SLICK STOP HELPS MCLAUGHLIN CLAIM TOWNSVILLE WIN

Scott McLaughlin continued to dominate the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercar Championship with a come from behind win in race 17 from Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert. David Reynolds had claimed pole for the race and led throughout the first stage of the race, only to fall down the order after an issue with the left rear during his pitstop cost the Erebus driver an additional 6 seconds in the stop.

David Reynolds had earlier pipped Chaz Mostert for the top place in qualifying, with Scott McLaughlin relegated to the second row alongside Shane van Gisbergen. Jamie Whincup, Lee Holdsworth, Andre Hemigartner, Cameron Waters and Mark Winterbottom completed the top 10 with Fabian Coulthard down in 13th. Coutlhard was at a loss to explain how he could plummet from the fastest time in the final practice session to 13th in qualifying. Chaz Mostert, on the other hand, recovered from electrical issues and a ‘wasted day‘ on Friday to a front row grid position for the race.

Mostert had been the prime topic of paddock conversation with media speculation that the Tickford Racing driver was on the move to Holden and the WAU outfit for 2020. After the electrical gremlins were overcome, Mostert announced that it was ‘the best car’ he had been given to drive in 2019.

Reynolds maintained this advantage as the lights went out and the field stormed towards turn 2. Cameron Waters nudged Jamie Whincup in the braking zone with both Andre Heimgartner and Shane van Gisbergen compromised as a result. The matter was closely examined as the trio continued, though no further action was deemed to be necessary.

Reynolds managed to open a 6 second lead as Mostert and Mclaughlin raced door to door  and traded blows throughout the opening 19 laps before the championship leader finally found a way around the Supercheap Auto Ford Mustang. Shane van Gisbergen also moved past as Mostert dropped to 4th just prior to the first round of stops.

Jamie Whincup was the first of the leaders to stop on lap 16 and used the benefits of clean air to undercut Reynolds for the lead after the first round of pitstops. Cameron Waters hopes for a good result disappeared when he tagged Rick Kelly on the approach to turn 2 and was handed a 15 second penalty added to his final pitstop. McLaughlin moved past Reynolds for 2nd on lap 31 as the second pitstop window approached. Jamie Whincup looked to be in control of the race with a 5 second lead, though McLaughlin reduced the gap to just 2 seconds by the time Whincup made his final stop on lap 38. McLaughlin circulated for an additional 5 laps before his final pitstop and remained 2 seconds behind the leader.

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By lap 50 McLaughlin had climbed onto the rear bumper of the number 88 Red Bull Holden Racing Team Commodore and Whincup put up little resistance when the Shell V-Power Ford Mustang ranged up alongside at the final corner.

McLaughlin eased out to a 6 second lead as Whincup came under fire from a fast finishing Chaz Mostert. Whincup held off the challenge from the Tickford Racing Mustang and eventually nudged out a relatively comfortable 3 second gap which guaranteed Whincup a 2nd place finish.

“I’m really proud of the crew today, they were really aggressive on strategy,” Whincup said.“You’ve got to be careful doing that because you can hurt yourself to the rest of the field trying to race #17.

Scott McLaughlin’s win extended his championship lead over teammate Fabian Coulthard to 358 points, who scrambled into the top 5 at the finish.

“Me and Chaz had a good battle,” McLaughlin explained.“It cost us a lot of time, so I was sort of trying to make up the whole race.“Thankfully we had really good car pace, over the run it just kept coming and coming and coming.”

Shane van Gisbergen finished 4th after early problems with a damaged rim affected his race plan with Coutlhard 5th. David Reynolds managed to salvage a bitter sweet 6th from Will Davison, Nick Percat, Mark Winterbottom and Lee Holdsworth.

Race 18 gets underway late tomorrow after qualifying and a top 10 shootout.

Photos: Velocity Magazine (Darin Mandy)

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