Scott McLaughlin wins 2019 Bathurst 1000

Scott McLaughlin has won the 2019 Bathurst 1000, his first win in the event, in dramatic circumstances on Sunday afternoon.

At one point, it looked like the race would finish under a yellow card, however, things were cleared in time for a one-lap dash around the mountain, with Scott McLaughlin managing to hold off the charge of Shane Van Gisbergen on cold tyres.

That came after a caution with just three laps to go, which meant all strategy and fuel conservation was thrown out the window.

A safety car about 26 laps from home triggered a mad dash into the pit lane, but being short of the critical lap on fuel numbers, it meant it was either maximum conservation or go crazy with a splash and dash before the finish line.

Jamie Whincup attempted to go with the second option, but with more crashes and incidents, it meant he got caught in fourth after pitting, and was unable to bridge the gap.

In the end, the fastest car on the day won, even if not without plenty of headaches and nerves on the way at the Dick Johnson Racing garage, who haven’t won Bathurst since 1994.

The carnage in the final 60 laps followed the first 100 laps of almost clean, green flag running, bar the crash of Tim Slade on the opening lap of the race at the top of the mountain, which followed an already delayed start.

The win for McLaughlin allows him to expand his already large lead in the championship over Van Gisbergen, with Supercars now turning their attention to the rest of the endurance races on the Gold Coast and at Sandown.

Full Results

1. Scott McLaughlin/Alex Premat (Shell V-Power Racing, #17) @ 6:27:51
2. Shane Van Gisbergen/Garth Tander (Red Bull Holden Racing Team, #97) + 0.68
3. James Courtney/Jack Perkins (Mobil 1 Racing, #22) + 1.87
4. Jamie Whincup/Craig Lowndes (Red Bull Holden Racing Team, #888) + 2.66
5. David Reynolds/Luke Youlden (Penrite Racing, #9) + 3.64
6. Fabian Coulthard/Tony D’Alberto (Shell V-Power Racing, #12) + 4.07
7. Mark Winterbottom/Steven Richards (Irwin Racing, #18) + 5.62
8. Scott Pye/Warren Luff (Mobil 1 Racing, #2) + 6.61
9. Rick Kelly/Dale Wood (Castrol Racing, #15) + 6.67
10. Lee Holdsworth/Thomas Randle (The Bottle-O Racing Team, #5) + 6.98
11. Will Davison/Alex Davison (Milwaukee Racing, #23) + 7.70
12. James Golding/Richard Muscat (Boost Mobile Racing, #34) + 7.86
13. Richie Stanaway/Chris Pither (Boost Mobile Racing, #33) + 11.26
14. Simona De Silvestro/Alex Rullo (Team Harvey Norman, #78) + 1 lap
15. Nick Percat/Tim Blanchard (Brad Jones Racing, #8) + 1 lap
16. Chaz Mostert/James Moffat (Supercheap Auto Racing, #55) + 1 lap
17. Macauley Jones/Dean Canto (Team CoolDrive, #21) + 1 lap
18. Jack Le Brocq/Jonathon Webb (Tekno Racing, #19) + 1 lap
19. Alexander Rossi/James Hinchcliffe (Walkinshaw Andretti United, #27) + 2 laps
20. Garry Jacobson/Dean Fiore (Kelly Racing, #3) + 2 laps
21. Cameron Waters/Michael Caruso (Monster Energy Racing, #6) + 13 laps
DNF. Andre Heimgartner/Bryce Fullwood (Plus Fitness Racing, #7)
DNF. Anton de Pasquale/Will Brown (Penrite Racing, #99)
DNF. Jack Kostecki/Jack Kostecki (Kostecki Brothers Racing, #56)
DNF. Todd Hazlewood/Jack Smith (Bigmate Racing, #35)
DNF. Tim Slade/Ash Walsh (Machineryhouse Racing, #14)