Supercars: McLaughlin wins two, with Percat pulling surprise victory

William Holmes

After a lengthy hiatus, the Virgin Atlantic Supercars Championship returned this weekend, with three races completed at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Coming into the round, defending champion Scott McLaughlin led the pack on points, having bagged a win already at Adelaide in February.

The three races proved to be worth the wait, with close, entertaining battles littering the field. Moreover, Nick Percat, who last won back in 2016 in Adelaide, snatched a welcomed victory in Race 8, sandwiched between the two P1s of McLaughlin.


Race Seven

Having achieved pole position in Qualifying, Scott McLaughlin narrowly led fellow Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen into the first corner. Jamie Whincup, who notched his 500th race this weekend, started excellently and followed through in 3rd. Mindful of tyres, the Red Bull Holden duo held back, letting McLaughlin open a sizeable lead early on.

With a mandatory pitstop on all the drivers’ minds, McLaughlin was the first of the leading group to enter the lane, thanks to SVG sitting right on his tail. Despite benefiting from the new rubber sooner than most, the Shell V-Power racer found himself defending every corner on the final laps.

However, McLaughlin bravely held on for his second win of the year, with SVG unable to find a spot to pass. His teammate, Jamie Whincup, occupied the final step on the podium.

Elsewhere, Walkanshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert once more placed well at the chequered flag, claiming 4th ahead of an impressive Nick Percat. The next Ford behind McLaughlin’s was Cam Waters’, finishing 6th after losing out to a brave move from SVG at Turn 1.

The other Shell V-Power Mustang, belonging to Fabian Coulthard, rounded out the top ten, having suffered from a flat spot caused by a lock-up. James Courtney’s 2020 renaissance was notable, making nine places to finish 12th. Returnee Alex Davison was the sprint’s only DNF, succumbing to a broken steering arm.

After the race, victor Scott McLaughlin said:

“We’ve got a bit of work to do with how we tune it up but you take them when you can get them. It was tough in those last five laps but I did the best I could. It was a great race.”

Scott McLaughlin

Race Seven’s Top 10

  1. Scott McLaughlin (F)
  2. Shane van Gisbergen (H)
  3. Jamie Whincup (H)
  4. Chaz Mostert (H)
  5. Nick Percat (H)
  6. Cam Waters (F)
  7. Lee Holdsworth (F)
  8. Anton De Pasquale (H)
  9. Mark Winterbottom (H)
  10. Fabian Coulthard (F)

*Note – “H” indicates Holden, “F” indicates Ford.


Race Eight

Jamie Whincup started Sunday’s first race on pole, and slowly edged out a comfortable lead on the chasing pack. However, Nick Percat, who started 6th, had fought his way up to 2nd by the sixth lap, and started to reel in the seven-time champion. The BJR commodore quickly found itself parked behind the Red Bull Holden.

Tyre strategy was key in all three races, with Percat deciding to take his mandatory stop on lap 14, with Whincup following suit a lap later, emerging from the lane with a two-second lead. However, the Red Bull driver only picked up two fresh tyres, whereas Percat’s four allowed him to gain P1 on lap 22, and held the spot to the flag.

Credit: BJR

Race 8’s battle for P3 ended thrillingly, with McLaughlin holding off Chaz Mostert, David Reynolds and Cam Waters. The tussle initiated with three laps to go, and saw 3rd tossed around between the drivers right up until the chequered flag, with McLaughlin finishing without a rear bumper.

Shane van Gisbergen managed a disappointing 7th having started on the front row, ultimately losing out to tyre strategies in the early stages of the race. McLaughlin’s teammate Coulthard also started highly in 4th, but fell to a similar fate, and crossed the line down in 15th.

Race-winner Nick Percat said:

“Obviously, as soon as we were in a good position we just threw everything at it to ‘live for now’. My first lap when I passed Shane I went ‘hold on, there’s something going on here’. I was straight on the radio and went ‘mate they have not put tyres on so we need to go’, so it was mega.”

Nick Percat

Race Eight’s Top 10

  1. Nick Percat (H)
  2. Jamie Whincup (H)
  3. Scott McLaughlin (F)
  4. Chaz Mostert (H)
  5. David Reynolds (H)
  6. Cam Waters (F)
  7. Shane van Gisbergen (H)
  8. Mark Winterbottom (H)
  9. James Courtney (F)
  10. Andre Heimgartner (F)


Race Nine

For the second time this weekend, Scott McLaughlin lined his Mustang up on pole, and maintained his lead on Jamie Whincup come the end of the first lap. Whincup pitted first on lap 14, and McLaughlin copied next time around.

The Shell V-Power Mustang led from lights to flag, pulling away from Whincup after the pitstops, and only suffered one small scare as Lee Holdsworth launched a late bid for victory. Holdsworth pitted late, and rejoined the race in 7th. With fresher rubber, the Truck Assist driver sliced through the field and secured a well deserved podium finish.

Whincup ended the weekend strongly and met the flag in 3rd, achieving three straight podiums along with McLaughlin. The rest of the top ten was filled with multiple team entries, suggesting that the new, tighter tyre regulations worked well for smaller parties.

Championship heavyweights van Gisbergen, Waters, Mostert and Coulthard all struggled on strategies, and finished 6th, 13th, 16th and 24th respectively, with the latter pulling up short with problems on the final lap.

Second-place Lee Holdsworth said:

“It’s good, everyone raced hard and fair. We went side-by-side and had good racing every race. There was no one being a bandit. It was cool to race hard with everyone and have a dip.”

Lee Holdsworth
Credit: Tickford Racing

Race Nine’s Top 10

  1. Scott McLaughlin (F)
  2. Lee Holdsworth (F)
  3. Jamie Whincup (H)
  4. David Reynolds (H)
  5. Mark Winterbottom (H)
  6. Shane van Gisbergen (H)
  7. Anton De Pasquale (H)
  8. Todd Hazelwood (H)
  9. Nick Percat (H)
  10. Bryce Fullwood (H)


Weekend Analysis

Supercars seem to have nailed its race schedules and regulations – forcing teams to have only five sets of tyres across all three races threw a cat among the pigeons. They had to decide when to be aggressive and try for a win/podium, but also when to be passive and drop spots.

This idea worked really well for the three sprint race schedule of the weekend, and led to more overtakes than usual. Evident with Nick Percat and BJR’s Race 8 victory, it also gave smaller teams a chance for big points. I hope they maintain this format for less high profile rounds, because it works very well.

Two drivers that struggled with results across the three races were Shane van Gisbergen and Fabian Coulthard – both complained about the aerowash being worse than usual, and I imagine that their teams may raise these concerns to Supercars before the next round. For McLaughlin and Whincup, however, they seem to be performing well under these new conditions.


Championship Standings

  1. Scott McLaughlin (F) – 574pts
  2. Jamie Whincup (H) – 525pts
  3. Chaz Mostert (H) – 432pts
  4. Cam Waters (F) – 411pts
  5. David Reynolds (H) – 392pts


Standout Performers

  1. Nick Percat
  2. Scott McLaughlin
  3. Jamie Whincup

The next round of the Supercars Championship is the Truck Assist Winton Motor Raceway on 18 July. Keep up to date with Motorsport Radio for the latest on the Virgin Atlantic Supercars Championship.

William Holmes

RELATED