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Supercars Winton SuperSprint Talking Points

Nissan rebounded in Winton after a painful week off-track. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
20th May, 2018
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The first third of the 2018 Supercars championship has flown past, with the conclusion of the Winton SuperSprint marking the start of a small layoff for the touring car category.

Heading into the break before the resumption of play in Darwin in mid-June, Winton threw up many key talking points for the championship, of which five are below – from Nissan’s breakthrough victory to a sampling of what the season of endurance promises later in the season.

Nissan and Kelly break winless drought
Off the back of a difficult week that brought with it the announcement that Nissan would be withdrawing its manufacturer support from the Kelly Racing Team, the Braeside operation struck back and won its first race since 2016.

In what will go down as a famous victory, Rick Kelly broke his drought of wins dating back to 2011 too, having taken the lead of the 40-lap Saturday race with eight to go following an error from the dominant Scott McLaughlin.

The 2006 Supercars champion then had to hold off Scott Pye in the Walkinshaw Andretti United car, who was on 20-lap fresher tyres and was utilising that extra grip to hound the Altima.

There was the potential too of having a second Nissan on the podium, with Michael Caruso having started third in the race – though their attempt at the undercut backfired and saw the #23 car drop to sixth.

Both Kelly and Caruso backed up their Saturday pace on Sunday too, with fourth and fifth place finishes in the 67-lap race after qualifying third and fourth again.

Michael Caruso tests his 2018 Nissan Altima.

(Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

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Kiwi podium domination
It was a Kiwi stranglehold on the podium at the conclusion of Race 14, with all three positions having been locked out by New Zealanders, including both the DJR Team Penske Ford Falcons.

Fabian Coulthard broke through for his first win of the season, capitalising from second on the grid on a poor start from his electric teammate in McLaughlin, who was able to recover to third.

2016 Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen was the leading force for the Red Bull Holden Racing Team this weekend, jumping up five places from his starting position to finish behind Coulthard in second and consolidate his second place in the championship standings.

A notable mention too goes to rookie Richie Stanaway, who earned his first top-ten finish as a solo driver and his best result of the season in ninth. The 26-year-old has endured a difficult start to his Australian touring car career, having been involved in many first lap incidents at the rear of the field and reliability problems.

Ninth at the Winton circuit, where he and his Tickford squad have racked up the miles during test days, was a timely reminder that the former World Endurance Championship GT driver is a hot prospect.

Richie Stanaway

(Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

Pole record broken for McLaughlin
Despite not having won a race this weekend, the 24-year-old Kiwi continued to add to his tally of pole positions, with two more collected at the Winton SuperSprint.

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Pole for Race 14 saw the championship leader eclipse the number set by Australian touring legend in Allan Moffat, who had 39 pole positions to his esteemed name.

McLaughlin, with a total of 40 in his young career, sits fifth on the all-time pole scorers record in the category, with only one more set to equal him with five-time series champion Mark Skaife and three-time champ Craig Lowndes.

The pole positions leader in Supercars is currently Jamie Whincup with 75, and second on that list is the legendary Peter Brock with 57. If McLaughlin were to snare pole at every race from Darwin onto the finale at Newcastle, he could equal Brock’s record.

Scott McLaughlin

(Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

Off weekend for key contenders
It wasn’t the weekend that title contenders Jamie Whincup and David Reynolds needed for their individual causes, with mechanical troubles hampering their outings at the Winton SuperSprint and having cost them valuable points.

Reynolds conceded the most ground, having dropped from second to fourth in the standings as a result of his P25 and P15 finishes, with poor qualifying speed having contributed to the Erebus driver having been caught in a tangle of backmarkers.

Race 14 saw Reynolds rise from 26th on the grid to 15th, limiting the damage, but ultimately he is 318-points behind McLaughlin, who is now at the top of the table.

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Whincup remains fifth with a 364-point deficit to the seven-time series champion, lacking the pace that his teammate Van Gisbergen had throughout the weekend despite the Kiwi’s car still not being perfect.

Even McLaughlin’s weekend was far from perfect, as seen previously through his four-race winning streak, though on form – he and DJR Team Penske looked far better than the likes of Erebus and Triple Eight at this event.

jamie-whincup-bathurst-1000-v8-supercars-motorsport-2016

(AAP Image/Edge Photographics)

Enduro drivers get their day out
Friday at the Winton SuperSprint saw an additional practice session on the schedule, allocated to the co-drivers who will contest the Enduro Cup later in the season.

As always, it was exciting to see the co-drivers in action for the first time this season, with many new faces lining up for their maiden outings and some having found new homes ahead of the season of endurance.

The experienced hand of David Russell, who has joined Tickford from the Nissan camp, was the fastest in that 30-minute session in the #6 Monster Energy entry that he will share with Cameron Waters.

A reshuffle at Tickford sees reigning Enduro Cup champion Steve Owen redeployed over to Stanaway’s car, while former full-time driver James Moffat has been brought in to partner Chaz Mostert.

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Impressive too was Earl Bamber, who will make his Supercars debut at the Sandown 500 in partnership with Van Gisbergen.

The dual Le Mans 24 Hour winner and reigning World Endurance Champion was in the top ten in both sessions that he contested, signalling the start of what could be a lethal line-up between him and his compatriot.

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