AllKiwi podium at Winton Supersprint
WINTON: Supercars championship leader Scott McLaughlin was upstaged by teammate Fabian Coulthard in the second race of the Winton Supersprint in Victoria yesterday.
The Shell VPower pair started the 67lap affair on the front row, but McLaughlin almost stalled his start and immediately slipped back from pole to eighth.
Ford flyer Coulthard did not have to do anything drastic from there as he cantered to the 10th win of his career.
The 35yearold crossed the line almost 11 seconds ahead of Red Bull Holden speedster Shane van Gisbergen, who claimed another crucial podium in second by backing up his third on Saturday.
A calculated early pit stop from McLaughlin allowed him to regain composure as he recovered ground to remarkably finish third to ensure an allNew Zealand podium.
It was Coulthard’s first victory since triumphing during the Sydney round in August last year, with his best previous result this season being two thirds in Melbourne.
He is the eighth different driver to win a race this year from 14 starts.
‘‘The car was on rails today and it was a pleasure to drive,’’ Coulthard said
‘‘I’m not sure what happened with Scotty. It’s unfortunate, because it would’ve been nice to have two Shell cars come through for the first two corners.’’
McLaughlin will enter the fourweek break bitterly disappointed after not converting two poles at Winton.
He will head to Darwin on June 15 with a 131point advantage in the standings over van Gisbergen.
‘‘I’ve had pretty bad ones in the past but I’ll take my good ones and learn from that one I stuffed up,’’ McLaughlin said. — AAP