MOTORSPORT: McLaughlin matches Lowndes

A Tailem Bend double has drawn Scott McLaughlin level with Supercars legend Craig Lowndes for the most wins in a season and also taken him almost 600 points clear of his nearest pursuer in the title 2019 chase.

The Shell V-Power Ford Mustang driver scored win number 16 on Sunday, the same total Lowndes tallied up on his way to his first Australian touring car championship title in 1996. He has nine more races to set a new benchmark, starting with his home race at Pukekohe in New Zealand next month.

Two more wins totalled 300 points for McLaughlin, stretching his gap to 573 over his nearest pursuer Chaz Mostert, who leapt from fourth to second courtesy of 2-3 results at The Bend in his Supercheap Mustang.

That’s almost two full race meetings worth of points and makes McLaughlin very hard to beat for his second consecutive driver’s championship – as if he wasn’t already!

Similarly, DJR Team Penske is in a dominant position in the teams’ championship.

McLaughlin’s teammate Fabian Coulthard dipped to third in the standings, having failed to better 10th in his last four starts.

Mostert scored Saturday pole position as part of a strong showing by Tickford Racing that also included Will Davison’s Sunday heroics.

The Milwaukee Mustang driver leapt into the lead from second on the grid only to lose a critical few seconds during his second stop when the engine briefly died, dropping him to second place.

It was still a great fightback by Davison following an engine swap after qualifying on Saturday and then being punted in the race.

It was also a great turnaround by McLaughlin and DJRTP from 2018’s poor showing at The Bend where he was nowhere near the podium and the team was fined $30,000 for fitting an incorrect drop gear to his Falcon.

Conversely, 2018 dominators Red Bull Holden Racing Team battled for pace throughout the weekend, with Jamie Whincup’s fifth on Sunday the best he or teammate Shane van Gisbergen could manage.

Instead, the best Holden result on Saturday was third for rising star Anton De Pasquale in the Erebus Commodore ZB, while Nick Percat was fourth for Brad Jones Racing on Sunday.

Wildcard Thomas Randle emerged from The Bend with two 17th places and a co-drive in the Pirtek Enduro Cup confirmed with Lee Holdsworth in the Bottle-O Mustang.

Click here for the Supercars pointscore.