Chaz Mostert and Scott McLaughlin have won today's two Virgin Australia Supercars Championship races at Albert Park — with plenty of bizarre chaos unfolding in the second hit-out and two Kiwis in the thick of the drama.
The day started well for McLaughlin, after he translated pole to another dominant win in the second race of the weekend. The series leader led every lap, eventually leading home Chaz Mostert by just over two seconds.
Cameron Waters, Whincup, and Fabian Coulthard rounded out the top five, while Shane van Gisbergen, Andre Heimgartner, and Richie Stanaway completed the Kiwi contingent in 10th, 18th, and 21st respectively. Stanaway had finished 19th, but incurred a five-second post-race penalty for contact he made with Lee Holdsworth.
The second Saturday race began with drama, however, for both McLaughlin and Waters. The duo had been slated to start from first and second, but a surprising collision between the pair on the pre-race pit-lane out-lap (made as Waters tried to pass McLaughlin) caused significant enough damage of both cars that they weren't able to start.
Both drivers naturally directed blame at each other, with McLaughlin saying that the onus should be on the chasing car to make sure passes are done cleanly given that they have more visibility of circumstances. "There are bigger problems in the world today, we will race tomorrow," McLaughlin added.
This left underdog squad Brad Jones Racing with an incredible lock-out of the front row; Tim Slade on effective pole with Nick Percat alongside. Slade led early on after Percat made a poor start, but both were soon gazumped by a blazing Whincup.
In the early melee, Slade and Percat actually made inter-team contact at the penultimate corner, which sent Percat wide and off the track.
Whincup looked to have the race under control through the pit cycle, only for Mostert to catch up to him just after the race's mid-point. Mostert eventually made the critical move cleanly on lap 14 at turn three. From there, it looked like Mostert would run away in a straightforward fashion until a late safety car.
That safety car was caused by van Gisbergen's Red Bull Commodore, who had lost his right-rear wheel while sitting in eighth place. The 2016 champ was able to get back to pit-lane, but his stranded wheel prompted yellow flags.
The race restarted with three laps to go, and any hope of Mostert relinquishing the win were cut short when the 2014 Bathurst champion made a perfect restart. He eventually won the race by 1.2 seconds.
Whincup was able to fend off a late charge from Slade to take second. Reynolds and a quiet Coulthard finished fourth and fifth, while Scott Pye, Will Davison, James Courtney, and Nick Percat rounded out the top nine, while Heimgartner claimed an impressive 10th as the first Kelly Racing Nissan home.
The series has one race to go tomorrow, with the telecast kicking off at 3.25pm.
Results (Race 3)
1. Scott McLaughlin
2. Chaz Mostert
3. Cameron Waters
4. Jamie Whincup
5. Fabian Coulthard
6. Will Davison
7. David Reynolds
8. Tim Slade
9. James Courtney
10. Shane van Gisbergen
11. Mark Winterbottom
12. Lee Holdsworth
13. Anton de Pasquale
14. Scott Pye
15. Nick Percat
16. Rick Kelly
17. Todd Hazelwood
18. Andre Heimgartner
19. Simona De Silvestro
20. Jack LeBrocq
21. Richie Stanaway
22. Macauley Jones
23. James Golding
24. Garry Jacobson
Results (Race 4)
1. Chaz Mostert
2. Jamie Whincup
3. Tim Slade
4. David Reynolds
5. Fabian Coulthard
6. Scott Pye
7. Will Davison
8. James Courtney
9. Nick Percat
10. Andre Heimgartner
11. Anton de Pasquale
12. Lee Holdsworth
13. Mark Winterbottom
14. Todd Hazelwood
15. Jack LeBrocq
16. Rick Kelly
17. Richie Stanaway
18. Simona De Silvestro
19. James Golding
20. Garry Jacobson
21. Macauley Jones
22. Shane van Gisbergen
23. Scott McLaughlin (DNS)
24. Cameron Waters (DNS)