Supercars Newcastle: Scott McLaughlin claims Race 30 after Shane van Gisbergen penalty

Contributor
James Pavey
Supercars Newcastle: Scott McLaughlin claims Race 30 after Shane van Gisbergen penalty image

UPDATE

Shane van Gisbergen has been handed a 25-second post-race penalty, which has seen his his Saturday win in Newcastle stripped.

With the win now Scott McLaughlin's - and with van Gisbergen dropping to fifth in the race result - the championship ramifications are huge.

McLaughlin held a two-point lead over van Gisbergen overnnight, but that has now extended to 53 points with one 150-point race remaining.

Stewards confirmed the time penalty on Sunday morning following last night’s investigation into an alleged refuelling breach at van Gisbergen's third pitstop, which was taken under the safety car.

EARLIER

One lap earlier, and Scott McLaughlin would have been home.

However, the 95th and final lap of the Saturday race in Newcastle proved decisive for the championship leader, with Shane van Gisbergen diving through with the flag in sight to seal victory in Race 30.

With the win, van Gisbergen cuts McLaughlin's championship lead to just two points, with one race remaining.

The equation is simple - he who finishes ahead of the other on Sunday will be crowned 2018 champion.

Jamie Whincup won the start over pole man van Gisbergen, while Fabian Coulthard jumped Shell V-Power Racing stablemate McLaughlin.


However, the championship contenders were given track position by their teammates, and as Whincup later pitted to avoid the double stack, van Gisbergen led McLaughlin.


As the field gradually pitted, van Gisbergen still led McLaughlin, as Coulthard defended from Whincup down the pack.

On lap 24, as Whincup made his move at the turn 11 hairpin, Coulthard held his line - but Whincup was helped into the tyre barrier at the final corner.


Whincup recovered, but no further action in relation to the incident was taken by race control.

Van Gisbergen and McLaughlin emerged after their stops line astern, and it was a race of two - until Coulthard found the wall at turn one, was collected by an unlucky Nick Percat, before being T-boned by Tim Blanchard.


With the safety car called, the field desperately tried to negate through what quickly became a race of pit strategy and fuel conservation.

However, van Gisbergen pitted a third time under the safety car, as a result of having to complete the 140-litre fuel drop.

McLaughlin emerged in the lead with van Gisbergen needing work to do, with Scott Pye and Chaz Mostert keeping the leader company in the closing stages.

However, on lap 63, Mostert did a Coulthard and slid into the turn one tyre wall, and returned to the pits with a damaged Falcon.


As Pye later pitted, that left McLaughlin with a handy gap over van Gisbergen - but with the Shell V-Power Racing entry tight on fuel, it was anyone's guess from there.

Those guesses turned into nail-biting drama as McLaughlin's gap rapidly eroded on the final lap, before van Gisbergen made the decisive pass to the roar of Holden fans at the turn 11 hairpin.


Van Gisbergen crossed the line for his eighth win of the season, while McLaughlin crawled over the line to finish second ahead of David Reynolds.

Whincup, Pye, Mark Winterbottom, James Courtney, Andre Heimgartner, Cameron Waters and Rick Kelly rounded out the top 10.

Van Gisbergen was near-speechless after the race.

“What a race. I could see Scotty was really charging. It was awesome, just two teams fighting hard," van Gisbergen said.

“They obviously made a risky call to get all their fuel in, they did well there... I thought it was all over.

“It’s winner takes all tomorrow. It’s awesome. I’m really enjoying the battle."

McLaughlin remained optimistic despite the final-lap despair.

“I didn’t actually think we were that close [on fuel]... I thought we were pretty good there for a while and then it started to get a bit more intense with the call on the fuel," McLaughlin said.

“But our car was really strong. If I pull my finger out and we qualify a bit better, we’ll be right.”

SUPERCARS: NEWCASTLE 500

UPDATED RACE 30 RESULTS

PositionDriverCarMargin
1stScott McLaughlinFord 
2ndDavid ReynoldsHolden+7.005
3rdJamie WhincupHolden+16.487
4thScott PyeHolden+18.705
5thShane van GisbergenHolden+21.230
6thMark WinterbottomFord+40.477
7thJames CourtneyHolden+41.752
8thAndre HeimgartnerNissan+49.927
9thCameron WatersFord+51.274
10thRick KellyNissan+52.106
11thSimona De SilvestroNissan+54.163
12thAnton De PasqualeHolden+56.542
13thLee HoldsworthHolden+58.896
14thTodd HazelwoodHolden+1:03.228
15thMichael CarusoNissan+1:05.510
16thWill DavisonFord+1 LAP
17thRichie StanawayFord+1 LAP
18thTim SladeHolden+1 LAP
19thJack Le BrocqHolden+2 LAPS
20thJames GoldingHolden+4 LAPS
21stChaz MostertFord+5 LAPS
22ndGarth TanderHolden+5 LAPS
23rdCraig LowndesHolden+7 LAPS
DNFNick PercatHoldenDamage
DNFFabian CoulthardFordAccident
DNFTim BlanchardHoldenAccident


SUPERCARS: CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

PositionDriverCarPoints/Margin
1stScott McLaughlinFord3806
2ndShane van GisbergenHolden-53
3rdJamie WhincupHolden-499
4thCraig LowndesHolden-641
5thDavid ReynoldsHolden-747