
Lowndes led away from pole
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 |
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