Scott McLaughlin claimed the 50th career victory of his Supercars Championship career, claiming a comfortable lights-to-flag win from pole position ahead of Shane van Gisbergen.
The DJR Team Penske had qualified on pole position and despite starting from the dirty side of the grid he made a flawless getaway to lead van Gisbergen on the run into Turn 1.
Van Gisbergen – who was almost overhauled by McLaughlin’s fast-starting DJR Team Penske stablemate Fabian Coulthard (who rocketed off the line from sixth on the grid) – briefly put McLaughlin under pressure in the opening laps, but the gap between the pair extended after they took their compulsory pit stops.
From there, McLaughlin was never headed and crossed the finish line 9.6 seconds clear of his New Zealand countryman.
Joining them on the podium was Team 18’s Scott Pye, who drove superbly after opting for a long 26-lap opening stint that was an effective repeat of the strategy that took him to a 13th-place finish in Saturday’s race after he stalled on the starting grid and dropped to last.
Pye emerged in fourth place after his pit stop behind Coulthard, using his fresher rubber to quickly run down and overtake Coulthard before zeroing in on van Gisbergen. The pair crossed the finish line separated by just 0.3 seconds.
Coulthard finished in fourth place ahead of a tense battle for fifth between Cameron Waters (Tickford Racing Ford) and Jamie Whincup (Red Bull Holden Racing).
Chaz Mostert (WAU Holden) finished seventh on the road but a 15-second time penalty for bumping Nick Percat’s BJR Holden into the run-off at Turn 1 demoted him to 18th.
His punishment promoted James Courtney (Tickford Racing) into seventh ahead of teammate Lee Holdsworth, Mark Winterbottom (Team 18 Holden) and Anton de Pasquale (Erebus Holden).
2020 Australian Supercars Championship Darwin Triple SuperSprint – Race 17 Final Classification (38 laps) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Driver | Team | Result | ||
1. | Scott McLaughlin | ![]() |
Shell V-Power Racing Team | ![]() |
44:00.790 |
2. | Shane van Gisbergen | ![]() |
Red Bull Holden Racing Team | ![]() |
+ 9.687 |
3. | Scott Pye | ![]() |
DEWALT Racing | ![]() |
+ 9.932 |
4. | Fabian Coulthard | ![]() |
Shell V-Power Racing Team | ![]() |
+ 15.280 |
5. | Cameron Waters | ![]() |
Monster Energy Racing | ![]() |
+ 21.390 |
6. | Jamie Whincup | ![]() |
Red Bull Holden Racing Team | ![]() |
+ 22.449 |
7. | James Courtney | ![]() |
Boost Mobile Racing | ![]() |
+ 27.984 |
8. | Lee Holdsworth | ![]() |
Truck Assist Racing | ![]() |
+ 29.425 |
9. | Mark Winterbottom | ![]() |
IRWIN Racing | ![]() |
+ 30.371 |
10. | Andre Heimgartner | ![]() |
NED Whisky Racing | ![]() |
+ 32.035 |
11. | Rick Kelly | ![]() |
Castrol Racing | ![]() |
+ 34.882 |
12. | Anton de Pasquale | ![]() |
Penrite Racing | ![]() |
+ 36.169 |
13. | Nick Percat | ![]() |
R&J Batteries | ![]() |
+ 37.313 |
14. | Jack Le Brocq | ![]() |
Supercheap Auto Racing | ![]() |
+ 37.736 |
15. | Todd Hazelwood | ![]() |
Brut Military Grade | ![]() |
+ 39.918 |
16. | David Reynolds | ![]() |
Penrite Racing | ![]() |
+ 40.284 |
17. | Bryce Fullwood | ![]() |
Mobil 1 TM Middy’s Racing | ![]() |
+ 40.984 |
18. | Chaz Mostert | ![]() |
Mobil 1 TM Appliances | ![]() |
+ 41.697 |
19. | Jack Smith | ![]() |
SCT Motor Sports | ![]() |
+ 46.628 |
20. | Chris Pither | ![]() |
Team SYDNEY | ![]() |
+ 48.820 |
21. | Zane Goddard | ![]() |
UNIT Racing | ![]() |
+ 49.718 |
22. | Alex Davison | ![]() |
Local Legends Racing | ![]() |
+ 54.766 |
23. | Macauley Jones | ![]() |
Team CoolDrive | ![]() |
+ 59.005 |
24. | Garry Jacobson | ![]() |
Yellow Cover Racing | ![]() |
+ 1:13.495 |
Post-Race Penalties:
- Anton de Pasquale was issued a 5-second time penalty for a driving standards infringement.
- Jack Le Brocq was issued a 5-second time penalty for a driving standards infringement.
- Chaz Mostert was issued a 15-second time penalty for a driving standards infringement.
- Garry Jacobson was issued a 15-second time penalty for a driving standards infringement.
Image via Motorsport.com
Geoff Burke
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