Albert Park Supercars: McLaughlin wins milestone 1000th race
Scott McLaughlin remains unbeaten in the 2019 Supercars season, after cruising to victory at Albert Park in what was the 1000th ever race for the series.
The DJR Team Penske driver was never troubled across the 13 laps, comfortably pulling away from Tickford Racing pair Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters to set up his fourth consecutive win of the season.
The final margin over the pair of Tickford Mustangs was 2.5s, with McLaughlin now holding a perfect points score of 450.
"Overall, really happy," said McLaughlin.
"The team did a great hob. I felt like I executed really well myself and hit my marks and controlled the gap to the end.
"I'm careful with my left-front; it's hard on the fronts around here, you don't want to pop them. We had a nice gap there where I could just bring it home."
Mostert came home second, however his race was less straightforward. A sloppy start saw him drop from second on the grid to fourth on the first lap behind Waters and Red Bull Holden driver Jamie Whincup.
It took just four laps for Mostert to clear Whincup, a well-executed move into Turn 13 making it an all-Mustang top three.
He then set after teammate Waters, a small mistake on the run to Turn 3 opening the door for Mostert to get up the inside into the corner and hold on around the outside of Turn 4 to slot into second.
Waters and Whincup came home third and fourth, followed by another pair of Mustangs driven by Fabian Coulthard and Will Davison.
The second-best of the Holdens was David Reynolds in seventh, with Tim Slade eighth, and James Courtney and Shane van Gisbergen separated by just two-tenths back in ninth and 10th.
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 |  Scott McLaughlin | Ford Mustang GT | - | |
| 2 | 55 |  Chaz Mostert | Ford Mustang GT | 2.5219 | 2.522 |
| 3 | 6 |  Cameron Waters | Ford Mustang GT | 6.4096 | 6.410 |
| 4 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore ZB | 7.3124 | 7.312 |
| 5 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Mustang GT | 10.8209 | 10.821 |
| 6 | 23 |  Will Davison | Ford Mustang GT | 11.3897 | 11.390 |
| 7 | 9 | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore ZB | 13.1682 | 13.168 |
| 8 | 14 | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore ZB | 13.8689 | 13.869 |
| 9 | 22 |  James Courtney | Holden Commodore ZB | 17.2096 | 17.210 |
| 10 | 97 |  Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore ZB | 17.4055 | 17.406 |
| 11 | 18 |  Mark Winterbottom | Holden Commodore ZB | 18.5849 | 18.585 |
| 12 | 5 |  Lee Holdsworth | Ford Mustang GT | 21.5580 | 21.558 |
| 13 | 99 | Anton De Pasquale | Holden Commodore ZB | 23.5424 | 23.542 |
| 14 | 2 |  Scott Pye | Holden Commodore ZB | 24.0966 | 24.097 |
| 15 | 8 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore ZB | 24.7191 | 24.719 |
| 16 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima L33 | 25.6755 | 25.676 |
| 17 | 35 | Todd Hazelwood | Holden Commodore ZB | 28.8461 | 28.846 |
| 18 | 7 |  Andre Heimgartner | Nissan Altima L33 | 29.7107 | 29.711 |
| 19 | 33 | Richie Stanaway | Holden Commodore ZB | 35.2392 | 35.239 |
| 20 | 78 |  Simona de Silvestro | Nissan Altima L33 | 35.6766 | 35.677 |
| 21 | 19 | Jack Le Brocq | Holden Commodore ZB | 37.5125 | 37.513 |
| 22 | 21 |  Macauley Jones | Holden Commodore ZB | 41.0450 | 41.045 |
| 23 | 34 | James Golding | Holden Commodore ZB | 41.6083 | 41.608 |
| 24 | 3 | Garry Jacobson | Nissan Altima L33 | 43.1069 | 43.107 |
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About this article
| Series | Supercars |
| Event | Albert Park |
| Author | Andrew van Leeuwen |
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