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Darwin Supercars: Reynolds storms to Sunday win

A fast-starting David Reynolds dominated Sunday's Supercars race in Darwin, taking a comprehensive win over Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup.

David Reynolds, Erebus Motorsport Holden

David Reynolds, Erebus Motorsport Holden

Dirk Klynsmith / Motorsport Images

Race winner Scott McLaughlin, DJR Team Penske Ford
Rick Kelly, Nissan Motorsport Nissan
Fabian Coulthard, DJR Team Penske Ford
Scott McLaughlin, DJR Team Penske Ford
David Reynolds, Erebus Motorsport Holden
David Reynolds, Erebus Motorsport Holden
Nick Percat, Brad Jones Racing Holden
Rick Kelly, Nissan Motorsport Nissan
David Reynolds, Erebus Motorsport Holden
Scott McLaughlin, DJR Team Penske Ford
Richie Stanaway, Tickford Racing Ford

The start was crucial for Reynolds, the Erebus driver making a brilliant jump from the second row before storming around the outside of Rick Kelly and McLaughlin to grab the lead.

Once in front, Reynolds comfortably had the measure of the other leaders. He built a gap of the best part of three seconds over Kelly before making his first stop on Lap 18, coming out in what was effectively second place thanks to Michael Caruso going for the massive undercut with an early stop.

Within two laps Reynolds was past the Caruso Nissan and set off to establish his lead, once again building a gap of over 2.5s to Kelly in second place.

He then made his second stop on Lap 38, two laps later than McLaughlin and a lap later than Kelly, emerging with a margin of around four seconds.

Even a Lap 55 Safety Car for debris on the front straight couldn't unsettle Reynolds, the final margin 1.6s over Saturday winner McLaughlin.

"I just hung my balls out at Turn 1 and went a bit deeper than everyone, and it paid off," said Reynolds. "That's what set up our race. We had awesome pitstops and good strategy. My car was amazing today, I couldn't fault it. It was magnificent."

For McLaughlin the key was the second round of stops, which gave the DJR Team Penske driver the opportunity to jump Kelly for second. But things weren't straightforward for the points leader, with what looked to be oil smoke constantly coming from the back of the Penske Ford, mirrors full of Jamie Whincup right to the flag, and a disconnected helmet fan hose leaving him hot and bothered.

In the end both McLaughlin and his engine hung on, the Kiwi able to hold off Whincup by just over half a second.

"It was pretty hot going there – the engine was hot, I was hot, there was stuff going on everywhere," said McLaughlin.

"The car was actually really good, I just couldn't get close to people because of the heat in the engine. Then down the straight I would pluck fifth or sixth gear, and then grab the hose for as long as I could and get some helmet fan for a bit."

Shane van Gisbergen came home fourth, the late Safety Car playing into his hands thanks to a long second stint that gave him the best tyre condition for the sprint to the flag. That helped him pass Nick Percat and Kelly, who he demoted to sixth and fifth respectively.

Garth Tander and Fabian Coulthard finished seventh and eighth, with Michael Caruso and Craig Lowndes rounding out the Top 10.

McLaughlin is now 161 points ahead of van Gisbergen in the standings, while Reynolds has moved back ahead of Lowndes and is 327 points behind the leader.

Whincup is still fifth, the reigning champion now needing to find 433 points to overhaul McLaughlin.

Race 2 results: 

Cla#DriverCarGap
1 9 australia David Reynolds  Holden Commodore ZB  
2 17 new_zealand Scott McLaughlin  Ford Falcon FG X 1.6600
3 1 australia Jamie Whincup  Holden Commodore ZB 2.2460
4 97 new_zealand Shane van Gisbergen  Holden Commodore ZB 5.3791
5 15 australia Rick Kelly  Nissan Altima 9.9827
6 8 australia Nick Percat  Holden Commodore ZB 10.4754
7 33 australia Garth Tander  Holden Commodore ZB 11.4431
8 12 new_zealand Fabian Coulthard  Ford Falcon FG X 11.8024
9 23 australia Michael Caruso  Nissan Altima 12.2453
10 888 australia Craig Lowndes  Holden Commodore ZB 12.6300
11 25 australia James Courtney  Holden Commodore ZB 14.6410
12 55 australia Chaz Mostert  Ford Falcon FG X 15.1398
13 5 australia Mark Winterbottom  Ford Falcon FG X 16.2583
14 230 australia Will Davison  Ford Falcon FG X 16.7330
15 99 australia Anton de Pasquale  Holden Commodore ZB 18.2086
16 7 new_zealand Andre Heimgartner  Nissan Altima 19.0913
17 78 switzerland Simona de Silvestro  Nissan Altima 20.4352
18 21 australia Tim Blanchard  Holden Commodore ZB 20.8373
19 56 new_zealand Richie Stanaway  Ford Falcon FG X 22.2493
20 2 australia Scott Pye  Holden Commodore ZB 57.1919
21 14 australia Tim Slade  Holden Commodore ZB 1 lap
22 34 australia James Golding  Holden Commodore ZB 1 lap
23 35 australia Todd Hazelwood  Ford Falcon FG X 1 lap
24 4 australia Macauley Jones  Holden Commodore ZB 1 lap
25 6 australia Cameron Waters  Ford Falcon FG X 16 lap
26 18 australia Lee Holdsworth  Holden Commodore ZB 16 lap
27 19 australia Jack Le Brocq  Holden Commodore ZB 64 lap

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