Redemption for McLaughlin with Race 12 victory

McLaughlin lead teammate Coulthard

Shell V-Power Racing’s Scott McLaughlin has dominated in Darwin with a runaway win in the second race of the Triple Crown as he makes a lunge at team-mate Fabian Coulthard’s Virgin Australia Supercars Championship lead.

McLaughlin undercut Red Bull Holden Racing Team’s Jamie Whincup in the pits to take the lead on lap 38 of 70, building the margin into a comfortable two second win in the safety car free race.

He denied six-time Champion Whincup a long-deserved win in 2017 by relegating Supercars most successful driver to second on the podium. Whincup’s team-mate Shane van Gisbergen, the reigning Champion, fought back from his failure to finish yesterday with third.

“I’m pretty pumped with the win but the burnout procedure wasn’t too good," joked McLaughlin, who popped a front tire as he celebrated with his brake bias wound to the front.

“I’m stoked even to be able to do a burnout. The guys have given me and Fabian amazing cars. We had really good pace and were able to do the job on strategy."

Remarkably Van Gisbergen finished 24 seconds behind the winner with Coulthard behind him. While he smashed the field yesterday Coulthard could not repeat his winning dose and struggled at the back end of today’s race.

The result meat Kiwi drivers have won 11 of the 12 races so far this year between Van Gisbergen (4), McLaughlin (3) and Coulthard (3). The only other winner to date was Chaz Mostert at Phillip Island.

A happy McLaughlin

The weekend’s results meant McLaughlin leapfrogged Whincup on the Championship ladder into second, ten points behind Coulthard. Whincup is six points further back with just 16 points separating the top three. Van Gisbergen’s DNF yesterday leaves him 178 points from the lead.

McLaughlin pitted six laps earlier than Whincup and immediately made ground on the track. He was clocking more than a second a lap on Whincup who came in on lap 41 tucked in behind the Kiwi. From there it was all about managing tires and the margin.

“The car was good. We got a good start but didn’t quite have the tire life of car #17 today," Whincup explained. “But we made some improvements on the car this weekend that we’ll take away and be happy with."

Van Gisbergen lamented yesterday’s result: “It’s been a really tough weekend on our car, but we’ve just persevered. The car wasn’t perfect but we salvaged a tough weekend."

Coulthard withstood late pressure from Tim Slade, Craig Lowndes, David Reynolds and Scott Pye to bank solid points.

Click here for full results from today’s race.

The Championship now moves to the Watpac Townsville 400 on July 7-9.

QUOTES

Fabian Coulthard – No. 12 Shell V-Power Racing Ford

Qualifying – 2nd (Fastest Lap: 1m05.8231s)
Top 10 Shootout – 4th (Fastest Lap: 1m06.2302s)
Race 12 – 4th (Fastest Lap: 1m06.7807s – Under Old Lap Record)

Scott McLaughlin – No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford

Qualifying – FIRST (Fastest Lap: 1m05.6806s)
Top 10 Shootout – FIRST (Fastest Lap: 1m05.7233s)
Race 12 – FIRST (Fastest Lap: 1m06.6747s – New Lap Record)

Fabian Coulthard – No. 12 Shell V-Power Racing Ford

RECAP: Coulthard started the race from fourth place, and took a similar strategy to Saturday with an early stop. He pushed hard on his out laps, and jumped his rivals however the pace had taken the edge off his tires and he was unable to hold the lead. He then ran a championship drive, maintaining his position under intense pressure from rivals. He continues to lead the championship, now by 10 points from teammate McLaughlin.

QUOTE: “I just didn’t quite have the pace today, so was pleased to hang on to that fourth place. Today was all about championship points. I came in to this weekend with a four point lead, and it’s now 10 so I’ve got to take that positive. When fourth is a bad day, it's not too bad at all. It was great to get the win yesterday, and fantastic to see Scott win today. We’re one-two in the points, so it’s awesome for the team. We’ll come back better at the next one."

Scott McLaughlin – No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford

RECAP: McLaughlin was fast all day, taking provisional pole, and then pole position in the Top 10 Shootout by over three-tenths of a second. He then dominated much of the race to take the win. He had a poor start, but worked hard to recover. He jumped Whincup in the pit stops, reset the lap record and then maintained the gap to take his fourth win of the 2017 season, elevating himself to second in the points behind Coulthard.

QUOTE: “What an awesome team I’ve got here behind me at the Shell V-Power Racing Team. I was so stoked to get pole earlier today in the Shootout – I love qualifying as it’s everyone’s maximum. Everything they’ve got. I didn’t get a great start today, but good strategy helped me get it back. I drove as hard as I could, and we got the win. I couldn’t be happier."