Triple Eight gifted 1-2 in Ipswich as Volvo and Nissan collide
Jamie Whincup led another Triple Eight Race Engineering 1-2 in the second race at Queensland Raceway, but the result doesn’t tell the whole story, as the race was mainly about the fight between Volvo driver Scott McLaughlin and Nissan’s Michael Caruso for the lead up until lap 22, when the two came together.
McLaughlin had qualified on pole position in the Volvo S60 ahead of Caruso’s Nissan Altima, with the Triple Eight Holden pair of Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes starting third and fourth for the second of Saturday’s two 100km races.
McLaughlin held the lead at the start as he and Caruso went side-by-side through Turn 1. The Volvo Polestar Racing driver held firm through Turn 2 to keep ahead of the Nissan, and began to pull out a small gap during the first few laps, but during the middle of the race the Nissan driver appeared to have better pace and closed in on McLaughlin, with the two then beginning a tussle for the lead.
As the two battled, the Triple Eight pair began to close in, forcing Caruso’s hand, making an ill-thought-out move at Turn 6, diving down the inside and spinning McLaughlin around. Caruso now was in the lead as McLaughlin fell down the order, but swift justice was dealt down by the stewards, ordering a drive-through penalty for the Nissan driver within a lap of the incident.
Although McLaughlin had only lost a few spots from the spin, a handling problem saw him plummet down the order to eventually finish in 19th position, while Caruso’s drive-through saw him finish in 24th position.
Whincup assumed the lead following Caruso’s penalty, with team-mate Lowndes right in his shadow for the remainder of the race, with Whincup taking his ninth win of the season. Shane Van Gisbergen was promoted to third in the Tekno Autosports Holden at this point, but on fading tyres he was caught and passed by the Ford Performance Racing Falcon of Chaz Mostert on lap 28.
Championship leader Mark Winterbottom had worked his way up to fifth in the second of the FPR Falcons after qualifying in 11th position, but lost one spot to the Nissan of Rick Kelly on the final lap, who secured the best result for Nissan in the race following Caruso’s penalty.
Nick Percat finished sixth in the Walkinshaw Racing Holden, just behind Winterbottom on the road, with Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander close behind at the chequered flag.
Brad Jones Racing’s Fabian Coulthard and the second HRT Commodore of James Courtney completed the top ten.
Whincup’s victory helped reduce the points gap further to just 48 points heading to tomorrow’s 200km race, which starts at 15:50 local time.
