Albert Park Supercars: McLaughlin continues Mustang dominance
Scott McLaughlin continued the Ford Mustang's perfect start to its Supercars career, winning the fourth and final race at Albert Park.
Scott McLaughlin, DJR Team Penske Ford
Edge Photographics
McLaughlin got the jump from the dirty side of the grid, charging up the inside of polesitter Chaz Mostert to grab the lead.
Mostert couldn't even hold on to second, being held out wide at Turn 1 by McLaughlin allowing Jamie Whincup to sneak through on the way to Turn 3.
It was only a brief stint in second for the seven-time champ, though, Mostert making a clean-cut pass on the Red Bull Holden into Turn 3 on the third lap.
By then McLaughlin had already skipped away, however the race was naturalised a few corners later when Macauley Jones ended up in the wall on the run to Turn 14 after tangling with Simona de Silvestro and Garry Jacobson, resulting in a Safety Car.
The race was restarted on Lap 7, the two leading Mustangs quickly bolting at the front.
While Mostert was able to hold on to the back of McLaughlin, he was unable to put any meaningful pressure on the leader, McLaughlin ending up a winner by 0.8s.
"[It feels] very good," said McLaughlin.
"A great job by everyone. I feel like I'm nailing those starts, it's making me feel really good.
"It's just a great start to our year."
Whincup, who had come under some pressure from Cam Waters right before the Safety Car, managed to pull away after the restart and finish third, Waters and Will Davison coming home fourth and fifth.
Mark Winterbottom was the second-best Holden in sixth, followed by Tim Slade, David Reynolds, Lee Holdsworth and Nick Percat.
Shane van Gisbergen's miserable weekend ended on a fitting note, the Kiwi buried down in 22nd.
He had run as high as fifth in the early stages of the race, before tangling with Fabian Coulthard on the second lap.
The drama started through Turns 11 and 12, the Red Bull Holden driver short-cutting the second part of the complex before locking his right-front into Turn 13.
That helped pitch him back into Coulthard's door, the Penske Mustang sent down the escape road and left in 21st, as van Gisbergen was shuffled back to 14th.
He was then hit with a 15s time penalty, which left him outside the Top 20 by the end of the race.
Coulthard recovered to finish 15th.
McLaughlin will take a 31-point lead over Whincup into the third round of the season in Tasmania, while van Gisbergen, who was second coming into Albert Park, is now 11th in the standings, 175 adrift.
Race results:
Cla | # | Driver | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 17 | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Mustang GT | |
2 | 55 | Chaz Mostert | Ford Mustang GT | 0.8042 |
3 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore ZB | 3.8332 |
4 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Ford Mustang GT | 5.0635 |
5 | 23 | Will Davison | Ford Mustang GT | 5.4461 |
6 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Holden Commodore ZB | 8.2984 |
7 | 14 | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore ZB | 9.0070 |
8 | 9 | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore ZB | 10.8909 |
9 | 5 | Lee Holdsworth | Ford Mustang GT | 11.0001 |
10 | 8 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore ZB | 11.6150 |
11 | 2 | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore ZB | 12.2233 |
12 | 99 | Anton De Pasquale | Holden Commodore ZB | 13.1487 |
13 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore ZB | 13.7153 |
14 | 35 | Todd Hazelwood | Holden Commodore ZB | 16.1977 |
15 | 7 | Andre Heimgartner | Nissan Altima L33 | 20.3848 |
16 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Mustang GT | 20.5663 |
17 | 22 | James Courtney | Holden Commodore ZB | 21.1900 |
18 | 78 | Simona de Silvestro | Nissan Altima L33 | 21.7593 |
19 | 3 | Garry Jacobson | Nissan Altima L33 | 21.8876 |
20 | 34 | James Golding | Holden Commodore ZB | 22.6042 |
21 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima L33 | 23.4786 |
22 | 33 | Richie Stanaway | Holden Commodore ZB | 25.4976 |
23 | 19 | Jack Le Brocq | Holden Commodore ZB | 1'28.1702 |
24 | 21 | Macauley Jones | Holden Commodore ZB |
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