McLaughlin/Premat score stunning comeback win 

Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat produced an impressive comeback drive to score a crucial victory in Race 22 of the Vodafone Gold Coast 600.

The #17 Falcon climbed from 13th on the grid after qualifying struggles to take victory after making the most of a strong opening stint and an inspired pit strategy and drive from McLaughlin.

Co-driver Alex Premat drove superbly to hand over to McLaughlin in fourth spot, but it was the decision to pit early on lap 59 that set up the win.

The undercut proved successful as the Kiwi took the lead from Jamie Whincup, who led every lap until that moment, following a strong start from Paul Dumbrell.

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Despite question marks over fuel, McLaughlin held firm under pressure from Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen to take the win in a Safety Car free race held in dry conditions.

Whincup came home second with van Gisbergen third after the #97 entry had occupied second until the final round of stops.

Meanwhile, Prodrive’s Chaz Mostert and Steve Owen took out the Pirtek Enduro Cup after finishing seventh.

The victory has seen Whincup open up a 17 point lead over Fabian Coulthard in the championship after the Kiwi recovered to ninth from 22nd on the grid.

McLaughlin is just 27 points adrift in third after taking his first win since Queensland Raceway in August.

All co-drivers except Erebus’ Dale Wood took the start that saw Dumbrell jump team-mate and pole-sitter Matt Campbell (#97 Triple Eight), while Steven Richards (#888 Triple Eight) slotted into third.

Richie Stanaway (#6 Prodrive) made ground from seventh to fourth in the opening stint ahead of Dean Canto (Prodrive) and Premat, who quickly climbed from 13th to sixth.

Jack Perkins fell from fourth to seventh as he battled an issue with his Mobil 1 HSV Racing Commodore.

While Dumbrell enjoyed a comfortable lead over Campbell at the front, drama struck Stanaway when he made a lunge on Richards at Turn 4 just before the first round of stops.

The Kiwi bent a steering arm after contact with the Triple Eight, which saw him crawl into the pits, while the lead group ducked in for service and a driver change.

Prodrive were able to fix the Falcon but lost two laps in the process.

Whincup took over the #88 in the lead from Dumbrell with team-mate van Gisbergen in second and Lowndes in third.

The #17 Falcon rejoined the race in fourth with McLaughlin at the wheel, after Premat’s strong opening stint.

Mark Winterbottom occupied fifth ahead of James Courtney, while an impressive performance from Tony D’Alberto handed Coulthard ninth spot after the first pit stops.

Whincup increased his lead to 4.5s prior to the second compulsory stops having been aided by a drop off in pace for van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen was able to recover and bring the gap back to three seconds, before pitting to cover off McLaughlin, who went for an aggressive undercut.

The strategy worked as he rejoined ahead of van Gisbergen and Lowndes in second.

Second then became the lead after Whincup stopped on lap 64 before rejoining behind the #17 Ford.

McLaughlin opened up a 1.1s lead Whincup with van Gisbergen a second further back.

However, he maintained the position to take the victory from the Triple Eight duo.

Lowndes brought the #888 home in fourth ahead of Winterbottom and Canto in fifth, and Courtney and Perkins in sixth.

Mostert and Owen were seventh while Lee Holdsworth and Karl Reindler took eighth.

The top 10 was completed by Nick Percat and Macauley Jones (Brad Jones Racing).

After scoring a deserved third place finish yesterday, the Freightliner Racing Holden of Tim Slade and Andre Heimgartner was an early casualty.

Heimgartner was turned around by Nissan’s Dean Fiore at Turn 11 which resulted in damage as the former was sent backwards into the wall.

It returned to the race 17 laps down before finishing in 23rd spot behind Cameron Waters and Richie Stanaway in 21st spot.

Reigning Bathurst 1000 winners David Reynolds and Luke Youlden also hit drama, when Youlden found the wall hard at the Beach chicane on Lap 14 , causing terminal damage to the right side of the Holden.

The championship heads to New Zealand for the ITM Auckland Super Sprint from November 3-5.

Results: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Vodafone Gold Coast 600 Race 22

1	Shell V-Power Racing Team	S.McLaughlin/A.Premat	Ford Falcon FG/X	102	2:05:17.3924
2	Red Bull Holden Racing Aust	J.Whincup/P.Dumbrell	Holden Commodore VF	102	2:05:18.8676
3	Red Bull Holden Racing Aust	S.Van Gisbergen/M.Campbell	Holden Commodore VF	102	2:05:19.9094
4	TeamVortex	C.Lowndes/S.Richards	Holden Commodore VF	102	2:05:38.4415
5	The Bottle-O Racing Team	M.Winterbottom/D.Canto	Ford Falcon FG/X	102	2:05:43.2090
6	Mobil 1 HSV Racing	J.Courtney/J.Perkins	Holden Commodore VF	102	2:05:45.8307
7	Supercheap Auto Racing	C.Mostert/S.Owen	Ford Falcon FG/X	102	2:05:48.8329
8	Preston Hire Racing	L.Holdsworth/K.Reindler	Holden Commodore VF	102	2:05:48.9755
9	Shell V-Power Racing Team	F.Coulthard/T.D’Alberto	Ford Falcon FG/X	102	2:05:49.3921
10	Boost Mobile	N.Percat/M.Jones	Holden Commodore VF	102	2:06:01.9458
11	Sengled Racing	R.Kelly/D.Wall	Nissan Altima	102	2:06:09.9539
12	carsales Racing	T.Kelly/J.Le Brocq	Nissan Altima	102	2:06:10.9037
13	Mobil 1 HSV Racing	S.Pye/W.Luff	Holden Commodore VF	102	2:06:18.5210
14	TEKNO Woodstock Racing	W.Davison/J.Webb	Holden Commodore VF	102	2:06:19.6463
15	Nissan Motorsport	M.Caruso/D.Fiore	Nissan Altima	102	2:06:27.3579
16	MEGA Racing	J.Bright/G.Jacobson	Ford Falcon FG/X	101	2:05:21.9426
17	Wilson Security Racing GRM	G.Tander/J.Golding	Holden Commodore VF	101	2:05:24.6401
18	Erebus GB Galvanizing Racing	D.Wood/C.Pither	Holden Commodore VF	101	2:05:36.4051
19	Wilson Security Racing GRM	J.Moffat/R.Muscat	Holden Commodore VF	101	2:05:38.9933
20	Team CoolDrive	T.Blanchard/T.Hazelwood	Holden Commodore VF	101	2:06:23.6958
21	Monster Energy Racing	C.Waters/R.Stanaway	Ford Falcon FG/X	100	2:06:13.8097
22	Freightliner Racing	T.Slade/A.Heimgartner	Holden Commodore VF	85	2:06:13.8238
23	Team Harvey Norman	S.De Silvestro/D.Russell	Nissan Altima	85	2:06:43.0889
DNF	Repair Management Aust Racing	A.Rullo/A.Davison	Holden Commodore VF	20	25:46.3993
DNF	Erebus Penrite Racing	Luke Youlden	Holden Commodore VF	15	53:47.0248
DNF	Plus Fitness Racing	A.Russell/T.Douglas	Holden Commodore VF	8	1:07:18.9164

Championship points

1	Jamie Whincup	2580
2	Fabian Coulthard	2563
3	Scott McLaughlin	2553
4	Chaz Mostert	2454
5	Shane Van Gisbergen	2391
6	Craig Lowndes	1950
7	Mark Winterbottom	1872
8	Cameron Waters	1858
9	David Reynolds	1857
10	Garth Tander	1830
11	Scott Pye	1504
12	Michael Caruso	1476
13	Tim Slade	1449
14	Rick Kelly	1434
15	Will Davison	1386
16	Lee Holdsworth	1359
17	James Moffat	1326
18	James Courtney	1320
19	Todd Kelly	1287
20	Jason Bright	1284
21	Nick Percat	1215
22	Tim Blanchard	1071
23	Dale Wood	1035
24	Simona De Silvestro	927
25	Steve Owen	660
26	James Golding	624
27	Tony D’Alberto	612
28	Richie Stanaway	594
29	Alex Rullo	594
30	Matthew Campbell	591
31	Paul Dumbrell	534
32	Steven Richards	504
33	Warren Luff	498
34	Alexandre Premat	495
35	Jack Le Brocq	485
36	Dean Fiore	465
37	Luke Youlden	462
38	Chris Pither	462
39	Garry Jacobson	417
40	Jack Perkins	417
41	David Wall	408
42	Jonathon Webb	372
43	Dean Canto	369
44	Macauley Jones	345
45	Andre Heimgartner	336
46	Todd Hazelwood	333
47	Taz Douglas	306
48	Alex Davison	297
49	Richard Muscat	291
50	Karl Reindler	270
51	David Russell	195
52	Aaren Russell	177
53	Shae Davies	153
54	Cameron McConville	81
55	Matthew Brabham	57
56	Ashley Walsh	0

Pirtek Enduro Cup: 2017 results

1	Chaz Mostert/Steve Owen	660
2	Fabian Coulthard/Tony D’Alberto	612
3	Cameron Waters/Richie Stanaway	594
4	Shane van Gisbergen/Matthew Campbell	591
5	Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell	534
6	Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards	504
7	Scott Pye/Warren Luff	498
8	Scott McLaughlin/Alexandre Premat	495
9	Michael Caruso/Dean Fiore	465
10	David Reynolds/Luke Youlden	462
11	Dale Wood/Chris Pither	462
12	Garth Tander/James Golding	462
13	Jason Bright/Garry Jacobson	417
14	James Courtney/Jack Perkins	417
15	Rick Kelly/David Wall	408
16	Todd Kelly/Jack Le Brocq	375
17	Will Davison/Jonathon Webb	372
18	Mark Winterbottom/Dean Canto	369
19	Tim Slade/Andre Heimgartner	333
20	James Moffat/Richard Muscat	291
21	Lee Holdsworth/Karl Reindler	270
22	Tim Blanchard/Todd Hazelwood	243
23	Simona De Silvestro/David Russell	198
24	Nick Percat/Macauley Jones	198
25	Alex Rullo/Alex Davison	156
26	Aaren Russell/Taz Douglas	108
27	Tim Slade/Ash Walsh	0