McLaughlin/Premat win Gold Coast finale from 13th

Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat defeated the three Triple Eight Holdens in an intense Vodafone Gold Coast 600 finale that delivered a new championship leader.

A strong opening stint from Premat lifted the Shell Ford into contention from 13th on the grid, before McLaughlin leapfrogged all three Commodores with an early second stop.

McLaughlin eventually took the flag 1.5 seconds clear of Jamie Whincup, who secured the championship lead for the first time in 2017 after Fabian Coulthard finished ninth.

Lee Holdsworth/Karl Reindler were a strong eighth for Preston Hire Racing ahead of Coulthard/D’Alberto and Nick Percat/Macauley Jones, who delivered a top 10 to Brad Jones Racing.

Those to strike trouble included Tim Slade/Andre Heimgartner, whose race came undone when the Kiwi was spun into the Turn 11 wall by Dean Fiore on lap four.

Bathurst winner Luke Youlden clobbered the wall at the exit of the beach chicane on lap 14, requiring a stint in the garage for the Penrite Holden he shared with David Reynolds.

Contact between David Russell and Richard Muscat caused early damage to the Harvey Norman Nissan in a Turn 4 melee that also claimed Alex Davison’s LDM Holden.

Turn 4 was the downfall of both LDM entries, with Taz Douglas bowing out early after a touch with James Golding that spun the GRM Commodore to the back of the field.

Golding and Garth Tander eventually finished as the best of the two GRM Commodoes in 17th, while Nissan also missed the top 10 – Rick Kelly/David Wall its best in 11th.