SCOTT PUSHES IT
SCOTT McLaughlin revived his Supercars championship dream yesterday by pulling off the greatest comeback in the history of the Gold Coast 600.
In a staggering drive that erased his Bathurst 1000 heartbreak, the DJR- Team Penske star flew his Falcon from 13th to first to become just the second driver to win a Surfers Paradise street fight from outside the top 10.
Both a masterpiece of speed and strategy, McLaughlin rocketed through the field after a qualifying fail to beat Jamie Whincup in a car that ran out of fuel shortly after he crossed the finish line.
“We had to save a bit of fuel there towards the end,’’ McLaughlin said.
“And we ended up running out anyway before I got to do a burnout. I had to push my car into victory lane but that isn’t a bad place to push it to.’’
McLaughlin took the lead on lap 66 following an undercut pit- stop masterstroke and survived a double Red Bull Holden Racing Team attack to save his championship hopes after a horror qualifying session looked to have ended his charge.
He lost his championship lead at Bathurst last round when an engine failure forced him to retire.
“Everyone did a wonderful job,’’ McLaughlin said.
“Oh my God. This is so good after what happened at Bathurst.’’
Whincup finished second to take the championship lead from Fabian Coulthard as the thrilling five- way title race continued.
The closest finish in the history of the sport looms with just 189 points separating first from fifth.
Whincup will head into the penultimate round in New Zealand next week leading the championship for the first time this year. Coul- thard, McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert and van Gisbergen are all out to mow him down.
“It is all good,’’ Whincup said. “We are obviously happy with that.
“We needed a bit more pace and needed to be a bit more aggressive on strategy. But Scotty deserved to win. They did a great job.’’
A qualifying fail for DJRPenske put Mclaughlin and Coulthard under pressure as both championship hopefuls missed the top- 10 shootout.
In a horror session for the season heavyweights, McLaughlin stumbled his way to 13th, while Coulthard slumped to 22nd.
The slow session had the potential to cripple both their championship bids as Whincup, van Gisbergen and Mostert all comfortably cruised into the top 10.
And Red Bull went on a roll when Whincup won the shootout and van Gisbergen was second fastest to secure a front- row start.
Dave Reynolds’ bid to follow up his Bathurst victory with a Gold Coast win ended on lap 14 when Luke Youlden hit the fence and the pair had to retire.