Scott McLaughlin is the 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Champion-elect, after building a 300 plus point lead after a successful weekend at the OTR Supersprint at The Bend Motorsport Park.
Heading into the round with a 215 point lead over his closest rival in Jamie Whincup, McLaughlin put in an almost perfect weekend with two race wins, a runner-up finish and most importantly, beating Whincup in every race to extend the gap to 305 points.
With just next month’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 remaining, where a maximum of 300 points is available to the winner, McLaughlin could only lose the title should he receive an unlikely points penalty in the final race of 2020.
“It’s awesome, credit to everyone at Shell V-Power Racing. It feels weird not being able to celebrate with the fans like normal,” McLaughlin said post-race.
“I got the main one now, we can fully focus on Bathurst and have a massive crack at it.
“It’s been an awesome battle with Jamie throughout the whole year and for Cam to get his first win of the year, congrats to him.
“At the start I was trying to be safe but wanted to get the lead. He did a great job and I’m stoked.”
Speaking with Fox Sports, McLaughlin believed the 2020 championship was the best of all three of his wins.
“For me this feels probably the best out of all of them, because of the way we’ve had to bounce back from ups and downs, come back and fight the next week when everyone has raced the track the week before," McLaughlin added.
“It’s just been so different. We didn’t know where we were going, it’s just been a whole lot of adversity.
“For us to come through and still win the championship with a round to go, it’s a true testament to the character of the team and the people that are behind me."
As a result of his third Supercars title, McLaughlin now becomes just the 10th driver in Australian Touring Car Championship history to win three or more titles and just the fourth to win three in a row, joining an elite company of drivers made up of Whincup, Mark Skaife and Ian Geoghegan.
The 26-year-old also became the first Ford Driver to win three consecutive titles, taking the manufacturer’s total number of Championship to 27. McLaughlin’s win on Saturday also secured the 2020 Manufacturers' Championship for Ford.
While McLaughlin ended the weekend with his third consecutive Supercars title, Sunday’s second race had a special touch to it with fellow Ford driver Cam Waters winning his first ever career race as an individual after the Victorian beat McLaughlin and Whincup in a straight forward outing.
Joining McLaughlin as the only other driver to finish every race of the weekend on the podium, Waters’ two third placings in race 28 and 29 was enough to move him to within just 200 points of Whincup in the battle for outright second.
Speaking after Sunday's final race, Waters lauded his team for helping him get to his maiden race win.
“The car was awesome, we made it a little better between the two races, got a good start and I was away,” Waters said.
“The boys did a mega job in the pitstop and to reward all the hard work they’ve put in is just awesome.
“I’m absolutely pumped and just excited to blow the rears off it. I was nursing them for the whole race, I just wanted to get rid of them."
Shane van Gisbergen and Anton De Pasquale were the other drivers to enjoy a podium finish throughout the weekend, with van Gisbergen finishing second on Saturday and De Pasquale grabbing a runner-up placing in Sunday’s first race.
The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship has just one meeting left in 2020 with the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 taking place on 15-18 October.