Safety car chaos as Supercars champ does it again

A SAFETY car violation by Holden’s Jamie Whincup has overshadowed Scott McLaughlin’s record-breaking win in yesterday’s 200km Supercars race in New Zealand.

Championship leader McLaughlin claimed his 17th win of 2019 — eclipsing Craig Lowndes’s 1996 record of 16 victories in a season — in a race that was marred by safety car confusion.

A technical issue involving Holden’s David Reynolds brought out the safety car in lap 21 of the 70-lap race at Auckland’s Pukekohe Park.

Despite McLaughlin being the race leader at that time, the safety car picked up the field in front of Whincup.

Inexplicably, just as he did at the 2015 Bathurst 1000, Whincup drove past the safety car despite its flashing yellow warning lights being lit.

To compound the error, the safety car again picked up the field behind Whincup a lap later, costing several cars track position, including Lee Holdsworth, who was effectively running second at the time. The Ford driver was one of three Tickford Racing pilots to lose positions in the confusion and team principal Tim Edwards led the chorus of protests.

“There’s a whole group of cars behind Jamie that had all pitted, so it’s a monumental stuff-up — inexcusable,” Edwards said. “It’s hard to calm them down because, even sitting in the cockpit, they know there’s been a stuff-up. They’re just irate.”

Holdsworth crossed the line 15th. For his part in the chaos, Whincup was issued with a drive-through pit-lane penalty — cruelling any hopes the Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver had of winning his second race of the season, having claimed his first pole position for 2019 earlier yesterday.