.

Whincup attempted to overtake young gun Brodie Kostecki, but instead spun out and hit a wall on lap 33.

It is Holden’s last Supercars race in an official capacity before the iconic Australian brand is retired by General Motors at the end of this year.

McLaughlin is aiming to spoil the Holden farewell party and back-up his maiden Bathurst 1000 victory from last year, which came in controversial circumstances.

Alongside Whincup in the garage is Garry Jacobson and Todd Hazelwood, who have endured technical issues and will not finish the race.