Photo: DJR Team Penske

Coulthard back as a winner as McLaughlin and van Gisbergen clash

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Fabian Coulthard claimed his first win since Hidden Valley Raceway for DJR Team Penske, as title contenders Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen clashed at Sydney Motorsport Park.

McLaughlin started from pole, but was out-dragged by Prodrive Ford driver Mark Winterbottom, and was then passed by Triple Eight Race Engineering’s van Gisbergen not long after.

McLaughlin then opted for an early pit stop from third, and found himself back in the lead later in the race, just ahead of van Gisbergen.

The safety car was brought out on lap 18 of 31 to clear debris due to a tyre explosion on Todd Kelly’s Nissan Altima.

As the safety car headed back in, things became controversial between McLaughlin and van Gisbergen. As the cars came onto the main straight for the restart, van Gisbergen went up alongside McLaughlin, with the two making contact several times in the drag race for the first corner.

Van Gisbergen got past McLaughlin, only for the Ford driver to turn the Holden driver around at the following corner. Van Gisbergen dropped down to finish 15th, while McLaughlin was given a 15-second penalty, dropping him to tenth position.

McLaughlin went over to van Gisbergen after the race to apologise, but the stewards have confirmed that the incident will be further investigated.

Chaz Mostert claimed second position in the race for Prodrive Racing Australia, while Jamie Whincup finished third in a severely battered Holden Commodore as he went into the back of Erebus Motorsport driver David Reynolds during the restart chaos.

Winterbottom, who headed the field at the start of the race, came home in fourth position ahead of Walkinshaw Racing’s Scott Pye. Michael Caruso was the top Nissan Motorsport driver in sixth position, while Triple Eight’s Craig Lowndes and Erebus’ Reynolds rounded off the top eight.

McLaughlin is still on top of the drivers’ championship standings, 78 points ahead of Whincup, 161 points ahead of Coulthard and 279 points ahead of van Gisbergen.