Shell V-Power Racing Team’s Scott McLaughlin has one hand on the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship trophy after yet another dominant performance at The Bend Motorsport Park.
 
McLaughlin won both races – making it 16 for the year and equalling Craig Lowndes’ 23-year-old record for race wins in an entire season which McLaughlin will surely break with five rounds remaining.
 
The Ford Mustang driver was understandably elated with his weekend double, particularly considering how the team had struggled at The Bend when the track made its debut on the calendar in 2018.
 
“It’s really awesome. I couldn’t be more proud of the guys for the turnaround we’ve had,” McLaughlin said.
 
“It was one we circled to really come back for and I’m so stoked. It was super-racing, I didn’t get the best start, but good racing towards the end.”
 
It was an all Ford Mustang podium on Sunday, with Milwaukee Racing’s Will Davison in second and Tickford Racing’s Chaz Mostert in third.
 
Davison, who had led the race for a period, was also thrilled to be on the podium, despite mechanical gremlins ultimately costing him a win.
 
“I’m absolutely stoked with this result because it was such an intense race; really, really enjoyable," Davison said.
 
“We got such a good start and I was surprised I was hanging on, but then in our last stop we had a bit of an airbox issue and it cut back to about 15km/h in pitlane.
 
“I was actually relieved when it got going because it was not resetting itself. But that’s the way it goes.”
 
On Saturday’s opening race of the round, Anton de Pasquale was the best performing Holden driver, finishing on the podium in third, behind Mostert in second and McLaughlin, who won Saturday’s race by just over seven seconds.
 
The Bend’s results have seen some slight movement in the minor places in the standings, with Mostert leaping into second overall, while Fabian Coulthard drops from second to third.

Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Standings

Scott McLaughlin – 2738
Chaz Mostert – 2165
Fabian Coulthard – 2152
Shane van Gisbergen – 2122
Jamie Whincup – 1981
 
Full standings can be found here.