Townsville Supercars: McLaughlin wins, takes points lead

The DJR Team Penske driver effectively led all bar one of the 70 laps, shaking off closest challenger Whincup to record a crucial win that sees him take the lead of the championship.

It was Whincup that got the best of the start, jumping polesitter McLaughlin off the line and leading through Turn 1 and into Turn 2. Mark Winterbottom made a blinder as well, slotting into third ahead of Prodrive Racing teammates Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters.

There were some big losers on the first lap, too. Shane van Gisbergen made a shocker of a launch, losing ground to Winterbottom and David Reynolds. But that was nothing compared to Fabian Coulthard’s woes, the points leader copping a whack in the backside from Tim Slade – helped by Garth Tander behind him – and spinning to the very back of the field.

Back at the front, the first lead change came at the end of Lap 2. McLaughlin made a straightforward move on Whincup at the last corner to take over at the front, the Penske driver quickly pulling a gap of around a second and a half as they eased away from the three Prodrive Fords.

It was Prodrive that blinked first in terms of the first round of stops. Waters hit the lane on Lap 14 from fifth, followed by Mostert a lap later, and then Winterbottom a lap later again.

McLaughlin made his stop on Lap 19, coming in with a 2.6s lead over Whincup and emerging ahead of the PRA Fords. Whincup followed him in a lap later, and unlike McLaughlin, Winterbottom, and Mostert the Triple Eight driver opted to take on more fuel. It meant he filtered back in between Mostert and Waters in what was effectively fourth.

Whincup didn’t stay in fourth for long, however. He charged up on the back of Mostert inside six or seven laps, and cruised past the #55 Ford at the last corner on Lap 28. He then went after Winterbottom, pulling off an ambitious dive into Turn 2 on Lap 33 to grab second spot.

By the time Winterbottom and Mostert made their second stops on Lap 41, they’d already dropped off the back of the leaders enough to be out of contention for victory. And their longer second stops meant that Mostert even lost a spot to van Gisbergen, who had pitted a lap earlier.

The leaders, separated by seven seconds, hit the lane for a second time together on Lap 43. While Whincup should have had a shorter stop, a set-up change was enough of a delay to make sure McLaughlin came out comfortably ahead.

From there, it was as simple as controlling to final 25 laps to take a four-second victory – and the championship lead.

“Man we had some fun out there, it was awesome," he said. "It’s cool [to lead the championship] it was our goal to come and get a couple of podiums and stay in the fight, so we’re well and truly doing that. We’ll see how we go tomorrow.”

Whincup came home a lonely second, with Winterbottom 15s behind the winner in third.

Van Gisbergen and Mostert staged a heck of a battle over fourth spot for much of the third stint. The pair ran nose-to-tail for almost 20 laps before van Gisbergen was hit with an engine problem. He did his best to hold on, but Mostert finally got by with 10 laps to go.

While Mostert cruised to fourth place, van Gisbergen was forced to nurse his ailing Commodore to the finish. That meant losing fifth to Waters with four laps to go, and then coming under fire from Reynolds on the penultimate lap. It wasn’t a clean pass, though, Reynolds nudging van Gisbergen wide. The Erebus driver opted to redress the position, by which point Craig Lowndes had claimed sixth spot – another incredible comeback from a poor showing in qualifying.

Van Gisbergen came home seventh, just holding off Tander who passed Reynolds on the last lap.

While that early spin did cost him the championship lead, Coulthard did a decent job of damage control to come home 11th thanks to a long second stint.

Coulthard did a decent job of damage control to come home 11th thanks to a long second stint, but it was still costly in terms of the championship. He dropped from first to third, 68 points behind his teammate. Just 18 points now separate McLaughlin and Whincup.