Aussie V8 has Coulthard winning the Tyerpower Tasmania SuperSprint

Fabian Coulthard and his Shell V-Power Racing team-mate Scott McLaughlin drove to a clear win an incident packed finale to the Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint.

The Shell Fords were gifted the front-running when, for the second day in succession, Chaz Mostert made an unforced error that saw him slide out of the lead. Starting third, Mostert jumped to the front when short-filled at the first round of stops and after an impressive middle stint continued in the lead when the second fuel loads were taken. He fell foul of a slippery Turn 6 on lap 58, however, allowing Coulthard to hand the Shell team its first championship race win since Roger Penske’s takeover of the squad. It was the perfect response from Coulthard after being dealt a 35-point penalty just hours before the start of the race following an investigation into yesterday’s carnage.

A series of Safety Cars ensured the race reached its time cut-off eight laps short of its scheduled 84, with just three laps from the final restart to the chequered flag. Jamie Whincup trailed the Shell Fords home in third ahead of Craig Lowndes, David Reynolds, Cameron Waters, Chaz Mostert, Tim Slade and Shane van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen had to recover from a 15 second time penalty served at his second pitstop after an early clash with Todd Kelly. The penalty saw the Kiwi drop to the tail of the lead lap, making the remainder of the day a salvage mission for championship points. Both rounds of pitstops took place under Safety Car – triggered by single-car crashes for Jason Bright and Tim Blanchard on laps five and 42 respectively. A wet track had seen all bar three cars – Cameron Waters, Bright and Alex Rullo – elect for the safe option of starting on wets.

All took the chance under the first yellow to move to slicks, which despite occasional drizzle proved the rubber of choice for the duration. Waters drove maturely during his early laps on slicks and would emerge from the first stops in second, attacking team-mate Mostert for the lead on the restart.

Two further Safety Cars were called later in the race when Lee Holdsworth and then Todd Kelly found the gravel at turn six. Van Gisbergen now holds a 20 point lead over Coulthard, with Whincup a further 31 arrears in third.

Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint Results

Position / Driver / Team	Started	Laps	Race Time	Points
1 Fabian Coulthard › Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Falcon FG/X	6 5	76	01:23:36.5118	150
2 Scott McLaughlin › Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Falcon FG/X	2 0	76	01:23:37.2024	138
3 Jamie Whincup › Red Bull Holden Racing Aust Holden Commodore VF	1 2	76	01:23:37.6543	129
4 Craig Lowndes › TeamVortex Holden Commodore VF	8 4	76	01:23:38.0522	120
5 David Reynolds › Erebus Penrite Racing Holden Commodore VF	9 4	76	01:23:38.6916	111
6 Cameron Waters › Monster Energy Racing Ford Falcon FG/X	10 4	76	01:23:39.3856	102
7 Chaz Mostert › Supercheap Auto Racing Ford Falcon FG/X	3 4	76	01:23:39.7454	96
8 Tim Slade › Freightliner Racing Holden Commodore VF	4 4	76	01:23:41.0680	90
9 Shane van Gisbergen › Red Bull Holden Racing Aust Holden Commodore VF	5 4	76	01:23:41.3203	84
10 Garth Tander › Wilson Security Racing GRM Holden Commodore VF	14 4	76	01:23:41.8222	78
11 Nick Percat › BIANTE 1:1 Holden Commodore VF	16 5	76	01:23:42.0246	72
12 Scott Pye › Mobil 1 HSV Racing Holden Commodore VF	15 3	76	01:23:42.5605	69
13 Mark Winterbottom › The Bottle-O Racing Team Ford Falcon FG/X	12 1	76	01:23:43.1166	66
14 Dale Wood › Erebus GB Galvanizing Racing Holden Commodore VF	18 4	76	01:23:44.0569	63
15 Simona De Silvestro › Team Harvey Norman Nissan Altima	20 5	76	01:23:44.4366	60
16 Michael Caruso › Nissan Motorsport Nissan Altima	13 3	75	01:23:45.7974	57
17 Lee Holdsworth › Preston Hire Racing Holden Commodore VF	11 6	73	01:23:46.5555	54
18 Todd Kelly › carsales Racing Nissan Altima	7 11	72	01:24:35.2830	51
19 James Moffat › Wilson Security Racing GRM Holden Commodore VF	19 0	70	01:24:12.7332	48