A star is born as McLaughlin scores maiden V8SC win

Autosport

Rookie Scott McLaughlin claimed his first V8 Supercars victory in the final race of the Australian Grand Prix-supporting event in Melbourne.

The Garry Rogers Motorsport driver made a flying start from seventh place on the grid to take fifth, moving up to third when both Jason Bright and Will Davison made their mandatory pitstops at the end of the second lap.

Fabian Coulthard, who led from pole position, and David Reynolds, who had jumped to second on the run to the first corner, waited until laps six and seven respectively to pit.

McLaughlin was the best-placed of the drivers who had already made their stops and when Coulthard understeered off the track after emerging from the pits still ahead, he took a lead he would never lose.

Lowndes gave Coulthard a light tap into Turn 6 on the same lap to take second, which he held to the finish despite intense pressure from the New Zealander.

Reynolds finished fourth ahead of Alex Davison and Jamie Whincup, the latter making impressive progress from the lower reaches of the grid after being excluded from race three.

Coulthard’s third place, combined with his victories in the first three races of the weekend, handed him overall victory in the non-championship event.

Results - 12 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                      Time/Gap
 1.  Scott McLaughlin     GRM Holden                 24m35.7698s
 2.  Craig Lowndes        Triple 8 Holden              + 1.6852s
 3.  Fabian Coulthard     Brad Jones Holden            + 2.0032s
 4.  David Reynolds       Rod Nash/FPR Ford            + 2.4752s
 5.  Alex Davison         Schwerkolt/FPR Ford          + 6.7753s
 6.  Jamie Whincup        Triple 8 Holden              + 8.3943s
 7.  Todd Kelly           Nissan                       + 9.3351s
 8.  Will Davison         FPR Ford                    + 13.8983s
 9.  Shane van Gisbergen  Tekno Holden                + 14.0137s
10.  James Moffat         Nissan                      + 14.3804s
11.  Jason Bright         Brad Jones Holden           + 16.4297s
12.  Michael Caruso       Nissan                      + 20.0522s
13.  Rick Kelly           Nissan                      + 21.3834s
14.  Tim Blanchard        DJR Ford                    + 22.1463s
15.  David Wall           Britek/BJR Holden           + 22.6272s
16.  Scott Pye            Dumbrell Holden             + 27.7706s
17.  Dean Fiore           Dumbrell Holden             + 27.9402s
18.  Jonny Reid           DJR Ford                    + 28.6582s
19.  Tony D'Alberto       D'Alberto Holden            + 30.6041s
20.  Lee Holdsworth       Erebus Mercedes             + 34.1071s
21.  Maro Engel           Erebus Mercedes             + 34.3546s

Retirements:

     Jonathon Webb        Tekno Holden                    6 laps
     Garth Tander         HRT Holden                      5 laps
     Tim Slade            Rosenberg/Erebus Mercedes       2 laps
     Mark Winterbottom    FPR Ford                        0 laps
     James Courtney       HRT Holden                      0 laps
     Russell Ingall       Walkinshaw/HRT Holden           0 laps

A star is born as McLaughlin scores maiden V8SC win

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