Scott McLaughlin heads to the penultimate round of the Australian Supercars Championship having more than achieved his key objective at the Vodafone Gold Coast 600 over the weekend.
“Our objective this weekend was to close the championship gap, and we’re leaving with the championship lead,” commented McLaughlin. “It’s a slender lead, but it’s good to have the orange numbers back as we head to my home event in New Zealand.”
The Pukekohe round in early November is a favourite of McLaughlin’s as he will look to increase his 14-point lead over Kiwi rival Shane van Gisbergen. There are just four races remaining – two 200km races in at Pukekohe and two at Newscastle.
“The cars and the team are strong, I love racing at Pukekohe and I’m really excited to head back there. Alex (Premat) was amazing again this year, helping to get our championship back on track. Finishing second with him in the Pirtek Enduro Cup is great reward, so a big thanks to him.”
The final day of the Gold Coast 600 dawned overcast but dry, with patches of sun peeking through the clouds. With extremely heavy rain forecast for the afternoon, teams were prepared for a wet 300km race. Ultimately, it would prove to be an anti-climax.
The race started in dry conditions, however under dark and threatening clouds. Rain began to fall around lap 28, with a Safety car called for pile-up in back half of circuit on lap 31, including Paul Dumbrell in Car 1. The weather continued to worsen, and the race was suspended on lap 36 with all cars returning to pit lane. After a 20-minute delay, the cars returned to track under safety car conditions, before the race was again red flagged on lap 43. With no signs of the weather improving, the race was abandoned, and no points awarded due to not making required distance, leaving McLaughlin continuing in the lead of the Championship by 14 points.
McLaughlin and Premat finished second in the Pirtek Enduro Cup standings, behind Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards.
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1. Scott McLaughlin 3368
2. Shane Van Gisbergen 3354 -14
3. Jamie Whincup 2935 -433
4. Craig Lowndes 2925 -443
5. David Reynolds 2687 -681
6. Chaz Mostert 2438 -930
7. Fabian Coulthard 2354 -1014
8. Rick Kelly 2281 -1087
9. Scott Pye 2248 -1120
10. Nick Percat 2053 -1315
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1. Triple Eight Race Engineering (Whincup/SVG) 6259
2. Shell V-Power Racing Team 5722 -537
3. Tickford Racing (Mostert/Winterbottom) 4312 -1947
4. Brad Jones Racing 4065 -2194
5. Erebus Motorsport 4006 -2253
6. Walkinshaw Andretti United 3973 -2286
7. Nissan Motorsport (Kelly/Heimgartner) 3723 -2536
8. Garry Rogers Motorsport 3152 -3107
9. Triple Eight Race Engineering (Lowndes) 2925 -3334
10. Nissan NISMO (Caruso/De Silvestro) 2669 -3590
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