Scott McLaughlin wins as Jamie Whincup edges closer to title

Scott McLaughlin won the first Phillip Island race of the weekend from pole position under hard pressure from Triple Eight Race Engineering drivers Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup.

The Volvo Polestar Racing driver crossed the finishing line just four-tenths of a second ahead of Lowndes, while Whincup finished third and edged closer to claiming his sixth record breaking V8 Supercars title as his main title rivals were far behind.

Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom started in fourth position, but made a mistake when trying to pass Whincup and went over the grass, meaning an extra pit stop to clear the radiator and dropping down to a devastating 24th position.

Another of Whincup’s title rivals in the form of Shane Van Gisbergen had a tough race as well in the Tekno Autosport Holden, and finished last after being penalised with a drive through penalty for contact with the Britek Holden of Dale Wood with just two laps left of the race.

Garth Tander crossed the line in fourth position in the Holden Racing Team Commodore ahead of Nissan driver Michael Caruso in fifth. Brad Jones Racing’s Jason Bright came home in sixth position ahead of the best of the Fords, David Reynolds.