Shell V-Power Racing’s Scott McLaughlin has become the first driver to win Supercars’ Darwin Triple Crown, with victory over David Reynolds on Sunday at Hidden Valley. Team mate and championship rival Fabian Coulthard came in third.
“That’s something pretty special,” said McLaughlin. “I’m just buzzing after that. To do something that no one else has done is amazing, and I couldn’t have done it without all the awesome guys and girls in my team.
“I love doing what I do and I’ll never get tired of winning. “
Earlier in the day McLaughlin snatched pole position from Coulthard in the Top 10 Shootout. That pole was his 11th for the season, and saw him equal the great Peter Brock on 57 career poles to be equal second on the all-time Supercars list.
With a Shell V-Power Racing Team front-row lockout, both cars needed to start well and keep it clean down the long run to Turn 1 here at Hidden Valley Raceway.
They were side-by-side though Turn 1, before McLaughlin took the lead on exit and Coulthard slipped to p3 as David Reynolds slid past.
McLaughlin worked to quickly build an impressive gap, that was over five-seconds after 10 laps. Coulthard struggled in the dirty air behind Reynolds’ Holden, and stayed within half a second of him throughout the opening stint.
Coulthard took his first stop on lap 17, returning to track after good work in pit lane in effective third place. McLaughlin followed a lap later, having built a 7.5-second lead. He returned to the track as effective leader and was never headed, even maintaining the lead as he took his final stop.
Coulthard battled through the middle section of the race, making moves including an excellent pass on Anton de Pasquale at the final corner to nab third place. He pushed hard to get to Reynolds’ bumper late in the race, however had to settle for the final place on the podium.
McLaughlin crossed the finish line 14-seconds in front of Reynolds to secure his 12th victory of the year and extend his Championship lead to 319-points over his teammate.
Coulthard sits 140-points clear of David Reynolds in second place. The team continues to lead the Teams’ points, now with a 814-point buffer over Triple Eight.
Race 16 results
Pos Driver Laps/Diff
1 Scott McLaughlin 70 Laps
2 David Reynolds +13.8319
3 Fabian Coulthard +14.8754
4 Cameron Waters +21.1617
5 Jamie Whincup +21.9110
6 Chaz Mostert +22.3242
7 ee Holdsworth +22.9110
8 Anton De Pasquale +27.6387
9 Will Davison +29.3597
10 Shane van Gisbergen +31.9868
11 Andre Heimgartner +35.7351
12 Mark Winterbottom +36.4050
13 Todd Hazelwood +46.8917
14 James Courtney +46.9234
15 Nick Percat +55.3366
16 Rick Kelly +57.2348
17 James Golding +1 lap
18 Tim Slade +1 lap
19 Scott Pye +1 lap
20 Simona de Silvestro +1 lap
21 Jack Le Brocq +1 lap
22 Macauley Jones +1 lap
23 Chris Pither +1 lap
24 Garry Jacobson +1 lap
25 Jack Smith +1 lap
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