This weekend’s OTR Supersprint at The Bend Motorsport Park marks the penultimate round of the what has been dramatic 2020 season.
 
Remarkably the title can be won this weekend, so motorsport.org.au has a look at the key facts ahead of the round.

McLaughlin title a chance
Since claiming his maiden Virgin Australia Supercars Championship title in 2018, Scott McLaughlin has been the Championship’s standout performer with the Kiwi winning many races and breaking records in the process.
 
Only four races remain in the 2020 season and the Shell V-Power Racing front man already has one hand on the trophy with a 215 point lead over his closest rival in Jamie Whincup.
 
Whincup has provided a solid fight this year, but a less than ideal haul of points in the last two rounds has allowed McLaughlin to build an advantage over the Holden driver.
 
Of course there are three other drivers who have a mathematical chance of winning the title but for either one of Cameron Waters, Shane van Gisbergen or Chaz Mostert to claim the championship – a lot has to go wrong for McLaughlin over the next four races, and that rarely happens.
 
Put simply, the two-time reigning champion has a chance to make it three Championships in three years as early as Sunday afternoon and all he has to do is make up an extra 86 points over Whincup this weekend. 
 
There are 300 points on offer this weekend and then a further 300 points at next month’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 – but the simple maths are that the great race won’t be a Championship decider if McLaughlin extends his lead to more than 300 points at the end of this weekend’s three races.
 
Each race win at The Bend is worth 100 points and the runner-up gets 92 points. Between second and sixth there are six points intervals, sixth and 11th have four point gaps and from 11th down, it’s two points.
 
McLaughlin just needs to finish on the podium or win races and finish more than six places ahead of Whincup in each race.
 
For Whincup to make sure the battle continues at Mount Panorama, he just has to finish every race within the top five or at an absolute minimum, the top 10 and hope that McLaughlin doesn’t win those races. But if he has similar incident to last weekend and drops significantly down the order, then it could be all over.
 
One thing is for sure and that is this weekend is certainly going to provide fans with plenty of entertainment.

 
Extra faces in Rookie practice
While all eyes will be on two veterans this weekend, some drivers looking for more seat time will also enjoy some extra laps in the spotlight.
 
This season has seen Bryce Fullwood, Macauley Jones, Jack Smith, Chris Pither, Garry Jacobson and either Jake Kostecki or Zane Goddard take part in a special rookie-only session each round.
 
However this weekend, in preparation for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 next month, a number of co-drivers will be added to the fold.
 
Current Dunlop Super2 Series leader Thomas Randle, Jordan Boys, Kurt Kostecki, Broc Feeney and Brodie Kostecki will get a chance to cut some laps in their respective Bathurst vehicles during the Saturday’s opening practice session.

 
 
2020 Repco Supersprint at The Bend results 
Race 1
Pole: Chaz Mostert
Winner: Fabian Coulthard 
Runner-Up: Jack Le Brocq 
Third: Bryce Fullwood 
 
Race 2
Pole: Scott McLaughlin
Winner: Shane van Gisbergen
Runner-Up: Andre Heimgartner
Third: Scott McLaughlin 
 
Race 3
Pole: Scott McLaughlin
Winner: Scott McLaughlin
Runner-Up: Fabian Coulthard 
Third: Jamie Whincup


 
Championship Top 10
Scott McLaughlin – 2062 points
Jamie Whincup - 1847
Cameron Waters – 1577
Shane van Gisbergen - 1555
Chaz Mostert   - 1524
Fabian Coulthard  – 1444
Nick Percat - 1425
David Reynolds   - 1298
Lee Holdsworth - 1261
Scott Pye  – 1258
 
The Grid
#2 Holden Commodore ZB - Bryce Fullwood
#3 Holden Commodore ZB - Macauley Jones
#4 Holden Commodore ZB - Jack Smith
#5 Ford Mustang - Lee Holdsworth
#6 Ford Mustang - Cameron Waters
#7 Ford Mustang - Andre Heimgartner
#8 Holden Commodore ZB - Nick Percat
#9 Holden Commodore ZB - David Reynolds
#12 Ford Mustang - Fabian Coulthard
#14 Holden Commodore ZB - Todd Hazelwood
#15 Ford Mustang - Rick Kelly
#17 Ford Mustang - Scott McLaughlin
#18 Holden Commodore ZB - Mark Winterbottom
#19 Holden Commodore ZB – Alex Davison
#20 Holden Commodore ZB - Scott Pye
#22 Holden Commodore ZB - Chris Pither
#25 Holden Commodore ZB - Chaz Mostert
#34 Holden Commodore ZB – Jake Kostecki
#35 Holden Commodore ZB - Garry Jacobson
#44 Ford Mustang – James Courtney
#55 Ford Mustang - Jack Le Brocq
#88 Holden Commodore ZB - Jamie Whincup
#97 Holden Commodore ZB - Shane van Gisbergen
#99 Holden Commodore ZB - Anton De Pasquale
 
Supercars Schedule
Saturday 26 September
8:45-9:05am - Rookie Practice
9:20-9:50am – Practice 1
10:50-11:20am – Practice 2
12:15-1:35pm – Armor All Qualifying Race 28
3:10-4:13pm – Race 28
 
Sunday 27 September
9:10-9:20am – Qualifying Race 29
9:30-9:40am – Qualifying Race 30
11:50-12:53pm – Race 29
2:20-3:23pm – Race 30
 
(All times are marked as Australian Central Standard Time)