Kiwi McLaughlin wins again
Ford’s Scott McLaughlin has proved untouchable in his Falcon at the Phillip Island 500, with the Shell V-Power ace claiming a rare Supercars double.
The New Zealand driver backed up his winning efforts from race one a day earlier by taking out the second 250km event on Sunday.
The 24-year-old started from pole in both races and again proved too strong in race 10 of the season to shoot ahead in the championship standings.
Veteran Nissan driver Rick Kelly looked to be a chance of edging McLaughlin for the first half of the 57-lap race but slipped up in his second pit stop.
It was left to Erebus Motorsport’s David Reynolds, in his ZB Commodore, to put pressure on McLaughlin and he briefly held the lead.
But McLaughlin snatched back the advantage on lap 31 by overtaking Reynolds in almost identical fashion to his racewinning move against Red Bull Holden rival Jamie Whincup on Saturday. He was comfortable from there as Reynolds and Kelly joined the Kiwi gun on the podium.
It was McLaughlin’s sixth victory at the Victorian circuit, taking him to fourth on the alltime list at the venue behind Craig Lowndes, Mark Skaife and Glenn Seton. His repeat success comes two years after he claimed both races at Phillip Island, taking his consecutive poles at the track to an extraordinary six. McLaughlin’s terrific results, combined with a costly error from Whincup on Saturday, shot him into a commanding lead after the fourth event of the year.
Mobil 1 Boost Mobile’s James Courtney was the only driver not to finish, bombing out on lap five. Rounding out the top-five was McLaughlin’s Shell V-Power teammate Fabian Coulthard and Nissan’s Michael Caruso, while Whincup was a disappointing 9th.