Photo: DJR Team Penske

Scott McLaughlin doubles up with the new DJR Penske Ford Mustang at Adelaide

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Scott McLaughlin continued his strong start to the 2019 Supercars Championship season at Adelaide, taking pole position in the qualifying shootout, and converting that to victory, only losing the lead during a rather dramatic pit stop sequence which was set off by a safety car.

McLaughlin locked the DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang onto pole position ahead of rival New Zealander’s Shane van Gisbergen in the Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore ZB, with the two drivers going head-to-head into Turn 1 at the start, fighting side-by-side before McLaughlin slotted into the lead for Turn 2.

On the opening lap, Cameron Waters, in the Tickford Racing Ford Mustang, grabbed third from the Erebus Holden of David Reynolds with minor contact, with Waters showing good pace today after a cool suit failure in the 40-degree heat yesterday curtailed his race.

A number of drivers then opted to pit early in order to gain track position, including both of the Tickford-run Fords of Waters and Will Davison.

The first round of pit stops were almost all complete by lap 26, with the exception of the Nissan of Rick Kelly, who was getting good fuel mileage from his Altima, and assumed the lead.

Tekno Autosport’s Jack Le Brocq’s race ended on lap 27, when his Holden Commodore stopped on track at Turn 11, which saw the safety car deployed which led to the most chaotic moment of the race.

The majority of the field opted to pit, even those which had just pitted, which led to a very crowded pit lane, with many teams double-stacking their cars.

Rick Kelly was on his way back out in his Kelly Racing Nissan Altima, when Tickford Racing released the Ford Mustang of Chaz Mostert right in front him.

Mostert drove straight into Kelly’s car, with Kelly continuing to throttle into the Ford driver, spinning the Mustang around which blocked the entire pit lane.

When Jamie Whincup’s Triple Eight car which was alongside was released, that allowed the cars which were blocked behind to get past, before Mostert and Kelly were eventually able to free themselves and get back out at the back of the field.

Mostert’s car had front-right damage after clipping the inside pit wall, and he was back in the pits for repairs a lap later, before he was then served with a drive-through penalty by the officials.

Mostert pitted to serve the penalty on lap 31, just as Kelly came into retire from the race due to damage to the front of his Altima. This allowed the two drivers to further vent their frustrations with each other, with Kelly seemingly deliberately holding Mostert up by a further few seconds as he came in to his garage.

Brad Jones Racing’s Nick Percat was now in the lead for the restart of the race on lap 30, though he was soon passed by the Erebus Holden of David Reynolds, only due to the fact that both had opted not to pit during the safety car.

McLaughlin served his second pit stop soon after it was possible to make the finish on fuel, losing some time due to a wheel gun issue on the rear-left, and was briefly threatened for position by Waters’ Mustang, but soon managed to build enough of a gap and hold a safe distance.

After Reynolds served his second pit stop, Shane van Gisbergen now led in the Triple Eight Holden, and held out until lap 56 before serving his final pit stop, rejoining third behind McLaughlin and Waters.

Van Gisbergen closed up on Waters during the closing stages of the race, which ran to time instead of laps due to the length of the safety car intervention, but was unable to find his way past the Ford driver.

McLaughlin went on to win after 71 laps by 2.4 seconds ahead of Waters, with van Gisbergen scoring his second podium of the weekend.

Tim Slade finished a strong fourth in the #14 Brad Jones Racing entry, ahead of team-mate Nick Percat, with Mark Winterbottom sixth in the Charlie Schwerkolt Racing Holden, holding off the Triple Eight Holden of Jamie Whincup.

Will Davison was eighth in the 23Red Racing Ford Mustang, with Reynolds’ Holden and Todd Hazelwood’s Matt Stone Racing Holden completing the top ten.

Scott McLaughlin now leads the championship by 42 points over van Gisbergen heading to the next round of the championship, which takes place at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne on March 14th-17th.