McLaughlin wins opening race at CoreStaff Darwin SuperSprint

Scott McLaughlin has won the opening race of the CoreStaff Darwin SuperSprint at Hidden Valley Raceway today, taking his Supercars career race wins to 49. Scond home was championship rival Jamie Whincup with
Cam Waters third.

The win is the 49th of McLaughlin’s career, moving him ahead of Peter Brock to a clear fifth on the all-time winner’s list, which is topped by Whincup on 120.

“The start of the race was really pivotal to be able to get in front of Jamie and into P1, because I was able to do my own race from then on,” commented McLaughlin.

“The boy’s pitstop was unbelievable, really fast, and I was so proud of them. They’ve been working hard and today’s race was a nice start to the weekend.

“My car was really strong throughout the run, and I was happy with the way that it just continued to do the same pace lap-after-lap. It was a good start to the weekend, so I’m pretty happy.”

With only Dunlop soft tyre compounds allocated by Supercars, tyre choice was not an issue for Race 16. Starting on the clean line, McLaughlin moved straight into P1 off the line and into the first turn ahead of ARMOR ALL Pole winner Jamie Whincup.

On lap 8, McLaughlin made his compulsory stop and after saving tyres earlier in Qualifying, had two green tyres fitted to the rear of his Mustang.

Rival Whincup responded and stopped one lap later, but McLaughlin was able to stay ahead when he rejoined the race.

“It was all about the start today, and Scotty (McLaughlin) just got a little bit better drive on the clean outside line,” said Whincup. “I was trying to have a bit of overlap so he couldn’t come across, but he just got in front enough to control it into turn one.”

Team mate Fabian Coulthard showed solid pace following his stop, making up ground and getting past the Walkinshaw Commodore of Bryce Fullwood. With 15 laps remaining, Coulthard was wedged between Lee Holdsworth and Nick Percat, but Percat had pace and was able to move past. Anton de Pasquale was also able to make a move on Coulthard one lap later.

In the closing stages of the race, Mostert made contact with the No. 12 Mustang as he made his way past, leaving Coulthard to try and fend off van Gisbergen who passed him on the last corner. McLaughlin comfortably won the 38-lap sprint race while Coulthard added another top 10 result to his resume, finish in P10.

Two more races tomorrow round out the Darwin SuperSprint weekend.

Race 16 Results