Queensland V8 Supercars: Nissan/Volvo collision hands Whincup win

McLaughlin led proceedings from the off, beating fellow front row starter Caruso as they entered Turn 1 for the first time, and was in command of the race until it reached mid-distance.

The Volvo driver then began to lose pace and was forced to hold off his determined Nissan rival, but their battle reached a disappointing conclusion on lap 23 of 33 when Caruso punted McLaughlin in a desperate move at Turn 6.

The Kiwi then dropped down the order to finish 19th, while Caruso was issued with a drive-through penalty for his misdemeanor and fell to 24th.

"I don't blame the bloke for having a go," said McLaughlin at the finish. "It's just racing and I would have done the same. Everyone makes mistakes."

Their pain was Whincup's gain as he inherited the lead and cruised to his ninth win of the season, ahead of Triple Eight team-mate Craig Lowndes, who had a fairly anonymous race.

Chaz Mostert claimed the final podium position having disposed of Shane van Gisbergen and Rick Kelly, who all finished ahead of championship leader Mark Winterbottom in sixth.

The FPR Ford driver started 11th and made little gain in the first third of the race, but as others appeared to struggle on the soft Dunlop tyre, Winterbottom was largely unaffected and began making his way through the field.

Saturday's results mean he still sits at the top of the standings, but his advantage has been halved from 96 to 48 points heading into Sunday's final race of the weekend.

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Jamie Whincup        Triple Eight Holden    39m06.3767s
 2.  Craig Lowndes        Triple Eight Holden       +0.5082s
 3.  Chaz Mostert         FPR Ford                 +12.2514s
 4.  Shane van Gisbergen  Tekno Holden             +18.1787s
 5.  Rick Kelly           Nissan                   +20.1221s
 6.  Mark Winterbottom    FPR Ford                 +20.2262s
 7.  Nick Percat          Walkinshaw/HRT Holden    +20.6873s
 8.  Garth Tander         HRT Holden               +21.0530s
 9.  Fabian Coulthard     Brad Jones Holden        +21.8395s
10.  James Courtney       HRT Holden               +23.3215s
11.  Jason Bright         Brad Jones Holden        +23.6496s
12.  Scott Pye            Dick Johnson Ford        +24.0745s
13.  James Moffat         Nissan                   +24.4578s
14.  Will Davison         Erebus Mercedes          +26.5404s
15.  David Reynolds       Rosenberg/FPR Ford       +27.9958s
16.  Todd Kelly           Nissan                   +28.7512s
17.  Tim Slade            Rosenberg/HRT Holden     +29.3832s
18.  Lee Holdsworth       Erebus Mercedes          +30.1287s
19.  Scott McLaughlin     GRM Volvo                +31.8068s
20.  David Wall           Dick Johnson Ford        +32.0593s
21.  Russell Ingall       Dumbrell Holden          +32.4490s
22.  Robert Dahlgren      GRM Volvo                +34.1866s
23.  Dale Wood            Britek/BJR Holden        +34.6911s
24.  Michael Caruso       Nissan                   +37.1855s
25.  Jack Perkins         Schwerkolt/FPR Ford      +40.3829s