10 stats that mattered: Merlin Darwin Triple Crown

The return to the Northern Territory saw Supercars put on another show at Hidden Valley Raceway.

The Merlin Darwin Triple Crown had it all: record laps, accidents, controversy and great racing.

By weekend’s end, it was Shane van Gisbergen who put on a clinic, with only a botched wheel nut on Saturday preventing him from a clean sweep.

In the wake of the Darwin weekend, Supercars.com has listed 10 of the most defining statistics from a thrilling weekend of racing in Darwin.

48) SVG matches Brock

Van Gisbergen’s Race 14 was the 48th of his career, drawing him level with the late Peter Brock.

8) Another day, another win

With his Sunday sweep, van Gisbergen claimed his seventh and eighth wins of the season from just 14 starts.

It equals his 2016 title-winning tally of eight wins in a season. It's also the best start to a season through 14 races since Scott McLaughlin in 2019.

McLaughlin opened the 2019 season with 10 wins in the first 14 races, and went on to win a record 18 races in his dominant title-winning campaign.

221) Biggest series lead

With Jamie Whincup third in both Sunday races, van Gisbergen extended his series lead to a season-high 221 points.

2) Chaz carries on

Chaz Mostert now has two wins for Walkinshaw Andretti United, having dominated the chaotic Race 12 on Saturday.

17) Jamie’s podiums

Whincup’s Sunday podium double helped him extend his Darwin podiums record to 17. Van Gisbergen is next on 13.

5) Consistency the key

Five drivers finished all three races in the top 10: Chaz Mostert, Nick Percat, Cameron Waters, Will Brown and James Courtney.

30) De Pasquale joins Skaife

Anton De Pasquale claimed his third ARMOR ALL Pole Position in a row on Saturday, matching Mark Skaife’s 1991 marker of consecutive poles from his first pole.

34) Nick closing in

Saturday podium finisher Nick Percat is now just 34 points behind sixth-placed Mark Winterbottom. His career best season finish came last year (seventh).

1:04.9552) Davison’s record lap

Will Davison was a class above over one lap on Sunday, breaking the lap record twice; first in Race 13 qualifying (01:05.0575s) and again in Race 14 qualifying (1:04.9552s).

Shell V-Power Racing Team teammate Anton De Pasquale broke Scott McLaughlin’s 2019 record a day earlier with a 1:05.2904s flyer.

38,131) Darwin turns it on

A crowd of 38,131 was recorded for the three-day weekend; it was was the biggest overall crowd since 2017, and included the biggest Friday crowd ever.

The season will resume at the NTI Townsville 500 next month. Tickets are on sale now.