Two pole positions, a second place in Race 1 and a win in Race 2 was more than enough for up and coming superstar Scott McLaughlin to win again in V8 SuperTourers.

Teamed up with talented V8 Supercar driver Jono Webb, the duo translated their superb qualifying pace – where they locked out pole position for both races with first and second fastest times from qualifying – into a second place in Race 1 and a Race 2 win.

This matched the performance of the Mike Pero Mortgages M3 Racing duo of Nick Cassidy and Jack Perkins, but two pole positions were enough to give McLaughlin and Webb the memorial Ashley Stichbury Trophy – which they received from the late ace’s son Zach in front of the biggest crowd seen at a circuit racing event seen at the Taupo circuit since the days of A1GP.

Their driver changes – compulsory in the two 56 lap races – were amongst the quickest but they were hampered in Race 1 with a tyre-hungry car. Some small adjustments to the set up gave them more consistency in Race 2 and they made the most of it, winning and taking the lead in the V8 SuperTourers enduro series.

They didn’t have it all their own way though. Series debutants Cassidy and Perkins put in a mega quick driver changeover on Race 1 and jumped the McLaughlin and Webb car to take a lead they would not lose, and in Race 2 after some early contact that damaged the passenger side of the car, they had no real answer to the flying McLaughlin and Webb but had the measure of the rest.

Championship leader John McIntyre and new co-driver Jono Lester translated a poor qualifying performance on Saturday into two excellent third place finishes – McIntyre’s trademark press on style getting him past the Richard Moore/ Owen Kelly car late on in the second race.

Fourth was a great result for the Skinny Mobile-backed car after two consistent performances and capped a good day for M3 Racing. Craig Baird and Chris Pither were factors in both races and were in the thick of two fantastic mid-field battles in each. Fifth was no more than they deserved after a strong weekend. Strong too was JMR’s second CRC Motornews car of Steve Richards and Will Bamber, which turned great pace in Race 2 into sixth overall.

For championship contenders International Motorsport it was a difficult weekend. In Race 1, Jonny Reid and Wade Cunningham ran out of fuel on the last lap and in the second race, got faster and faster to take sixth at the flag and seventh overall for the round, taking more valuable points. Ant Pedersen and Matt Halliday endured an even tougher time. Halliday was spun in Race 1 and that cost the crew two laps and any chance of success. In Race 2 they finished eighth for 13th overall.

Tasman’s Daniel Gaunt and Andrew Waite – in only the team’s second SuperTourer event – were right on the pace, and in Race 2 were at the sharp end for the first part of the race. Eighth overall was a good result, but the team would perhaps have hoped for a bit more after showing real speed.

Ninth overall were Andy Booth and Tony D’Alberto and this was another team that would leave Taupo a little disappointed after both drivers showed good qualifying pace and consistency. They never quite recovered from a D’Alberto drive through penalty in Race 1, however.

Rounding out the top ten were Colin Corkery and Jeroen Bleekemolen finished a solid tenth, the best performance for the Elf/Koba Batteries car in the series so far and a nice reward for team Racing Projects after the mammoth car rebuild following Corkery’s Manfeild shunt.

Father’s Day 400 – Overall result (Aggregate Race 1 and Race 2)

McLaughlin and Webb win Taupo’s Father’s Day 400