Darwin Supercars: McLaughlin cruises to Saturday win

The DJR Team Penske driver made a slightly tardy getaway from pole, but hugging the inside line helped hold off a fast-starting Will Davison behind him, and a late-braking David Reynolds next to him.

A high line through Turn 1, and a bit of contact with teammate Anton De Pasquale who was even higher, was costly for Reynolds, who effectively went side-by-side with Davison all the way to Turn 6 before having to concede second place to the Tickford Mustang.

Behind the leaders it was a chaotic opening lap, starting with Macauley Jones and James Golding clashing on the way through the Turns 2/3/4 complex.

Rick Kelly then fired Tim Slade off on the way out of Turn 5, Slade's Brad Jones Racing Holden going straight into the fence.

The first-lap drama concluded with Mark Winterbottom half-spinning Andre Heimgartner to cause a bottleneck at the back of the field, and a triple-file battle down the long front straight.

The race was quickly pacified by the Safety Car, called to retrieve Slade's crashed Commodore at the end of Lap 2.

When the race restarted on Lap 8 McLaughlin's getaway was swift, to the point where he had almost 4s up his sleeve when Davison and Reynolds made their stops on Lap 19.

That stop proved crucial to the complexion of the lead group, with the Tickford/23 Red Racing crew releasing Davison into Reynolds' door as they went to leave the pits.

That meant a 15-second penalty for Davison, while Reynolds was jumped by an undercutting Mostert who had stopped four laps earlier.

There were no undercut concerns for McLaughin, though, who pitted on Lap 20 and returned with 3s margin over Mostert and Reynolds.

From there it was a walk in the park for McLaughlin, who cruised to his 11th win of the season by 6.8s.

"It was an awesome run [to Turn 1],” he said.

“I think we were three-wide before I braked. I figured I was on the inside so I had probably the safest position.

“[I'm] so stoked for everyone at Shell V-Power Racing, it’s been an awesome run, we’ve got to just keep pushing on."

Mostert made the undercut work for him, holding off Reynolds to come home second. It was a four-spot gain for the Tickford star, his margin over the Erebus driver a single second at the finish.

Cam Waters finished fourth, holding off a late charge from Jamie Whincup, who went the opposite way to Mostert and made his stop on Lap 28.

Lee Holdsworth was sixth, Fabian Coulthard seventh and Shane van Gisbergen eighth.

Davison finished ninth on the road after dropping back in the second stint, but was then dumped to 12th thanks to that 15-second penalty.

That promoted Walkinshaw Andretti United drivers James Courtney and Scott Pye to ninth and 10th.

McLaughlin now holds a 298-point lead over teammate Fabian Coulthard.

Results:

Cla	Driver	Car	Time
1	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Mustang GT
2	Chaz Mostert	Ford Mustang GT	6.8829
3	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore ZB	7.8776
4	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	8.2419
5	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	8.9533
6	Lee Holdsworth	Ford Mustang GT	12.4616
7	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Mustang GT	14.0082
8	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	15.2886
9	James Courtney	Holden Commodore ZB	20.1451
10	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	26.5242
11	Anton De Pasquale	Holden Commodore ZB	28.1853
12	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	32.1326
13	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	32.6622
14	Garry Jacobson	Nissan Altima	34.7148
15	Chris Pither	Holden Commodore ZB	35.3244
16	Simona de Silvestro	Nissan Altima	35.7102
17	Andre Heimgartner	Nissan Altima	38.9263
18	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	39.7036
19	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore ZB	44.6629
20	Jack Smith	Holden Commodore ZB	1'05.3269
21	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	1 lap
22	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	8 laps
	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore ZB
	James Golding	Holden Commodore ZB
	Jack Le Brocq	Holden Commodore ZB
View full results