Townsville Supercars: McLaughlin claims 13th season win

The DJR Team Penske driver was able to outlast an aggressive strategic move from Jamie Whincup to set up a 13th win of the season, with a pitstop blunder having taken polesitter David Reynolds outs of contention. 

McLaughlin's final winning margin was 4.7s over Whincup and Chaz Mostert.

Reynolds led the first part of the race, spending the opening 12 laps with mirrors full of Mostert's Mustang.

It wasn't until third-placed McLaughlin started to put the pressure on Mostert that Reynolds was able to pull away, leaving the two Mustangs to squabble over second place as he streaked into the lead.

The battle for second came to a head on Lap 16, McLaughlin and Mostert running side-by-side through from Turn 4 to Turn 6. Mostert was initially able to hang on, before being forced to concede the position two laps later.

Mostert made his first stop the next time around, followed by McLaughlin and Reynolds on Laps 21 and 22 respectively. 

It was actually Jamie Whincup who came out of the first round of stops with the effective lead, thanks to the undercut from having pitted on Lap 16.

Having taken on the most fuel of the leaders, Reynolds came out just ahead of McLaughlin. He was unable to shake the Penske Ford, however, with McLaughlin grabbing second spot on Lap 31.

When Whincup made his second stop on Lap 38 McLaughlin found himself with a 5s lead over a struggling Reynolds. 

Where Reynolds' race really fell over, however, was his Lap 43 stop. A wheel nut problem turned what should have been a short service into a long one, taking him out of contention.

McLaughlin stopped a lap later, coming out 2s behind Whincup. Within a handful of laps the gap was gone, and on Lap 50 McLaughlin charged down the inside of Whincup at the final corner to grab a lead he would comfortably hang on to until the end. 

Mostert quickly caught Whincup once McLaughlin was through, but couldn't get a move on the seven-time champ done before his front tyres were past their best. 

Having staved off the initial challenge from Mostert, Whincup was even able to re-establish a gap in the closing laps, 3s separating the pair at the flag.

Shane van Gisbergen charged his way to fourth, passing Reynolds with a few laps to go before running down Fabian Coulthard on the final lap.

Reynolds ended up sixth, followed by Will Davison, Nick Percat, Mark Winterbottom and Lee Holdsworth.

Race results:

Cla	Driver	Car	Time
1	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Mustang GT
2	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	4.7025
3	Chaz Mostert	Ford Mustang GT	7.3571
4	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	10.0528
5	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Mustang GT	10.6977
6	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore ZB	17.5361
7	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	24.1396
8	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	27.4907
9	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	42.8980
10	Lee Holdsworth	Ford Mustang GT	43.6385
11	Anton De Pasquale	Holden Commodore ZB	48.3833
12	Andre Heimgartner	Nissan Altima	51.8543
13	James Courtney	Holden Commodore ZB	53.2488
14	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore ZB	1'02.1308
15	James Golding	Holden Commodore ZB	1'02.8807
16	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore ZB	1'04.1986
17	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	1'04.7663
18	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	1'08.3095
19	Simona de Silvestro	Nissan Altima	1 lap
20	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	1 lap
21	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	1 lap
22	Michael Caruso	Holden Commodore ZB	1 lap
23	Jack Le Brocq	Holden Commodore ZB	1 lap
24	Garry Jacobson	Nissan Altima	1 lap
View full results