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Albert Park Supercars: McLaughlin wins, late drama for van Gisbergen

Scott McLaughlin won the opening Supercars race at Albert Park, as a late mechanical issue for Shane van Gisbergen left Mustangs occupying the top five spots.

Scott McLaughlin, DJR Team Penske Ford

Scott McLaughlin, DJR Team Penske Ford

Dirk Klynsmith / Motorsport Images

The top three Fords bolted in the early stages of the 25-lap race, with little between leader McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard and Cam Waters behind him.

However there was quickly a big gap back to everyone else, fourth-placed van Gisbergen losing more than five seconds in the first three laps alone.

As van Gisbergen and the chasing pack continued to drop time, things stabilised for the runaway three at the front across the first stint.

By Lap 5 McLaughlin had given himself a 1.5s cushion over Coulthard, Waters another second further back.

Coulthard was first of the leaders to pit, coming in on Lap 10 having drifted to around 3s behind his teammate.

McLaughlin and Waters both pitted a later later, 5s between the pair as they hit the lane.

The undercut from pitting a lap earlier helped Coulthard close back to with a second of McLaughlin, while Waters almost immediately lost time on the Penske Mustangs after having to hold off Tickford teammate Will Davison, who'd stopped way back on Lap 8.

From there the two Penske drivers cruised through the second stint of the race, McLaughlin unable to completely drop Coulthard, but at the same time never coming under serious threat from his fellow Kiwi.

In the end they took a comprehensive team one-two, six-tenths separating them at the flag.

Waters had a mostly lonely run through the second stint on his way to third place, although that was somewhat helped by late drama for van Gisbergen.

The Red Bull Holden driver had run deep into his first stint, pitting on Lap 15 for a charge home on new rubber.

While the overcut meant he initially dropped down to sixth, he quickly cleared Tim Slade and Davison and set after Waters.

His charge was then cut short with three laps to go when the #97 Commodore rolled to a stop at the first corner, struck with a suspected transaxle issue.

Chaz Mostert was the big mover of the race, recovering from 22nd on the grid to come home fifth.

There was no strategic wizardry to his charge through the field, the Tickford driver running a balanced strategy with a Lap 12 stop.

Instead he made the majority of those spots on-track, and was less than two seconds behind Davison by the end of the race.

Slade was the best of the Holdens home in sixth, followed by fellow Commodore drivers James Courtney and Jamie Whincup, separated by three-tenths at the end after a race-long battle.

Lee Holdsworth made it six Mustangs in the Top 10, coming home ahead of David Reynolds.

Race results:

Cla # Driver Car Gap
1 17 New Zealand Scott McLaughlin  Ford Mustang GT  
2 12 New Zealand Fabian Coulthard  Ford Mustang GT 0.687
3 6 Australia Cameron Waters  Ford Mustang GT 4.619
4 23 Australia Will Davison  Ford Mustang GT 9.917
5 55 Australia Chaz Mostert  Ford Mustang GT 11.558
6 14 Australia Tim Slade  Holden Commodore ZB 15.820
7 22 Australia James Courtney  Holden Commodore ZB 21.760
8 88 Australia Jamie Whincup  Holden Commodore ZB 22.021
9 5 Australia Lee Holdsworth  Ford Mustang GT 22.450
10 9 Australia David Reynolds  Holden Commodore ZB 23.188
11 99 Australia Anton De Pasquale  Holden Commodore ZB 23.796
12 18 Australia Mark Winterbottom  Holden Commodore ZB 27.770
13 2 Australia Scott Pye  Holden Commodore ZB 29.407
14 8 Australia Nick Percat  Holden Commodore ZB 37.003
15 7 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner  Nissan Altima L33 37.759
16 15 Australia Rick Kelly  Nissan Altima L33 38.020
17 34 Australia James Golding  Holden Commodore ZB 38.964
18 33 New Zealand Richie Stanaway  Holden Commodore ZB 40.628
19 78 Switzerland Simona de Silvestro  Nissan Altima L33 40.886
20 21 Australia Macauley Jones  Holden Commodore ZB 56.277
21 19 Australia Jack Le Brocq  Holden Commodore ZB 56.797
22 3 Garry Jacobson  Nissan Altima L33 1'10.378
23 35 Australia Todd Hazelwood  Holden Commodore ZB 2 Laps
  97 New Zealand Shane van Gisbergen  Holden Commodore ZB 4 Laps

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