Supercars: McLaughlin equals Lowndes with 16th victory in the season

Scott McLaughlin (DJR Team Penske) has won both races of the OTR SuperSprint at The Bend Motorsport Park, the tenth round of the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. On Sunday, McLaughlin reaches 16th victory this season, equaling Craig Lowndes and his record of the most wins during one Supercars season.

As there are ten more races in 2019, McLaughlin will certainly break the record soon at the wheel of the #17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford Mustang GT. After twenty-two races this season, he leads in the championship with 573 points more (2738:2165) than Chaz Mostert (Tickford Racing, Ford), who also has a good weekend at The Bend with two podiums.

Supercars at The Bend

In Saturday’s race, Scott McLaughlin has extended his championship lead by recording his 15th win of the season. He made it after starting from P2 in the #17 Ford Mustang and defeating Tickford Racing’s polesitter Chaz Mostert in another Mustang after 24 laps on the 7.7-km circuit at Tailem Bend, South Australia. Anton de Pasquale (Erebus Racing) completed the podium in the #99 Holden Commodore, crossing the line 25 seconds behind the winner.

Mark Winterbottom converted third on the grid into a fourth-place finish in the #18 Holden, in front of Nissan’s Andre Heimgartner. Shane van Gisbergen, David Reynolds, Nick Percat, Cameron Waters and James Courtney completed the top 10.

Race 1 podium at The Bend

On Sunday, Scott McLaughlin started from pole for the 14th time this season and he converted it into his 16th victory in 2019. His main rival in the second race of the weekend was Will Davison (23RedRacing, Ford), who was in the lead early in the race but his Ford suffered an airbox fire at its second stop, losing time and dropping to P2.

Chaz Mostert scored his second podium of the weekend to take the second place in the championship. Nick Percat and Jamie Whincup rounded the top 5.

The next VASC event is the Auckland SuperSprint at Pukekohe Park Raceway on September 14-15.