Supercars legends take the victory in the Gold Coast opener

Supercars veterans Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes take the victory today in the first race of the Gold Coast 600 event at Surfers Paradise Street Circuit, Race 26 of the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.

The duo in the #888 Holden ZB Commodore won the race in front of the #97 Holden of Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander, giving the first 1-2 victory this year to Red Bull Holden Racing Team. DJR Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Alexandre Premat finished third in the #17 Ford Mustang GT.

Two Red Bull Holdens at the finish line

For Jamie Whincup, it’s his 115th Supercars victory in a career and record-setting ninth victory at the Gold Coast. Lowndes recorded his victory number 108 in a career.

Lowndes started on the front-row alongside the pole-sitting Mustang of Premat, taking the lead on the opening lap and staying in front until the end of his stint. Whincup converted that advantage into the victory. Later in the race, on Lap 88, Shane van Gisbergen capitalised on fresher tyres to grab second place from McLaughlin.

That move was made moments before the Safety Car was deployed for the first and only time to clear debris after Garry Jacobson’s muffler fell off and was run over by Jonathon Webb and Nick Percat. When the race resumed, Whincup managed to hold off a hard-charging van Gisbergen by 0.52sec.

Scott McLaughlin finished third and made one more big step towards the championship title

The race field was reduced to 24 cars after Chaz Mostert’s heavy shunt in the Top 10 Shootout that wrote off the chassis. Mostert dropped from third to fifth in the championship and could lose another spot tomorrow while still sidelined.

McLaughlin leads with 3437 points on his account and could secure another title on Sunday. Van Gisbergen is second with 2824 points, Jamie Whincup follows on P3 with 2530 points, ahead of Fabian Coulthard with 2485 points.

Check the results of the Gold Coast 600

Photos: Supercars,