Rising V8 Supercars star Scott McLaughlin claimed the third win of his rookie season in race two of the Queensland Raceway weekend.
McLaughlin had already taken wins in the non-championship Melbourne Formula 1 support event and the Pukekohe points round.
The Garry Rogers Holden beat polesitting champion Jamie Whincup’s Triple 8 Commodore off the line on a slightly damp track.
The circuit very rapidly dried and McLaughlin was able to hold Whincup at arm’s length throughout.
He was untroubled by a safety car to retrieve debris from Lee Holdsworth’s Mercedes, ultimately winning by 0.6 seconds.
James Courtney celebrated his new Holden Racing Team deal with a podium, as he shadowed the leaders in third.
Fabian Coulthard emerged from a wild early gaggle to take a lonely fourth.
His Brad Jones Holden team-mate Jason Bright grabbed fifth from star rookie Chaz Mostert on the line.
Mostert had qualified a stunning fourth and briefly jumped to second on lap one before being elbowed back.
Ford Performance Racing duo Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom and Whincup’s team-mate Craig Lowndes all had underwhelming qualifying sessions and could not recover.
They finished ninth, 10th and 12th, with a similarly disappointed Garth Tander among them in 11th.
