Scott McLaughlin has extended his lead at the top of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship standings after three wins from three races at the CoreStaff Darwin Supersprint.
It turned out to be the perfect weekend for McLaughlin, as the reigning champion started every race on the front row before leading the field from the first turn to the chequered flag on each occasion.
After securing the third win of the round on Sunday afternoon and his eighth at Hidden Valley Raceway, McLaughlin praised the entire DJR Team Penske for its work on the car.
“I love this place (Darwin). I love the people, I love the track and I love it when my car is like that,” McLaughlin said.
“That is hands down probably the best car I have ever driven. All weekend, it was so solid and allowed me good starts. I was also able to use our tyres for what we wanted to do.
“I am so proud of everyone here as they work so hard behind the scenes. Everyone back at home as well. I am just so proud.”
Making the round even more special for the New Zealander was Saturday's performance, his 49th win in the Championship, which saw him surpass Peter Brock’s Supercars/Australian Touring Car overall race win record – a feat McLaughlin was proud to achieve.
“It is very cool,” McLaughlin said post Saturday’s race.
“There’s no comparison between us, in regards to myself there was so less races compared to what there is now, but it’s a pretty proud moment for me and my family.”
Having won both of Sunday’s races too, McLaughlin now sits on 51-career race wins and is just four shy of Garth Tander, who occupies fourth place on the all time race record list.
It was a tough weekend for the driver who tops that list in Jamie Whincup, with his best result of the three races coming on Saturday where he placed second.
Heading into the weekend just 100 points behind the championship leader in the outright standings, Whincup began his fightback strong with pole in Saturday’s Armor All Top 15 Shootout, but quickly lost his lead to McLaughlin ahead of turn one and couldn’t claw it back.
Having finished sixth and seventh in Sunday’s races, the 2017 Supercars champion remains in second place on the standings but now finds himself 177 points behind McLaughlin, while Triple Eight teammate Shane Van Gisbergen moved to third outright after a solid weekend where he picked up a runner-up and top five finish.
Scott Pye was another big performer over the weekend, as he secured a third place and runner-up, adding to his first podium of the year last weekend. Meanwhile, Nick Percat rounded out the top-three in Sunday’s second race.
It was a mixed weekend for Cameron Waters after the Victorian took out the final podium spot on Saturday and fifth in Sunday’s first race, only to finish the event’s final race parked in the garage after colliding with Whincup early.
After two consecutive weekends in the top end at Hidden Valley Raceway, the Championship now heads straight to Queensland where they will hold two consecutive rounds over the next fortnight on the streets of Townsville.
The NTI Townsville SuperSprint takes place at Reid Park on 29-30 August.