Red Bull Holden Racing’s Jamie Whincup has scored his 106th career win coming out on top in the 200km finale to the Red Rooster SuperSprint at the Sydney Motorsport Park. The race saw the top five championship contenders, Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen, Fabian Coulthard and Chaz Mostert competing for the top five positions and as many championship points they could each muster.
In the end Whincup led home Coulthard, van Gisbergen, McLaughlin and Mostert, allowing Whincup to go one ahead of Craig Lowndes on the all-time win list.
“It has been a bit lean this year, as we all know, but great to get my second win of the year,” commented Whincup. “It all came down to pace, we had great pace all race. The guys and girls did an awesome job with the strategy, I think that was a big contributor.”
After qualifying fifth, Fabian Coulthard had a blinding start that nearly catapulted him into the cars in front. He settled into fourth, and then took more fuel than other cars at his first stop. That sacrificed track position early, but came back to him when his second stop was only six-seconds. He then drove up to and passed teammate McLaughlin for third, before passing Shane van Gisbergen to take second place, and his second podium of the weekend after victory yesterday. He is now 107 points behind McLaughlin in third place in the Championship.
“The car was good, thanks to the Shell V-Power Racing Team,” commented Coulthard. “It’s always a very good race car. After the last few rounds, it’s great to get back on the podium, get the win yesterday and close the points gap in the process. It’s great to head into the Pirtek Enduro Cup with some momentum, I’m really looking forward to it.”
McLaughlin was again the master of qualifying, taking his 13th pole of 2017, and his seventh in a row in qualifying – taking the double for the weekend. He got a slow start in the 200km race, before settling into fifth place for the opening stint. He pitted early, gained track position and then stayed third across a safety car and second pit stop. He went with Coulthard after the late race pass, very nearly stealing third place from Van Gisbergen down the start finish straight, to be fourth by only one-tenth of a second.
“I need to work on my starts, they’re my biggest issue right now,” commented McLaughlin. “Fourth isn’t a bad day overall, but we’re disappointed. Congrats to Fabian, great to see him back on the podium again. I’m disappointed I couldn’t join him, and I thought I could get Van Gisbergen. We went close, but not quite. At the end we still have the orange stickers, still lead the Championship and the team is strong leading into the Pirtek Enduro Cup.”
The win for Whincup has reduced McLaughlin’s lead to just 12 points heading to the three endurance rounds – Sandown, Bathurst and the Gold Coast.
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1. Scott McLaughlin 2058
2. Jamie Whincup 2046
3. Fabian Coulthard 1951
4. Shane van Gisbergen 1800
5. Chaz Mostert 1794
6. Mark Winterbottom 1503
7. Craig Lowndes 1446
8. David Reynolds 1395
9. Garth Tander 1368
10. Cameron Waters 1264
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1. Shell V-Power Racing Team 4044
2. Triple Eight Race Engineering (Whincup/Van Gisbergen) 3846
3. Prodrive Racing Australia (Winterbottom/Waters) 2802
4. Garry Rogers Motorsport 2403
5. Brad Jones Racing 2034
6. Erebus Motorsport 2028
7. Walkinshaw Racing 1944
8. Nissan Motorsport (R. Kelly/T. Kelly) 1914
9. Prodrive Racing Australia (Mostert) 1794
10. Nissan NISMO (Caruso/De Silvestro) 1743
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