McLaughlin in box seat for Supercars title

Scott McLaughlin has capitalised on Jamie Whincup’s heartbreak, with the Ford star poised to claim his first Supercars title after a dramatic race in Newcastle.

After starting the day 30 points ahead of McLaughlin, Whincup’s quest for an unprecedented seventh championship struck disaster after steering damage led to a 23rd-place finish.

With the door ajar McLaughlin burst through to claim his eighth victory of the year, with DJR Team Penske teammate Fabian Coulthard joining him on the podium in a one-two finish to seal the teams’ championship.

“I haven’t been on the Bathurst podium but certainly that podium is one of the best I’ve ever been on,” McLaughlin said.

“I think it’s been Supercars’ greatest battle for a long time and it’s pretty cool to be a part of that. It’d be nice to finish off in style.”

Starting from fifth on the grid behind polesitter McLaughlin, Whincup’s Commodore made contact with Michael Caruso’s Nissan Altima on the opening lap.

Shortly after Whincup narrowly avoided a three-car pile up involving Dale Wood, Taz Douglas and Jason Bright which forced the safety car onto the track.

The Triple Eight Racing star later re-joined the fray more than 13 laps off the pace.

For McLaughlin, it is the 15th time this season he has stood on the podium.

The 24-year-old New Zealand star passed Bathurst 1000 winner David Reynolds on the 72nd lap to set up the win.

It puts him 78 points in front of Whincup in overall standings ahead of Sunday’s season finale, a race in which McLaughlin will seal the title if he finishes 11th or better.

“I’ve never been in this position but I’ve got to try and treat it as every other day,” he said.

“That’s obviously going to be hard but I’ll come back tomorrow bigger and better and hopefully we can seal it.

“If we can’t, we’ll give it a great crack. Either way I’m a pretty happy 24-year-old.”

Reynolds was forced into a wall when Whincup’s teammate Shane van Gisbergen passed him with 13 laps remaining, with stewards handing the 2016 champion a 15-second penalty.

A furious Reynolds finished fifth, while fellow Holden driver Tim Slade jumped to third to grab his second podium for the season.

Qualifying for the final race of the season starts at 11.10am on Sunday, with a top-10 shootout to decide final grid positions for the 250km race.

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