McLaughlin hands Volvo maiden V8 win

Scott McLaughlin recorded Volvo’s first V8 Supercars race victory in an action-packed finale to the MSS Security Challenge at Albert Park.

McLaughlin held off Craig Lowndes in the closing stages of the 12 lap Race 4 to secure the race and overall weekend victory.

The result comes in just Volvo’s second V8 Supercars event having joined the championship with existing outfit Garry Rogers Motorsport.

Second for Lowndes secured second for the weekend, while Michael Caruso rounded out the Race 4 and weekend podiums.

Winner of the opening three races, Shane van Gisbergen, led the opening half-lap before being overtaken by Fabian Coulthard.

Coulthard’s right-front tyre was heavily flat-spotted in the move, however, ensuring he could not hold off McLaughlin’s advances two laps later.

With his car visibly struggling for rear-grip, Van Gisbergen gradually fell down the order as the laps progressed, eventually finishing 14th.

The race was punctuated by a Safety Car on Lap 7 to retrieve Todd Kelly’s Nissan, which had stopped on the circuit after an engine issue.

The restart lap brought carnage, with Rick Kelly, Jamie Whincup and James Moffat getting together at Turn 9 while fighting for fourth.

All three cars were left stranded in the gravel trap, with officials electing to continue the final three laps using a local yellow, rather than call the Safety Car.

Coulthard hung on for fifth with his tyre problem, while Will Davison, Mark Winterbottom, James Courtney, Tim Slade and Lee Holdsworth made the most of the chaos to complete the top 10.

See below for the full Race 4 result

See below for the final weekend points