McLaughlin ninth, ensures series win
MELBOURNE: Ford driver Scott McLaughlin has secured the 2019 Supercars championship on the same day he had been penalised for an engine rule breach at the Bathurst 1000.
Forced to start yesterday’s Sandown 500 from the rear of the grid due to the breach, McLaughlin and codriver Alex Premat finished ninth.
That result ensures the DJR Team Penske star has an unassailable 550point championship lead heading into the season finale later this month in Newcastle.
Holden’s Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes won the race, making the most of a heartbreaking late issue for Red Bull Holden Racing Team stablemates Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander.
Van Gisbergen was cruising to his first Sandown crown after a marvellous drive by Tander had hauled them from 24th on the start line to third when the three time Bathurst winner handed over the Commodore 72 laps later.
The New Zealander overtook Whincup in the final round of pit stops and held a healthy lead when his right rear suspension suffered an issue which forced him to pit.
By the time van Gisbergen rejoined the race, Whincup was long gone and the Kiwi could only limp home 17th.
The victory is Lowndes’ sixth Sandown 500 win and Whincup’s fifth.
Ford’s Chaz Mostert came home second, ahead of Tickford Racing teammate Lee Holdsworth, who ended a long wait for a Supercars podium.
Controversy hit before the start of the race when stewards announced McLaughlin’s Ford Mustang had run an engine during qualifying and the top 10 shootout at last month’s Bathurst 1000 which breached regulations.
As a result, McLaughlin and Premat were sent to the back of the grid and DJR Team Penske was fined $30,000.
McLaughlin also had his Bathurst pole position and lap record scrapped but retained his race, due to the engine having been replaced before the
1000km event at Mount Panorama.
It is the second fine issued to DJR Team Penske since the controversial Bathurst weekend. A partially suspended $250,000 fine and the loss of 300 team championship points were imposed after Fabian Coulthard was directed to hold up the field during a late safety car at Bathurst.
Coulthard was relegated to 21st after the ‘‘go slow’’ tactics allowed leading duo McLaughlin and Whincup to pit without conceding track position. — AAP