McLaughlin within reach of Championship after another win at The Bend

Scott McLaughlin is one step closer to a third consecutive Supercars Championship after another clinical victory this afternoon at the OTR SuperSprint in South Australia.

McLaughlin started the day claiming his 13th pole position of the year and it came in handy, as the Shell Ford Mustang ace led from start to finish, even fighting off a late surge from fellow kiwi Shane van Gisbergen to take the checkered flag for his 12th win of 2020.

It was career victory 55 for the 27-year old, equalling him with Garth Tander at 4th on the all-time wins list in Supercars.

Van Gisbergen finished second this afternoon and Cam Waters was third.

McLaughlin’s closest rival in the Championship race, seven-time Supercars Champion Jamie Whincup had a disastrous run in the Top 15 Shootout which meant he started in 14th position.

On the South Australian circuit Whincup did manage to make up four critical spots in the race to finish 10th, but with McLaughlin winning, the Championship lead has now blown out to 263 points, with just three races to go in 2020.

If McLaughlin can extend the Championship lead to beyond 300 points over Whincup in tomorrow’s two races, he will take an unbeatable lead into the season finale, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 on October 18.

In the 60 year history of Australian touring car racing, only three drivers have won at least three straight titles – Ian Geoghegan (1966-69), Mark Skaife (2000-2002) and Jamie Whincup (2011-14).

Today’s top ten in order was McLaughlin (Ford), van Gisbergen (Holden), Waters (Ford), Jack Le Brocq (Ford), Anton De Pasquale (Holden), Nick Percat (Holden), James Courtney (Ford), Mark Winterbottom (Holden), Fabian Coulthard (Ford) and Whincup (Holden).

Race Results

POS # DRIVER TEAM TIME
1 17 McLaughlin Shell V-Power Racing Team 40:23.918
2 97 Van Gisbergen Red Bull Holden Racing Team +0.647
3 6 C. Waters Monster Energy Racing +6.420
4 55 J. Le Brocq Supercheap Auto Racing +11.302
5 99 A. de Pasquale Penrite Racing +13.016
6 8 Percat R&J Batteries +13.771
7 44 Courtney Boost Mobile Racing +20.987
8 18 Winterbottom IRWIN Racing +21.855
9 12 Coulthard Shell V-Power Racing Team +22.899
10 88 Whincup Red Bull Holden Racing Team +23.234
11 25 Mostert Mobil 1 TM Appliances Online +23.566
12 20 S. Pye DEWALT Racing +26.238
13 5 Holdsworth Truck Assist Racing +26.574
14 7 Heimgartner NED Whisky Racing +29.331
15 2 B. Fullwood Mobil 1 TM Middy’s Racing +29.725
16 9 Reynolds Penrite Racing +30.858
17 3 M. Jones Team CoolDrive +32.104
18 35 G. Jacobson Yellow Cover Racing +33.221
19 14 T. Hazelwood TRG Transport +33.480
20 22 C. Pither Team SYDNEY +43.318
21 4 J. Smith SCT Motor Sports +51.066
22 19 A. Davison Local Legends Racing +51.630
23 15 R. Kelly Castrol Racing +51.853
NC 34 J. Kostecki UNIT Racing +26 Laps