Scott McLaughlin has scored the second victory of his rookie V8 Supercars Championship season with a controlled performance in Race 23 at Ipswich.
The Fujitsu GRM Holden driver, who shadowed Jamie Whincup to the line in Race 22 on Saturday, proved more than a match for the four-time champion over the 100km journey.
Beating Whincup off the line, McLaughlin showed the way for all 32 laps to lead home his Red Bull Holden rival by 0.7s.
The race was run in dry conditions, with threatening skies failing to deliver. A mid-race Safety Car for debris also failed to change proceedings at the front.
The most intense moment came on the opening lap when Chaz Mostert shot from fourth on the grid to challenge Whincup around the outside of Turns 1, 2 and 3.
Mostert soon fell to seventh by running wide at the Turn 3 hairpin. He recovered to be as high as fifth, only to be pipped by a fast-finishing Jason Bright at the chequered flag.
Buy tickets
Further up the road, James Courtney celebrated his new Holden Racing Team contract with third, one place ahead of Fabian Coulthard.
Alex Davison, David Reynolds, Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom completed the top 10.
Tim Slade’s Erebus Mercedes ran in the top 10 during the early stages before eventually falling to 13th.
Fortunes were again far worse for team-mate Lee Holdsworth, who chalked up a fifth consecutive failure to finish after coming off worst in a three-car squeeze with Scott Pye and Shane van Gisbegen moments prior to the Safety Car.
Van Gisbergen, who had struggled in the early stages, took the opportunity to take a new set of tyres under the full course caution. He eventually recovered to 17th.
Nissan’s tough weekend continued as all four of its cars came home line astern outside the top 20.
A final 100km race will complete the Coates Hire Ipswich 360 later this afternoon.
See below for the full Race 23 result
| 1 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 39:34.75 |
| 2 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 39:35.45 |
| 3 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 39:37.17 |
| 4 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 39:40.73 |
| 5 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 39:43.38 |
| 6 | Wilson Security Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG | 32 | 39:43.39 |
| 7 | Jeld-wen FPR Ford | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 32 | 39:48.99 |
| 8 | The Bottle-O FPR Ford | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 32 | 39:53.37 |
| 9 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 32 | 39:53.71 |
| 10 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 32 | 39:53.92 |
| 11 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 39:54.89 |
| 12 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 39:55.62 |
| 13 | Heavy Haulage Australia Racing | Tim Slade | Mercedes E63 AMG | 32 | 39:56.37 |
| 14 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 39:57.56 |
| 15 | Tekno Autosports | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 39:58.71 |
| 16 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 39:58.84 |
| 17 | TEKNO Team VIP | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 40:00.02 |
| 18 | Team HIFLEX | Tony D’Alberto | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 40:00.84 |
| 19 | Wilson Security Racing | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon FG | 32 | 40:01.50 |
| 20 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 40:01.60 |
| 21 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 32 | 40:04.89 |
| 22 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 32 | 40:05.20 |
| 23 | Norton 360 Racing | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 32 | 40:06.68 |
| 24 | Norton 360 Racing | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 32 | 40:07.35 |
| 25 | ekol Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 40:09.21 |
| 26 | Dodo Insurance Racing | Dean Fiore | Holden Commodore VF | 32 | 40:11.59 |
| 27 | SP Tools Racing | Maro Engel | Mercedes E63 AMG | 32 | 40:13.48 |
| DNF | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 5 | 06:11.15 |
