Scott McLaughlin takes first Volvo win since 1999

Scott McLaughlin claimed the first victory for Volvo in Australia since Jim Richards in the 1999 Australian Super Touring Car Championship finale.
”This is just unbelievable, something you never forget! The car was fantastic, an awesome day for everyone in the team,” said McLaughlin.

The 20-year-old started from fourth on the grid and made his way past Triple Eight Race Engineering driver Craig Lowndes on the first lap.

Pole sitter Shane Van Gisbergen headed the field on the first lap, but was passed by Brad Jones Racing driver Fabian Coulthard not long after. Coulthard was unable to keep the lead as McLaughlin passed for the lead which he kept for the remainder of the race.

The safety car was deployed once during the race to recover the stranded Nissan Altima of Todd Kelly. Volvo Polestar Racing driver McLaughlin came under hard pressure from Lowndes after the restart, but was able to keep the lead to win by one second.

There was drama a few laps from the finish as Michael Caruso collided with Todd Kelly, sending Kelly spinning into Jamie Whincup and James Moffat. All three cars were stranded in the gravel, but with no safety car deployed for the final three laps.

Caruso managed to continue to cross the line in third to score Nissan’s first podium finish of 2014, with HRT’s Garth Tander right behind in fourth.

The victory for McLaughlin also gave him the overall points victory of the non-championship Melbourne weekend thanks to the double points of the final race.

Coulthard dropped to fifth position ahead of Erebus Motorsport driver Will Davison in sixth and Ford Performance Racing driver Mark Winterbottom in seventh.

V8 Supercars continues in two weeks at Symmons Plains.