In October they'll be Bathurst's mountain men, but now it's a Gen3 street fight

While they'll be Bathurst's mountain men in October, this weekend marks the first ever Gen3 Chevrolet Camaro versus Ford Mustang races held at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

It comes as Supercars contests the second event of its 2023 Championship at Albert Park - the Melbourne SuperSprint - as a support category for the 2023 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

In race one on Thursday it was the two-time defending Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen who notched up his 77th career victory after starting from third in the #97 Red Bull Camaro.

It was the first time in the history of the ATCC/Supercars Championship, which began in 1960, that a race had been held on a Thursday.

Rain just seconds before start time saw the race declared wet, which changed every teams tyre strategy.

Van Gisbergen, started from third and stalked Shell Mustang pole sitter Anton De Pasquale and Brodie Kostecki in the opening laps, before making his moves to the front, which he would never give up.

The result capped off a rollercoaster day for van Gisbergen who spun out and crashed in the opening practice session of the day, forcing him to miss the second practice while the team fixed the car ahead of qualifying.

"Like, what I did to my car this morning, tried to write the thing off, and then fix it up like they did," van Gisbergen said.

"Two good qualis and a race win, I'm stoked, thank you."

On the crash, van Gisbergen remarked, "I didn't think it was too bad; like, I didn't hit the wall too hard, and I got back and the front was destroyed.

"Normally with the old car, you would've made it out for practice two.

"Yeah, it was a bit of a panic - 'Are we going make quali, are we not, what's it going to feel like? - For the guys to just take their time, make sure it's right. It was cool."

Kostecki held on for second, while his Erebus team-mate Will Brown played the new tyre strategy perfectly to claim third place.

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But in race two on Friday afternoon, Camaro driver Kostecki has won his first ever Supercars Championship race following a chaotic and extraordinary sprint.

The West Australian 25-year-old nicknamed "Bush" claimed victory in a race where the safety car, weather, pit strategies, red flags in F2 and F3 and even a car fire played a critical part in the result.

"I knew the car had the pace, I knew not to make mistakes, it was drizzling a bit out there," he said.

"I tried to leave a bit on the table, just try and keep the lead, then was told it was time certain.

"Then the safety car came out at the end there, and I knew once we dropped, it was all over."

The first safety car was called when David Reynolds Penrite Mustang went into a gravel trap on the opening lap.

The Mobil 1 NTI Mustang of Nick Percat then became the focal point of attention as it caught fire after an early collision. Percat safely walked from the car in pit lane as crews from various teams put the blaze out with extinguishers.

When racing resumed, Brown got away from van Gisbergen and held the lead, while Kostecki pushed his way up to the side of the #97 Red Bull Camaro.

As the trio fought for the lead, van Gisbergen put it all on the line but Brown held firm as Kostecki bumped his way through.

Kostecki pitted early and it proved the master stroke that led to his win.

As racing continued and various drivers took the lead when Brown and other race leaders pitted for their mandatory stop, Kostecki became the official race leader.

The safety car was deployed for a second time when Jack Le Brocq's Truck Assist Mustang crashed into one of the concrete walls.

With the race set to a time certain finish due to F1 practice times, Kostecki followed the safety car past the chequered flag for the first win of his career.

Saturday and Sunday will feature 13-lap sprints.

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