Phillip Island V8s: McLaughlin controls opening race

The Volvo driver wasn’t troubled across the 120-kilometre race, bolting from pole position into a one-second lead after two laps. He then simply made his single compulsory stop on Lap 6 – always holding the effective lead – before setting off on course for victory.

Jamie Whincup didn’t make it too easy, though. Having jumped Mark Winterbottom at the start to slot into P3, and then jumped Chaz Mostert during the early stops to grab P2, Whincup put in a concerted effort at the end of the race to haul in McLaughlin.

But while the #88 Commodore could close to within 1.2s, it couldn’t stop weekend pacesetter McLaughlin from taking his first win since Phillip Island 2014.

Fabian Coulthard put in a huge shift to charge his way to third. The DJR Team Penske squad went for a different strategy than the rest of the frontrunners, pitting Coulthard on Lap 10.

And it paid off. The Kiwi slotted in behind Craig Lowndes in what was effectively P7, before going on an a charge through the field. Lowndes was his first victim, Coulthard shifting the Vortex Commodore wide at the last corner to sweep past.

He then took fifth from Shane van Gisbergen for P5 on Lap 18, before claiming fourth from Winterbottom a lap later.

The final position came a little easier; Mostert, seemingly on course for P3, suffered a right-front puncture on the final lap – which cost him 20 positions.

With Mostert slipping down the order, van Gisbergen popped up in P4, Winterbottom in P5, while Lowndes was sixth.

James Moffat took what is comfortably his best result in Volvo blue with seventh, while Brad Jones Racing opted to pit Tim Slade late, on Lap 17, which helped him come out in P8.

Like Mostert, tyre problems proved costly for Scott Pye. He too suffered a puncture, although his happened on the way into Turn 1, sending him on a frightening journey through the infield. He emerged unscathed, but a Top 10 result went begging.