The first round of The Bend Motorsport Park's Virgin Australia Supercars Championship double-header has seen Scott McLaughlin extend his lead at the top of the standings over Jamie Whincup.
The reigning champion put a tough result on Saturday behind him to bounce back in style on Sunday with a podium in the day’s first outing and a win in the final race of the weekend.
More importantly, McLaughlin finished ahead of title rival Whincup in all three of the round's races as he extended his outright lead to 215 points with just four races across two rounds remaining.
After converting a pole position into his 11th win in the 2020 campaign in Sunday's second race, McLaughlin paid tribute to his Shell V-Power Racing Team teammate, Fabian Coulthard, who enjoyed his best weekend of the year with a win, runner-up and fourth place.
“It’s awesome. I think we were first and third for the weekend and one and two for the final race,” McLaughlin said.
“I’m proud of ‘Fabs’ (Coulthard) and car #12, they’ve been on the receiving end of a few bad runs. He hasn’t forgotten how to drive obviously, but he’s a great teammate.
“For us, the car is fantastic to drive and I’m really proud of everyone at Shell V-Power Racing to bounce back after yesterday.
“Track position helps, being in front. When you’re behind people they dictate what you do, so it was important to get the start and that’s what we did.”
It was a dramatic opening race to the Repco Supersprint at The Bend 24 hours earlier with McLaughlin in the thick of the drama twice, the first instance after a clash with Whincup on the opening lap.
McLaughlin was again in the spotlight when he tangled with Lee Holdsworth towards the end of the race, resulting in a 15 second penalty and a drop down the field. Despite the setback, no harm was done to his title hopes as he still finished four places ahead of Whincup.
However Saturday belonged to Coulthard, whose win in the chaotic race was his first in 41 starts and was the perfect way to celebrate his 200th appearances.
Finishing ahead of runner-up Jack Le Brocq after a thrilling final stint, and first-time podium getting Bryce Fullwood, Coulthard was relieved to take out the win.
"Forty-one races is a long time ago and it's my 200th round start as well, so to get a win is awesome," Coulthard said post-race.
"I can’t thank my guys enough, little Mark [Fenning, engineer] got my car good so we bided our time there at the end.
It was far more straightforward for the two Shell V-Power Racing Team drivers on Sunday as both McLaughlin and Coulthard finished inside the top four in the first race, before the current Supercars points leader led a team one-two in the final race of the weekend ahead of Whincup in third.
Sunday’s first race also saw history made as race winner Shane van Gisbergen led an all New Zealander top four for the first time ever in the Championship, as the 2019 Supercars runner-up beat Kelly Racing’s Andre Heimgartner, McLaughlin and Coulthard.
The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship stays in Tailem Bend for the OTR Supersprint The Bend, with the penultimate round of the 2020 season to take place on 26-27 September.