Kiwi drives rivals round the Bend
Kiwi driver Scott McLaughlin cantered to his 11th win of the Supercars season after dominating the last race of the Tailem Bend SuperSprint from pole.
His 54th career victory yesterday extends his almost unassailable championship lead as he looks to clinch a third-straight title.
McLaughlin’s superb drive at the South Australian circuit was all the more satisfying with teammate Fabian Coulthard crossing the line two seconds behind to make it a Shell V-Power one-two.
‘‘Proud of ‘Fabs’ effort; he’s been on the receiving end of a few bad runs, but he hasn’t forgotten how to drive. He’s bloody awesome and a great team-mate,’’ McLaughlin said.
‘‘The car is fantastic and a pleasure to drive and really proud of everyone at Shell V-Power to be able to bounce back after [Saturday].’’
McLaughlin’s only other contender for the championship, Red Bull Holden legend Jamie Whincup, responded after a horror first two races of the round to pinch third place after passing Penrite’s Anton de Pasquale with three laps to go.
Veterans James Courtney and Mark Winterbottom were caught up in an early tangle and failed to finish the race.
Holden’s Winterbottom was frustrated with his crushed Commodore ending up in the garage, saying it ‘‘caps off a pretty s. . .house weekend’’.
Earlier, Red Bull Holden’s Shane Van Gisbergen continued his 2020 fightback after winning a third Supercars race from his past four starts.
He endured a forgettable season full of near-misses until breaking through for two victories on the final day of the second Townsville SuperSprint two weeks ago.
Drivers will be back at Tailem Bend next weekend for three more sprint races, which will be the last round before the Bathurst 1000 season finale.