Scott McLaughlin has maintained a slender Championship lead after finishing second in today’s race at Pukekohe to title rival Shane van Gisbergen. An investigation has cleared van Gisbergen of a pitlane wheelspin breach, but his Race 28 victory remains subject to a protest from DJR Team Penske.
The Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver passed championship rival Scott McLaughlin twice in the 200km race and then built enough of a buffer to cancel out a late five-second penalty.
“The race was good, it was close the whole way and we had some heated battles out there,” commented van Gisbergen. “We managed to get to the front and we had a little gap as we were just trying to conserve everything, then they said we had a five-second penalty and that was a shock, I really had to push it until the end and I was absolutely spent after the race.
“The home crowd support was just crazy, seeing them cheering for both of us kiwis was awesome. Hopefully we put on a good show and looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.”
Unfortunately for the Shell V-Power Racing team, Fabian Coulthard was hit in the rear on lap 8, at the high-speed Turn 11 and had a huge crash which damaged both ends of the car. The Safety car was then called, so Car 12 could be recovered.
Most cars entered pit lane under caution for tyres and fuel. McLaughlin rejoined in 2nd position behind James Courtney, who short filled at his first stop to gain track position.
On the restart on lap 15, Courtney lead with McLaughlin in p2. Just like at the race start, Van Gisbergen pushed very hard to pass #17 off the restart, including an attempted bump and run at Turn 10.
Courtney began to hold up McLaughlin on lap 21, allowing Van Gisbergen to close the gap, before making the pass for p2 and the effective lead on lap 22.
McLaughlin reported that the car was good at the beginning of the stint, but it began to fade away towards the end. He struggled to stay with Courtney and Van Gisbergen from lap 30 onwards.
McLaughlin pitted from p3 on lap 32, rejoining in p21. He was ordered to put in qualifying style laps by engineer Ludo Lacroix, in an attempt to undercut those in front of him.
All other runners stopped with McLaughlin having worked his way back to p2, however Van Gisbergen chose to go long on this stint, finally stopping on lap 45. Scott’s efforts early in his final stint meant that he was able to pass Van Gisbergen before he returned to the circuit, taking a four-second lead into the final section of the race.
Using his fresher tyres, SVG closed the gap to two-seconds over time the following 10 laps. It is announced that he is being investigated for wheels spinning during Pitstop, with the investigation referred to post race.
The gap was down to 0.2s by lap 60, before SVG shoved his way past at the hairpin, receiving a 5sec time penalty for a driving infringement against McLaughlin. He held the lead to the flag, 5.5seconds ahead of McLaughlin.
“Shane and I raced hard, and obviously there was a bit of gamesmanship there,” commented McLaughlin. “I’m gutted we didn’t get the win at the end of the day, but we’ll be gracious in defeat, and humble in victory. We’ll give it a big crack for all the Ford fans tomorrow. It was shame to see Fabian in the wall again here, and again not his fault. I’m sure the crew will get it sorted, and he’ll be back on the grid again tomorrow.”
The result remains under a cloud, as an investigation into the pit stop infringement was referred to post race. The Championship points gap is now two points, with McLaughlin leading Van Gisbergen.
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1. Scott McLaughlin 3506
2. Shane Van Gisbergen 3504 -2
3. Jamie Whincup 3046 -460
4. Craig Lowndes 2997 -509
5. David Reynolds 2807 -699
6. Chaz Mostert 2567 -939
7. Fabian Coulthard 2354 -1152
8. Scott Pye 2350 -1156
9. Rick Kelly 2338 -1168
10. Nick Percat 2143 -1363
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