Kiwi drivers have made Supercars history, with an incredible 1-2-3-4 finish in the opening race of the day in South Australia today.
Crossing the line behind winner Shane van Gisbergen were Andre Heimgartner, Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard, who finished fourth, making it the first time in the championship's 60-year history that New Zealand-born drivers had crossed the finish in the top four positions.
Then, to cap the day with another flourish, McLaughlin finished the round with another victory to take his points total to 2062, extending his championship lead to 215 over Jamie Whincup. Cam Waters is third on 1577 and van Gisbergen fourth on 1555.
It leaves the 27-year old Shell Ford ace in the box seat to claim a rare threepeat of drivers' titles, with just two rounds and four races remaining.
He started the day perfectly, claiming pole for both races, but in the opening race he was beaten off the start by van Gisbergen, who never gave up the lead from there.
Van Gisbergen's win was his third of 2020, while Heimgartner tied the best result of his career by finishing second.
McLaughlin's third was made better by Whincup's struggles, when during a pit stop his car failed to lift for a tyre change, adding crucial seconds to his time sitting idle, and he eventually finished 17th, after qualifying 11th.
Whincup was better in the third and final race of the weekend, but his third place still saw him ship points to the dominant McLaughlin, who led from start to finish, with teammate Coulthard in second.
McLaughlin praised Coulthard for putting together a round in which he claimed the most points of any driver.
"I'm proud of Fabs, they've been on the receiving end of a few bad runs. He hasn't forgotten how to drive, obviously, he's a great teammate," said McLaughlin.
"Track position helps, being in front. When you're behind people they dictate what you do, so it was important to get the start and that's what we did."
Added Coulthard: "It's been a solid weekend for our side of the garage. Any time you can get a one-two in this category the team is doing an awesome job."
Whincup was upset with his weekend in which he received a penalty for colliding with McLaughlin yesterday, the pit-stop drama, and then a collision with Anton De Pasquale while fighting for third in the final race.
Teams will have five days to turn everything around before the second event of the South Australian double header, the OTR SuperSprint — which will run on a different circuit layout at the Tailem Bend raceway.
That will be the penultimate round of the championship with only the Bathurst 1000 to run after that, on October 18.
-Otago Daily Times
