Albert Park Supercars: McLaughlin wins historic AGP opener

McLaughlin and Whincup staged an epic twilight battle at Albert Park, both enjoying stints in the lead before the Penske Ford driver triumphed by 1.3s.

It was Whincup that made the best of the start, jumping from the second row to storm past Fabian Coulthard at Turn 1/2, before sidling up alongside McLaughlin to make a brief play for the lead at Turn 3. Unable to get it done, Whincup settled in behind the leading Penske Ford for the opening stint of the race.

The title favourites ran in formation until Lap 10, when Whincup opted to run the undercut and hit the lane. McLaughlin dived in from the lead a lap later, but Whincup had done enough to breeze into the lead as McLaughlin re-joined.

While Whincup had the track position, McLaughlin had tyres that were 5.3 kilometres fresher – and he was immediately under the Red Bull Holden's rear wing.

After a handful of laps as a nose-to-tail battle, it became a side-by-side battle on Lap 17. McLaughlin went inside at Turn 3, outside at Turn 4, and eventually got the job done at Turn 5.

It was the race-defining move, Whincup holding on to McLaughlin until the end but never looking like he'd threaten to re-take the lead.

"That was an awesome battle, me and Jamie," said McLaughlin.

"We always battle hard and fair, it was so much. The guys did an awesome job, gave me a great car. I'm pumped."

Coulthard came home a fairly lonely third, followed by Shane van Gisbergen to make it a Penske Ford/Red Bull Holden lockout at the front.

Van Gisbergen actually spent the first stint under pressure from Chaz Mostert, but managed to pit later and hold on to fourth, which allowed him to pull away in the second stint.

Mostert finished fifth having had to pass Scott Pye after the stops, Pye coming home sixth ahead of David Reynolds.

Garth Tander came home eighth, with Brad Jones Racing drivers Nick Percat and Tim Slade rounding out the Top 10.

It was largely a crash-free race, save for Simona de Silvestro clattering into Jack Le Brocq at the penultimate corner during an awkward overtaking attempt on Richie Stanaway.

The damage took De Silvestro out of the race, which Stanaway's day was later destroyed by a comical pitstop, which saw the car dropped on three wheels, and a rim in the fast lane that cost the squad a $3000 fine.

Van Gisbergen still leads the championship by 58 points over Reynolds, while McLaughlin is now in third. Whincup is still down in 11th, thanks to his Sunday DNF in Adelaide.

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time
1	17	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG X
2	1	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	1.3040
3	12	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG X	2.3139
4	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	11.5501
5	55	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG X	13.1104
6	2	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	14.5371
7	9	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore ZB	15.4476
8	33	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore ZB	16.5209
9	8	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	18.5936
10	14	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore ZB	21.5637
11	6	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG X	24.0565
12	25	James Courtney	Holden Commodore ZB	27.1645
13	23	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	29.3104
14	5	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG X	32.2897
15	99	Anton de Pasquale	Holden Commodore ZB	33.5805
16	888	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore ZB	39.1634
17	15	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	40.3264
18	7	Andre Heimgartner	Nissan Altima	42.3939
19	18	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore ZB	44.4747
20	19	Jack Le Brocq	Holden Commodore ZB	45.6380
21	34	James Golding	Holden Commodore ZB	48.6625
22	35	Todd Hazelwood	Ford Falcon FG X	51.8006
23	21	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore ZB	1'13.2437
24	56	Richie Stanaway	Ford Falcon FG X	1'33.6524
25	230	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG X	1'35.5942
DNF	78	Simona de Silvestro	Nissan Altima