Supercars: Whincup bags Darwin honours despite controversy

August 16, 2020 August 16, 2020

Supercars arrived in Darwin for the first of two exciting back-to-back weekends at Hidden Valley Raceway.

Scott McLaughlin entered the round on top of the pile, over 100 points clear of nearest challenger Jamie Whincup.

With the event initiating four consecutive championship rounds, maintaining momentum and avoiding damage would be key for the front-runners as a premature conclusion looms over the series.

Race 13

Once again, McLaughlin obtained pole position on Saturday in his Ford Mustang. However, the reigning champ was bested by rival Whincup off the line, and lost out to Mark Winterbottom on the opening lap, too.

An early incident between Shane van Gisbergen, Nick Percat and Todd Hazelwood brought out the first safety car, with it reappearing only a few laps later when Jake Kostecki’s Commodore got beached in the gravel after contact.

As a result of the intermissions, multiple teams pitted to change rubber, which eventually filtered those on soft compound strategies to the top – Anton De Pasquale, James Courtney and Scott Pye proved to be the ultimate winners.

Despite another safety car period late on in the race, De Pasquale managed to hold on for his maiden Supercars victory ahead of the veteran Courtney. Whincup would cross the line third on hard tyres, but was demoted to 17th for an unsafe release earlier on in the race, earning Pye his first podium of the year.

McLaughlin and van Gisbergen also copped penalties during the race, with the Shell V-Power Mustang overtaking before the control line upon a restart, and the Red Bull Holden for its involvement in the crash on lap 1. SVG finished the race in 11th, with McLaughlin lowly in 20th.

After the race, De Pasquale said:

“Obviously we threw everything at it today, which means we’re going to have a struggle tomorrow, but that’s okay when you can talk about a win, so it paid off. We had a really good car, our cars are always good around here so it is good to get a result. The team has been begging for a win so it’s awesome.”

Race 13’s Top 10

Anton De Pasquale (H)*
James Courtney (F)
Scott Pye (H)
Mark Winterbottom (H)
Chris Pither (H)
Fabian Coulthard (F)
Chaz Mostert (H)
Cam Waters (F)
Andre Heimgartner (F)
Lee Holdsworth (F)

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

Race 14

Despite starting on pole once more, McLaughlin couldn’t hold his position from teammate Fabian Coulthard as the duo approached Turn 1.

Race 14 was identified by the heavyweights as their best chance to win, with both Shell V-Power and Red Bull Holden racing teams putting their V8s on soft compound strategies.

The event didn’t match the excitement of Saturday’s opener – the only noteworthy moment happened on lap seven, when, having lost out to his teammate’s undercut, Coulthard went off at Turn 1, and gifted P2 to Whincup.

McLaughlin led the procession to the chequered flag, with Whincup and Coulthard filling the rest of the podium. Shane van Gisbergen collected a welcome haul of points in fourth, fending off a canny David Reynolds running an alternate strategy.

Race-winner Scott McLaughlin said:

“It was a great start from Fabs, it was like the best start I had done for a long time and he just absolutely smashed me. I did a big in-lap, the boys’ pit-stop was amazing, we got in front and then I saw Fabs run wide so I got a bit lucky there.”

Race 14’s Top 10

Scott McLaughlin (F)
Jamie Whincup (H)
Fabian Coulthard (F)
Shane van Gisbergen (H)
David Reynolds (H)
Nick Percat (H)
Anton De Pasquale (H)
Chaz Mostert (H)
Cam Waters (F)
Andre Heimgartner (F)

Race 15

Completing an impressive trio of pole positions for the weekend, McLaughlin’s Mustang bettered Whincup’s Commodore on launch, and maintained position by the time the latter pitted on lap 5.

Controversy arose in the ‘lane when Whincup looked to have unsafely released from his stop, forcing Coulthard to break hard to avoid contact. Fuelling the rivalry between the two teams further, Whincup’s exit was not met with a penalty.

This decision ultimately decided the event’s outcome, as Whincup’s undercut placed him in front of McLaughlin’s Ford a lap later, and secured both the race and round honours. McLaughlin held P2 as the flag dropped, ahead of van Gisbergen in third.

Chaz Mostert managed to defend fourth position from an attacking Coulthard, who would have won the Triple Crown title had he secured the move late in the race.

Race-winner Jamie Whincup said:

“That was a great battle. That reminded me of the old 2017/18 days where we were going head-to-head with these boys. We just kept chipping away at the car all weekend and made it fastest for race three.”

Race 15’s Top 10:

Jamie Whincup (H)
Scott McLaughlin (F)
Shane van Gisbergen (H)
Chaz Mostert (H)
Fabian Coulthard (F)
Nick Percat (H)
Mark Winterbottom (H)
Jack Le Brocq (F)
David Reynolds (H)
Rick Kelly (F)

Weekend Analysis

There were two main focal points at the first Darwin Triple Crown event – Jamie Whincup’s pit release and tyre compounds.

A plethora of flared discussions have dominated Supercars’ social media comment sections after Race 15. Many fans believe that Whincup should have been penalised for his unsafe release, and I myself agree.

Coulthard took to Instagram to show scuff marks on the front of his Mustang, apparently caused by Whincup’s exiting commodore. Despite forcing his foot on the brakes, contact was still made, and that warrants a penalty. Whincup definitely got away with one in my opinion, and it cost Coulthard the round’s bragging rights.

Varying tyre compounds were, as usual, another hot topic for Supercars fans to debate on. A new winner in De Pasquale was seen in Race 13, with the usual names fighting it out in Races 14 and 15. I felt the tyre distributions this weekend worked rather well – there was a solid mix of middle-pack drivers and front-runners up top throughout.

Championship Standings: