McLaughlin beats van Gisbergen in Darwin opener
Scott McLaughlin held out a late charge from Supercars title rivals Shane van Gisbergen and David Reynolds to win the opening leg of the CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown.
The trio were covered by 1.2 seconds at the line, championship leader McLaughlin having pitted early and van Gisbergen and Reynolds later in the 42-lap contest.
Click here for the race result
Polesitter Reynolds led early, despite a lock-up into Turn 1 on the second lap, ahead of McLaughlin, Rick Kelly, Anton De Pasquale, Jamie Whincup and van Gisbergen.
Behind Reynolds, Kelly and Whincup were among the first to pit for tyres, on lap five.
Whincup drew alongside Kelly in pitlane but ultimately propped at the merge cone to drop in behind, and McLaughlin did enough to stay ahead of both of them after pitting one lap later.
Reynolds continued at the front with his advantage over the pack gradually reduced by van Gisbergen, from more than three seconds to less than one by lap 15.
Waters’ race included contact with team-mate Mark Winterbottom at Turn 1 on lap two, when he was tagged into a half-spin by James Golding.
Winterbottom was rotated and fell to the back of the pack and ultimately finished 20th, with Golding 25th having been handed a 15-second penalty for the incident.
