Ever dominant in the Australian Supercars Championship, DJR Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin has secured his 50th win in dominant style at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin. He pretty much led the event from start to finish, with the only challenge coming within the first few laps.
But McLaughlin’s win on Sunday wasn’t even the most impressive part of the series’s two week stint at Darwin. He started on the front row at all six races, with four of those starts being from pole position. He won four races and took home a second place. His worst finish in the two week period was a 20th at the first race in Darwin.
While he’s been sitting pretty at the top of the championship standings since the beginning of 2020, McLaughlin now has a 177 point lead over second place competitor Jamie Whincup. That isn’t a massive lead, considering the fact that the New Zealand driver currently has a whopping 1324 points—but it is comforting to know he’s insulated from disaster.
“The car is sensational,” McLaughlin said after the event.“I got a pretty good start. As always it’s real hard racing with Shane [van Ginsbergen]. But then our car just hooked up and took off.”
By the time he took the checkered flag, McLaughlin had opened up a nearly 10-second lead over van Ginsbergen. Scott Pye rounded out the podium.
McLaughlin’s Darwin win comes during the Indy 500 weekend. While McLaughlin was scheduled to compete at the Indianapolis Grand Prix this year, the schedule’s shuffling due to the COVID-19 pandemic saw the New Zealander sidelined until possibly next year.
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