‘I can’t believe I’ve won’
Scott McLaughlin has become the first New Zealand main game driver to win the Bathurst 1000 since Greg Murphy in 2004.
McLaughlin held out compatriot Shane van Gisbergen in a one-lap dash to the line following a safety car. James Courtney finished the race in third position.
In what will rank as one of the most thrilling finishes to the Bathurst 1000s, the six-hour 27-minute race came down to just one lap as a crash by another Kiwi, Andre Heimgartner, brought out a safety car to bunch up McLaughlin and van Gisbergen.
Van Gisbergen had a little poke to look for a gap on the way up the mountain, but McLaughlin never gave him a chance to take the lead.
‘‘I can’t believe I’ve won the bloody Bathurst 1000,’’ McLaughlin said straight after the race.
The victory also makes it increasingly more likely that McLaughlin, who had Alex Premat as his co-driver, will win back-to-back Supercars championships.
‘‘I have dreamt about this. I put so much pressure on myself to make this a good one but I am so proud of this team.’’
This will go down as the second time van Gisbergen has just missed out on winning the race, also finishing second in 2016.
Polesitter McLaughlin trailed Holden star Jamie Whincup – who finished fourth – late in the race. But four-time Bathurst winner Whincup surrendered an 11.5 second advantage when he pitted for fuel and McLaughlin, then in second place, opted to stay on track, reclaiming the race lead after a safety car was called with 11 laps left.
It looked like a two-horse race with 26 laps to go after McLaughlin’s then third-placed Ford team-mate Fabian Coulthard controversially slowed down to back up the rest of the field, as the series leader and Whincup raced to their garage for a pit stop during a safety-car period to get much-needed fuel.
Coulthard’s move ensured a 13-second gap between van Gisbergen and race leaders Whincup and McLaughlin.
It eliminated van Gisbergen’s 10-second fuel advantage on McLaughlin and Whincup on the run home. Coulthard copped a pit-lane penalty for the unsportsmanlike tactic.