How the championship can be won

Shane van Gisbergen's pitstop penalty shifts the balance in the fight for the 2018 Supercars Championship in Scott McLaughlin's favour.

With Saturday's provisional race results, after van Gisbergen passed an out-of-fuel McLaughlin on the last lap to win, the gap at the top would have been just two points.

On that basis, Sunday's race would have effectively been a winner-takes-all showdown, with the title going to whichever driver finished higher.

Van Gisbergen was handed a 25-second time penalty on Sunday morning, though, following an investigation into a refuelling breach during his final pitstop.

That demoted van Gisbergen to fifth, and gave McLaughlin the race win and a 53-point championship lead.

McLaughlin starts the Sunday race on 3,806 points and van Gisbergen 3,753, with 150 up for grabs in the 95-lap race.

The key equation is that McLaughlin can seal the championship by finishing in the top six even if van Gisbergen wins.

The same applies to finishing in the top eight or top 10 if van Gisbergen crosses the line second or third.

A sliding scale applies down to van Gisbergen finishing ninth, in which case McLaughlin would only need the points paid for 25th or 26th.

If van Gisbergen finishes 10th or lower, McLaughlin will be the champion regardless of his position.

In the event of a McLaughlin DNF, van Gisbergen would snatch the crown by finishing 17th or higher.

How McLaughlin can secure the title