McLaughlin relishes van Gisbergen battle

The highlight of a mixed night in the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries for Scott McLaughlin was his and Shane van Gisbergen’s sublime scrap to decide the finale.

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McLaughlin has had a tough run in recent weeks, being caught up in multiple incidents that have cost him the Eseries points lead.

That mantle has fallen the way of van Gisbergen, who now holds a 146-point advantage atop the standings after taking wins at Phillip Island and Interlagos last night.

The latter came only after an intense battle with McLaughlin, who held track position in first place but with older tyres, on the fourth-last lap.

McLaughlin covered off a hard-charging van Gisbergen into Interlagos’ first turn before the pair ran side-by-side for several more corners.

It was the latest quality exchange between the Kiwi duo, who have also duked it out in the past two Virgin Australia Supercars Championship seasons.

“That was a big night, some really good racing there with Shane in the last race,” McLaughlin said.

“That’s how you race. Fast, clean and hard. That was good stuff.

“Big credit to Shane, it’s always like that between him and me.

“That’s how it is, when a guy comes out with fresher tyres it’s hard to keep them behind, and he’s super quick in iRacing anyway.”

McLaughlin brought his Shell V-Power Racing Mustang home in second, having been forced to recover to ninth in the opening two races of the night.

“Otherwise we had a bad night with getting turned and taken out, but that last race was awesome,” he added.

“Let’s go again next week – counting down the days to the real thing now.”

McLaughlin’s teammate Fabian Coulthard also had an up-and-down night, taking fifth in the middle race – between a 22nd and 21st.

“This virtual Car 12 is bloody fast, we just need to stay away from all the guys tripping over themselves out there,” said Coulthard.

“We had a good run in the second race of the night there, with P5 at Interlagos, so that was good.

“A pitstop drama in the last race put paid to a good result, which is frustrating, but we can grab a decent finish when the luck falls our way.”