Title contenders split Queensland Supercars wins
Top title contenders Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen took a win each away from the Queensland Raceway Supercars round
Points leader McLaughlin took a comfortable lights-to-flag win with a measured performance in Saturday's race.
He was only twice under any sort of pressure, having to hold off his team-mate Fabian Coulthard on the first lap before briefly coming under fire from an undercutting Chaz Mostert after making his stop.
Each time McLaughlin was up to the challenge, eventually coming home more than four seconds clear of the field.
"That was awesome," he said. "There was crazy stuff going on [during the first lap], and my tyres took ages to come up to temp. Once they did, I just checked out."
Van Gisbergen minimised the points loss by finishing second, the key to his race an incredible start that took him from eighth on the grid to third midway through the first lap.
The Kiwi had a bit of work to do in the second stint after being jumped by early stoppers Mostert and Craig Lowndes, but better tyre condition meant he could easily pass both within 10 laps of his own stop.
Lowndes finished third, while Jamie Whincup charged his way to fourth after opting for a long first stint.
On Sunday van Gisbergen equalised the points gap, once again using the start to gain an advantage.
From second on the grid he jumped polesitter McLaughlin at the start, although a longer first stop meant he trailed McLaughlin after the first round of stops.
With a shorter second stop he was able to come out in front for the final stint, holding off a challenge from McLaughlin to claim victory and make up for the points lost on Saturday.
"It's awesome. I had a good battle with Scotty, he got up to me at the end, but what a day," van Gisbergen said.
"The car was awesome, thanks to the team. I'm pretty stoked with that."
With a win apiece, the gap is still 131 points in McLaughlin's favour.
Mostert claimed Tickford's second podium finish of the season with third place on Sunday, although he had to hold off a hard-charging Whincup at the end.
It ultimately came down to a drag race to the line, Mostert with the poorer tyre condition, but able to do enough to hang on to third place.
Race one result
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Laps | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott McLaughlin | DJR Penske | Ford | 39 | 46m40.8181s |
| 2 | Shane van Gisbergen | Triple Eight | Holden | 39 | 4.3164s |
| 3 | Craig Lowndes | Triple Eight | Holden | 39 | 5.8296s |
| 4 | Jamie Whincup | Triple Eight | Holden | 39 | 5.8719s |
| 5 | Fabian Coulthard | DJR Penske | Ford | 39 | 8.5049s |
| 6 | Chaz Mostert | Tickford | Ford | 39 | 14.0686s |
| 7 | David Reynolds | Erebus | Holden | 39 | 14.2846s |
| 8 | James Courtney | Walkinshaw | Holden | 39 | 14.5035s |
| 9 | Michael Caruso | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan | 39 | 14.8940s |
| 10 | Nick Percat | Brad Jones | Holden | 39 | 16.6328s |
| 11 | Garth Tander | GRM | Holden | 39 | 19.7967s |
| 12 | Richie Stanaway | Tickford | Ford | 39 | 21.0873s |
| 13 | Rick Kelly | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan | 39 | 21.4223s |
| 14 | Tim Slade | Brad Jones | Holden | 39 | 21.7162s |
| 15 | Andre Heimgartner | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan | 39 | 21.9855s |
| 16 | Scott Pye | Walkinshaw | Holden | 39 | 22.5553s |
| 17 | Will Davison | 23Red Racing | Ford | 39 | 22.6493s |
| 18 | James Golding | GRM | Holden | 39 | 23.5107s |
| 19 | Simona de Silvestro | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan | 39 | 23.9889s |
| 20 | Mark Winterbottom | Tickford | Ford | 39 | 24.2279s |
| 21 | Jack Le Brocq | Tekno | Holden | 39 | 24.5557s |
| 22 | Cameron Waters | Tickford | Ford | 39 | 32.3106s |
| 23 | Tim Blanchard | Blanchard/BJR | Holden | 39 | 37.1350s |
| 24 | Lee Holdsworth | Team 18 | Holden | 39 | 37.1988s |
| 25 | Kurt Kostecki | Kostecki Brothers | Holden | 39 | 38.2000s |
| 26 | Anton De Pasquale | Erebus | Holden | 39 | 1m01.5536s |
| 27 | Todd Hazelwood | Matt Stone | Ford | 34 | 5 Laps |
Race two result
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Laps | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shane van Gisbergen | Triple Eight | Holden | 65 | 1h18m33.4918s |
| 2 | Scott McLaughlin | DJR Penske | Ford | 65 | 2.3513s |
| 3 | Chaz Mostert | Tickford | Ford | 65 | 5.4173s |
| 4 | Jamie Whincup | Triple Eight | Holden | 65 | 5.5275s |
| 5 | Fabian Coulthard | DJR Penske | Ford | 65 | 7.0073s |
| 6 | Tim Slade | Brad Jones | Holden | 65 | 7.4224s |
| 7 | David Reynolds | Erebus | Holden | 65 | 7.9245s |
| 8 | Craig Lowndes | Triple Eight | Holden | 65 | 16.0717s |
| 9 | Rick Kelly | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan | 65 | 23.9445s |
| 10 | Jack Le Brocq | Tekno | Holden | 65 | 24.4888s |
| 11 | Garth Tander | GRM | Holden | 65 | 25.6846s |
| 12 | Will Davison | 23Red Racing | Ford | 65 | 28.1091s |
| 13 | Michael Caruso | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan | 65 | 34.3323s |
| 14 | Andre Heimgartner | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan | 65 | 34.5894s |
| 15 | James Golding | GRM | Holden | 65 | 36.3364s |
| 16 | Anton De Pasquale | Erebus | Holden | 65 | 37.3290s |
| 17 | Cameron Waters | Tickford | Ford | 65 | 39.8067s |
| 18 | Richie Stanaway | Tickford | Ford | 65 | 42.7016s |
| 19 | Scott Pye | Walkinshaw | Holden | 65 | 43.7083s |
| 20 | Simona de Silvestro | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan | 65 | 54.9599s |
| 21 | Lee Holdsworth | Team 18 | Holden | 65 | 59.2422s |
| 22 | Tim Blanchard | Blanchard/BJR | Holden | 65 | 1m01.4742s |
| 23 | Kurt Kostecki | Kostecki Brothers | Holden | 65 | 1m02.5354s |
| 24 | Todd Hazelwood | Matt Stone | Ford | 65 | 1m08.7570s |
| 25 | Nick Percat | Brad Jones | Holden | 64 | 1 Lap |
| 26 | Mark Winterbottom | Tickford | Ford | 61 | 4 Laps |
| - | James Courtney | Walkinshaw | Holden | 24 | Retirement |
Drivers' standings
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott McLaughlin | 2321 |
| 2 | Shane van Gisbergen | 2190 |
| 3 | Jamie Whincup | 1870 |
| 4 | David Reynolds | 1838 |
| 5 | Craig Lowndes | 1821 |
| 6 | Fabian Coulthard | 1652 |
| 7 | Rick Kelly | 1522 |
| 8 | Chaz Mostert | 1517 |
| 9 | Scott Pye | 1489 |
| 10 | Tim Slade | 1397 |
| 11 | Nick Percat | 1330 |
| 12 | James Courtney | 1326 |
| 13 | Garth Tander | 1302 |
| 14 | Mark Winterbottom | 1244 |
| 15 | Michael Caruso | 1138 |
| 16 | Will Davison | 1123 |
| 17 | Cameron Waters | 1066 |
| 18 | Andre Heimgartner | 1040 |
| 19 | Jack Le Brocq | 968 |
| 20 | Anton De Pasquale | 963 |
| 21 | Lee Holdsworth | 768 |
| 22 | Simona de Silvestro | 744 |
| 23 | James Golding | 716 |
| 24 | Richie Stanaway | 713 |
| 25 | Todd Hazelwood | 682 |
| 26 | Tim Blanchard | 674 |
| 27 | Kurt Kostecki | 66 |
| 28 | Macauley Jones | 57 |
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