From 19th on the grid with a good race pace and a great pit strategy saw him claim victory in Race 12. McLaughlin dodged two incidents in the first two laps, either one of which could have cost him a big chunk of championship points, while DJR Team Penske’s three-stop strategy proved the right one.
The points leader and Saturday race winner endured a difficult start to the day, missing out on an automatic Q2 spot after failing to make the Top 10 in this morning’s practice session.
He then failed to get out of Q1 during qualifying, which left him 19th on the grid for today’s 200-kilometre marathon around the high-deg Barbagallo Raceway circuit.
But even the lowly grid spot couldn’t stop McLaughlin taking a fourth consecutive Supercars race win, the Kiwi charging through the field to grab another 150 points.
According to McLaughlin, it was the drive of his career. McLaughlin’s fourth straight victory has him in a strong lead of the championship, 158 points ahead of van Gisbergen in second and 168 points ahead of Reynolds in third.
Top 10 Scoreboard
# Driver Country Manufacturer Time
01 Scott McLaughlin flag Ford 83 laps
02 David Reynolds flag Holden +7.9804
03 Craig Lowndes flag Holden +10.6476
04 James Courtney flag Holden +12.1612
05 Shane van Gisbergen flag Holden +17.6959
06 Jamie Whincup flag Holden +18.7973
07 Nick Percat flag Holden +19.9819
08 Andre Heimgartner flag Nissan +24.5580
09 Jack Le Brocq flag Holden +24.9147
10 Rick Kelly flag Nissan +28.2302
