» Supercars: McLaughlin chalks up 50 career wins

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