Scott McLaughlin’s remarkable race win at Queensland Raceway has seen Ford seal the 2019 Manufacturers’ title, as the Kiwi edges further ahead in his own bid for back-to-back titles.
It was a solid weekend for Ford, with Chaz Mostert third in both Virgin Australia Supercars Championship races, while Will Davison got his first Championship podium finish in more than 1000 days – his last being victory in the 2016 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
Despite McLaughlin starting on pole for race 19, it was 2017 champion Jamie Whincup who stole the show on Saturday, claiming his first victory for 2019 ahead of runner-up Davison and Mostert.
A frantic start to the race saw Whincup steal the lead from McLaughlin following the first corner, the Kiwi dropping to third on the next turn after losing a tight battle with Davison.
In an attempt to pass the two, McLaughlin tried to pull off the undercut via a pit stop on lap 10 but a slow stop dented his charge, the Kiwi finishing the race in fourth behind Mostert and Davison
In what was also Whincup’s fist win since Sandown in September, the seven-time champion was relieved to finally break the duck.
"I've been reminded, especially the last couple of months, that I haven't had a win for a while, so it's certainly fantastic to get a win,” Whincup said.
“A big thanks to the Holden supporters for hanging in there, we've had a bit of a drought, it's been a tough run, but we've been chipping away."
On Sunday, McLaughlin put a disappointing Saturday behind him to grab pole and lead the Century Batteries Ipswich SuperSprint’s second race from start to finish.
While the 26-year-old led the field for the whole race, he didn’t have it all his own way, as Shane van Gisbergen piled on the pressure all race, as well as making a late charge, but the Holden pilot failed to catch the leader.
“That was hard. Shane just pushed me the whole way, coming and coming and coming,” McLaughlin said.
“Mine was pushing like a bus or a truck, it just had no turn in it. But it was an awesome battle, we always have good battles, me and Shane.
The win gave McLaughlin his 14th victory of the season, putting him just two wins shy of Craig Lowndes’ single season record of 16 wins with 12 races still remaining.
With Shell V-Power Racing Team teammate Fabian Coulthard having a weekend to forget, recording a 10th and 18th, McLaughlin is sitting pretty at the top of the standings with a 433 point buffer between he and Coulthard.
The Championship now has a month to rest before heading to The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia for the OTR SuperSprint on 24-25 August.