It was a lights-to-flag victory for the Kiwi, who used a bog standard two-stop strategy to perfection to bank his second win in as many days.

Having got the jump from pole, McLaughlin eased away from Chaz Mostert in the first stint before heading to the lane for the first time on Lap 27, a lap after the #55 Prodrive Ford.

He came out in front, again pulling the gap out to over five seconds before reacting to Mostert again on Lap 58 and making his second stop.

With a set of green rubber for the 25-lap run home McLaughlin was able to control the pace on his way to a resounding win.

“We got the broom out this weekend and took some points,” he said. “We’ve got to build on this now. It’s pretty cool.”

Mostert effectively shadowed McLaughlin throughout the race, but was unable to mount any kind of genuine challenge for the win. He ended up 4.6s shy of the winner, but 5.8s clear of Whincup in third.

Whincup’s day got off to an action-packed started when he found himself side-by-side with teammate Shane van Gisbergen on the run through the esses and the left-hander on the first lap. He managed to come out on top after a bit of panel rubbing, slotting in behind Mark Winterbottom in fourth.

That became third during the first round of stops, Whincup having been the first of the front runners on a two-stopper to blink when he pitted on Lap 24. He went early again for the second round of stops when he pitted on Lap 55, securing third spot ahead of Winterbottom, Will Davison, and van Gisbergen.

Fabian Coulthard was destined for a three-stopper right from the word go, trundling around in sixth for 10 laps before his pace dramatically dipped and he dropped back a spot behind Davison. He dived straight into the pits on Lap 12, the first of the frontrunners to go for fresh rubber.

That eventually spat him out in the effective lead, but with 20-odd laps on the tyres he had no chance of keeping McLaughlin, Mostert and co behind him. He then made a second stop on Lap 38, before grabbing two roaded tyres and two green tyres at his final stop on Lap 64 for a charge to the flag.

Short term there were some gains, Coulthard using his six-odd laps fresher tyres to set the timing screen purple and barge past van Gisbergen for sixth. He chased down Davison, too, but again his pace dropped off in the closing laps. Not only could he not get by Davison, but he ultimately conceded sixth spot back to van Gisbergen on the second-last lap.

Craig Lowndes used a three-stopper to finish an impressive eighth after an action-packed race. It started when the engine died on the lap to grid, before the #888 Commodore stopped again on the warm-up lap. Concerned the car wouldn’t launch the veteran elected to start from the back of the grid – and lost more time again when he was spun by Alex Rullo on his way into the pits on Lap 10.

From there it was a recovery drive back inside the Top 10, Lowndes coming home ahead of Garth Tander and Nick Percat.

Pos.	Driver	Car	Gap
1	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG-X
2	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG-X	4.612
3	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	5.881
4	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG-X	13.155
5	Will Davison	Holden Commodore VF	14.700
6	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	15.074
7	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG-X	16.418
8	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	31.213
9	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	36.810
10	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	40.711
11	James Moffat	Holden Commodore VF	43.231
12	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG-X	43.964
13	Jason Bright	Ford Falcon FG-X	44.117
14	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF	53.084
15	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	54.581
16	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VF	56.138
17	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	57.864
18	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	58.430
19	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	1 lap
20	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	1 lap
21	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	1 lap
22	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	1 lap
23	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	1 lap
24	Simona de Silvestro	Nissan Altima	1 lap
25	Alex Rullo	Holden Commodore VF	2 laps
26	Matt Brabham	Holden Commodore VF	3 laps