In the closing stages of the opening race of the Sydney SuperSprint at Sydney Motorsport Park on Saturday, van Gisbergen and Whincup duelled ferociously in a display of skill and sportsmanship that left both winner and loser beaming afterwards.

The winner was van Gisbergen, who just managed to fend off a relentless attack by Whincup over the final 10 laps of the 31-lap, 120km sprint race.

They raced as hard and as close as they could, with Whincup constantly probing and pushing his younger Triple Eight Holden stablemate from just centimetres behind, without so much as trading paint.

All the predictions that the growing intra-team rivalry between them would explode in an F1-style Lewis Hamilton versus Nico Rosberg feud were again defied as van Gisbergen and Whincup fought with commitment and courtesy.

It was the most robust tussle they have had since van Gisbergen joined Whincup at Red Bull Racing Australia at the start of the season, displacing V8 veteran Craig Lowndes in an expanded three-car Triple Eight line-up.

Lowndes was moved to his own satellite TeamVortex squad as the mercurial New Zealander arrived to challenge the record six-time Supercar champion's stallion status in the main team.

Van Gisbergen has done that, and more, respecting Whincup's historic achievements while not accepting.

Their mesmeric combat around the fast and flowing 3.93km Sydney Motorsport Park was the pretender to the throne stacking his opposition to the monarch of Supercars, who has slain V8 championship records and has his sights on all other milestones.

Van Gisbergen denied Whincup the 100th Supercars victory that has been beckoning since last month by a scant two-tenths of a second.

It also moved him closer in the championship standings, shaving his deficit to title leader Whincup to 98 points.

Just as they were out front on their own in the Sydney SuperSprint opener, they are opening a gap on their closest championship rivals that may soon be a bridge too far.

Defending champion Mark Winterbottom and Lowndes are now tied for third in the standings, 186 points behind Whincup after both failed to factor in Saturday's race.

Whincup remains on top because, despite not being as dominant as previously in terms of race wins – of which he has only two so far this season – he has metronomically compiled podium finishes and, therefore, valuable title points.

But van Gisbergen is coming on strong, scoring his fifth victory of the season – three more than anyone else – and fourth in the past six races.

There will be more of these battles between van Gisbergen and Whincup as they have emerged as the strongest title contenders in the best cars in the field.

They are so closely matched that, subject to the vagaries of the upcoming two-driver endurance races – next month's Sandown 500 and October's Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600 – they appear destined to contest the title to the finish at the Sydney 500 in December.