Volvo scores thrilling podium as Lowndes wins

A popular second place finish for Scott McLaughlin and debutant Volvo stole the limelight from winner Craig Lowndes in Race 2 at the Clipsal 500.

Starting second, the 20-year-old McLaughlin could not hold out Jamie Whincup early in the race but regained the place after a slow pitstop for his rival.

A Safety Car for debris after just 15 of 39 laps ensured an early end to the pit cycle and a flat-out sprint to the flag.

After the restart, Whincup made short work of Mark Winterbottom to claw onto the tail of McLaughlin, but proved unable to do anything about the rapid Volvo until the final lap.

Taking the place around the outside of Turn 9, Whincup then made an error at the final corner that allowed McLaughlin through once more, much to the delight of the vocal crowd.

Almost five seconds up the road, Lowndes had cruised to victory, squaring the ledger with his team-mate at one-all after two races.

Winterbottom held on for fourth ahead of Fabian Coulthard, Chaz Mostert and Garth Tander.

There was heartbreak for Dick Johnson Racing and Scott Pye, with the Adelaide-raised driver punted out of fifth by Shane van Gisbergen mid-race.

Van Gisbergen received a drive-through penalty for his misjudgement and later endured a second incident, this time a scrape with Tim Slade, on his way to 16th.

Also in the wars were James Courtney and Lee Holdsworth, who saw top 10 runs evaporate when a touch peeled the left-front door off the Holden and punctured a tyre on the Mercedes.

Will Davison meanwhile gave Erebus some reward with 10th, taking the flag in the middle of the Michael Caruso-led Nissan Altima quartet.

See below for the full Race 2 result

1	Red Bull Racing Australia	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	39	56:12.9270
2	Valvoline Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Volvo S60	39	56:17.6597
3	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	39	56:18.4779
4	Ford Pepsi Max Crew	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG	39	56:27.7221
5	Lockwood Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VF	39	56:27.9472
6	Ford Pepsi Max Crew	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG	39	56:28.2508
7	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	39	56:28.5985
8	Norton Hornets	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	39	56:37.4829
9	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	39	56:38.2005
10	Erebus Motorsport V8	Will Davison	Mercedes E63 AMG	39	56:38.4460
11	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	39	56:39.3095
12	Norton Hornets	James Moffat	Nissan Altima	39	56:41.2775
13	Repair Management Aust Racing	Russell Ingall	Holden Commodore VF	39	56:41.6359
14	Supercheap Auto Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	39	56:42.5538
15	Walkinshaw Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	39	56:47.6000
16	Team Tekno VIP Petfoods	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	39	56:47.9469
17	Erebus Motorsport V8	Lee Holdsworth	Mercedes E63 AMG	39	56:48.7076
18	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	39	56:50.4807
19	The Bottle-O Racing Team	David Reynolds	Ford Falcon FG	39	56:50.9894
20	Wilson Security Racing	Scott Pye	Ford Falcon FG	39	56:52.8021
21	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VF	39	56:58.7978
22	Team JELD-WEN	Jack Perkins	Ford Falcon FG	39	56:59.8576
23	Valvoline Racing GRM	Robert Dahlgren	Volvo S60	39	57:01.7143
24	Team Advam/GB	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	39	57:32.1651
DNF	Wilson Security Racing	David Wall	Ford Falcon FG	37	53:59.9732

See below for the updated points standings

1	Craig Lowndes	144
2	Jamie Whincup	139
3	Mark Winterbottom	120
4	Scott McLaughlin	117
5	Fabian Coulthard	110
6	Shane Van Gisbergen	92
7	Rick Kelly	87
8	Garth Tander	84
9	Will Davison	72
10	Michael Caruso	70
11	Todd Kelly	70
12	James Courtney	67
13	Russell Ingall	67
14	Jason Bright	66
15	Scott Pye	61
16	Tim Slade	61
17	James Moffat	56
18	Lee Holdsworth	54
19	Chaz Mostert	51
20	Nick Percat	49
21	Jack Perkins	43
22	Robert Dahlgren	39
23	Dale Wood	34
24	David Wall	31
25	David Reynolds	24