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Whincup claims Darwin glory by slimmest of margins after ‘great battle’

Posted by AR1 staff

Jamie Whincup showed why many regard him as the greatest Supercar driver of all time, bouncing back from a heavy crash yesterday morning to today claim the coveted BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown title.

The Red Bull Holden Racing Team ace won the final race of the event this afternoon to finish the weekend equal on top of the round’s points table with Shell Ford’s Fabian Coulthard.

Whincup’s career victory #120 in the final race meant in a count back, he was awarded the Triple Crown title for 2020.

It capped off a roller coaster weekend for the seven-time Virgin Australia Supercars Champion, who yesterday in practice crashed heavily into a wall after skidding off the Hidden Valley circuit.

The final result of the weekend saw Whincup win Race 15 from two-time defending Supercars Champion Scott McLaughlin, Whincup’s kiwi teammate Shane van Gisbergen was third.

“That was a great battle,” said Whincup. “That reminded me of the old 2017/18 days when we were going head-to-head with these boys.

“We just kept chipping away at the car all weekend and made it fastest for race three.

“I thought after the penalty yesterday we were done and dusted for the Triple Crown but fantastic to have a great day and get right up there.”

With tire strategy key to the weekend’s results, the top teams played it to perfection to come out on top.

McLaughlin leads – he won Race 2 at Darwin

Penrite Racing’s Anton De Pasquale who won his maiden Supercars race yesterday, entered the final race of the weekend holding a 10-point lead over Coulthard in the Triple Crown standings, but had no quality tires in hand, in the end De Pasquale finished the final race of the event back in 23rd position.

The critical moment of today’s final race was a pit stop where Whincup and Coulthard almost collided as the Red Bull Holden was exiting and the Shell Mustang was entering.

Coulthard slowed to avoid a collision with the #88 Commodore. Post-race the kiwi said things could have been very different had Whincup waited a second longer.

“I think the witness mark on the front of my car and the skid mark to stop to avoid him (Whincup) is pretty clear,” said Coulthard post-race.

“Blind Freddie could have seen that I was impeded. That cost me the position to Chaz. If I’d stayed in front of Chaz, the outcome would have been very different.

“Who knows what’s going to happen? It might not be the last you hear of this.”

McLaughlin now holds a 101-point Championship lead over Whincup, Chaz Mostert is third and van Gisbergen is fourth.

After a chaotic and drama-filled weekend, teams will now have five days to prepare for the second event of the Darwin double-header, the CoreStaff SuperSprint to be held next weekend, 22-23 August at Hidden Valley.

Darwin Race 2 Results

POS # DRIVER TEAM BEHIND
1 17 McLaughlin Shell V-Power Racing Team +0.000s
2 88 Whincup Red Bull Holden Racing Team +1.409
3 12 Coulthard Shell V-Power Racing Team +7.209
4 97 Van Gisbergen Red Bull Holden Racing Team +12.440
5 9 Reynolds Penrite Racing +13.293
6 8 Percat R&J Batteries +17.179
7 99 A. de Pasquale Penrite Racing +17.536
8 25 Mostert Mobil 1 TM Appliances Online +18.011
9 6 C. Waters Monster Energy Racing +18.619
10 7 Heimgartner NED Whisky Racing +19.028
11 18 Winterbottom IRWIN Racing +19.901
12 44 Courtney Boost Mobile Racing +22.611
13 15 R. Kelly Castrol Racing +23.152
14 5 Holdsworth Truck Assist Racing +23.601
15 55 J. Le Brocq Supercheap Auto Racing +24.140
16 20 S. Pye DEWALT Racing +24.704
17 19 A. Davison Local Legends Racing +29.745
18 2 B. Fullwood Mobil 1 TM Middy’s Racing +34.882
19 35 G. Jacobson Yellow Cover Racing +1 Lap
20 14 T. Hazelwood Brut Military Grade +1 Lap
21 22 C. Pither Team SYDNEY +1 Lap
22 34 J. Kostecki UNIT Racing +1 Lap
23 3 M. Jones Team CoolDrive +1 Lap
24 4 J. Smith SCT Motor Sports +1 Lap

Darwin Race 3 Results

POS # DRIVER TEAM Behind
1 88 Whincup Red Bull Holden Racing Team +0.000s
2 17 McLaughlin Shell V-Power Racing Team +2.122
3 97 Van Gisbergen Red Bull Holden Racing Team +14.356
4 25 Mostert Mobil 1 TM Appliances Online +17.259
5 12 Coulthard Shell V-Power Racing Team +17.759
6 8 Percat R&J Batteries +22.615
7 18 Winterbottom IRWIN Racing +22.983
8 55 J. Le Brocq Supercheap Auto Racing +23.858
9 9 Reynolds Penrite Racing +25.469
10 15 R. Kelly Castrol Racing +26.691
11 6 C. Waters Monster Energy Racing +28.475
12 5 Holdsworth Truck Assist Racing +29.520
13 35 G. Jacobson Yellow Cover Racing +29.906
14 34 J. Kostecki UNIT Racing +36.046
15 4 J. Smith SCT Motor Sports +39.939
16 7 Heimgartner NED Whisky Racing +40.951
17 44 Courtney Boost Mobile Racing +42.010
18 3 M. Jones Team CoolDrive +42.454
19 2 B. Fullwood Mobil 1 TM Middy’s Racing +42.785
20 14 T. Hazelwood Brut Military Grade +44.627
21 22 C. Pither Team SYDNEY +45.728
22 20 S. Pye DEWALT Racing +47.251
23 99 A. de Pasquale Penrite Racing +1:01.439
24 19 A. Davison Local Legends Racing +2 Laps

Current Supercars Standings after five rounds

  1. Scott McLaughlin – 1024
  2. Jamie Whincup – 923
  3. Chaz Mostert – 814
  4. Shane van Gisbergen – 753
  5. David Reynolds – 736
  6. Cam Waters – 733
  7. Mark Winterbottom – 706
  8. Nick Percat – 705
  9. Fabian Coulthard – 682
  10. Lee Holdsworth – 675
  11. Andre Heimgartner
  12. Anton De Pasquale
  13. Jack Le Brocq
  14. Rick Kelly
  15. James Courtney
  16. Todd Hazelwood
  17. Scott Pye
  18. Bryce Fullwood
  19. Jack Smith
  20. Macauley Jones
  21. Garry Jacobson
  22. Chris Pither
  23. Alex Davison
  24. Will Davison
  25. Zane Goddard