Scott McLaughlin stretches championship lead thanks to comfortable win in Darwin
DJR Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin has been able to further extend his championship lead after he took victory in today’s first race of the Darwin SuperSprint weekend.
The two-time defending series champion was able to get a comfortable margin in the opening stanza of the race after getting past polesitter Jamie Whincup off the line, the Triple Eight pilot unable to provide a response to the pace of his title rival throughout the 38 lap race around Hidden Valley Raceway.
McLaughlin’s control over the opening laps stemmed from a better jump off the line than Whincup, moving over to the inside of the track to cover off the #88 on the run to Turn 1, getting the lead and staying here for the rest of the race, save for the round of pit stops.
Taking his pit stop before Whincup, McLaughlin made use of the undercut and fresh air to retain his lead margin while behind the leading duo, the Tickford Racing prepared cars of Cam Waters and James Courtney battled for the last step on the podium, being resolved in favour of the former.
Though the race was initially quieter than the opening account in last weekend’s Darwin Triple Crown, a race which went time certain thanks to two safety car periods, mixed tyre strategies towards the end of the 38 laps saw Chaz Mostert and Shane van Gisbergen make late charges on fresh tyres, cutting up the order.
After running as low as 15th place, van Gisbergen was able to reel in the Walkinshaw Andretti United car of Mostert to get past him with only a handful of laps to go, getting the Triple Eight car up to eighth from qualifying 11th.
Racing was able to go on even though a late mechanical failure sidelined Chris Pither in the closing laps, forcing the Team Sydney car to pull up and retire on the exit of Turn 2.
McLaughlin easily took his 49th win over Whincup as Waters and Courtney were split by under a second, heading up the Brad Jones Racing car of Nick Percat to round out the top five, up four spots from his grid position.
Anton de Pasquale managed sixth place after going long before his first pit stop with the Erebus Motorsport crew as Lee Holdsworth made it three Tickford cars in the top ten, able to come to the flag before van Gisbergen, Mostert and Fabian Coulthard to round out the top ten.
Qualifying for tomorrow’s two 38 lap races gets underway at 1020 local time with the first of the two outings going free at 1200 before the final Darwin outing starts at 1425.
