Scott McLaughlin has won the second race of the Superloop Adelaide 500 as Shane van Gisbergen retires owing to mechanical issues late in the race.McLaughlin leapt off the line, taking the lead from van Gisbergen heading into turn one.
Commotion occurred as David Reynolds spun team-mate Anton de Pasquale at the hairpin on the first lap. Both de Pasquale and Scott Pye were put out of the race owing to extensive damage and the safety car was brought out to recover the grief-stricken cars.On the safety car restart, McLaughlin maintained the margin over van Gisbergen as Whincup pitted early to perform the undercut.
Winterbottom and Holdsworth followed suit a lap later. Meanwhile, Reynolds had been issued a drive-through penalty for his role in the first-lap incident with his team-mate.Just as the race began to settle down, Chris Pither brought out the second safety car after spearing off into the gravel at turn 11. In the ensuring pitstops, McLaughlin lost the lead after a quick pitstop from the Red Bull Holden Racing Team gave van Gisbergen the jump on the defending champion.When the race resumed, Holdsworth applied pressure to McLaughlin as he struggled to keep in touch with van Gisbergen, who was beginning to draw away from the field.A tangle between Rick Kelly and Garry Jacobson saw the latter escorted off the road at the exit of the final corner and into the tyre wall.
By the halfway mark, both van Gisbergen and McLaughlin developed a comfortable cushion over the rest of the field.
Mostert meanwhile began to scythe through the field following earlier troubles.On lap 42, Macauley Jones and Bryce Fullwood tangled at turn 11, which almost prompted a safety car as Fullwood extricated himself from the tyre wall.
McLaughlin made his second pitstop on lap 44 to attempt the undercut over van Gisbergen, who pitted the next lap. Unfortunately for van Gisbergen, not all the fuel was dispensed. Cameron Waters overshot the pit entry, losing position over Will Davison in the process.
With 20 laps to go, van Gisbergen began to push in an attempt to lessen the impact of the impending pitstop, finally coming in for fuel and tyres on lap 68. van Gisbergen would re-join in behind Mostert and Waters, whilst McLaughlin would run unopposed to the flag.
van Gisbergen would begin to rapidly close in on Waters and Mostert, but drama would soon unfold. The Triple Eight Race Engineering team cleared a space in the garage after van Gisbergen radioed in with an issue with the roll bar. He elected to continue before a mechanical failure forced him out of the race with three laps remaining.
At the front, it was plain sailing for the defending champion, Scott McLaughlin. Winning with a comfortable margin over Mostert in second and Waters in third. Kiwis Coutlhard and Heimgartner finished ninth and tenth respectively.
McLaughlin will carry the championship lead into the next round at the Australian Grand Prix in three weeks.
Race two results
1. Scott McLaughlin – DJR Team Penske
2. Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3. Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
4. Will Davison – 23Red Racing
5. Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight Race Engineering
6. Lee Holdsworth – Tickford Racing
7. Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing
8. David Reynolds – Erebus Motorsport
9. Fabian Coulthard – DJR Team Penske
10. Andre Heimgartner – Kelly Racing
11. Mark Winterbottom – Charlie Schwerkolt Racing
12. Jack LeBrocq – Tickford Racing
13. Rick Kelly – Kelly Racing
14. Todd Hazelwood – Brad Jones Racing
15. James Courtney – Team Sydney
16. Zane Goddard – Matt Stone Racing
17. Bryce Fullwood – Walkinshaw Andretti Untied
18. Jack Smith – Brad Jones Racing
19. Macauley Jones – Tim Blanchard Racing
20. Garry Jacobson – Matt Stone Racing
NC. Shane van Gisbergen – Triple Eight Race Engineering
NC. Chris Pither – Team Sydney
DNF. Anton de Pasquale – Erebus Motorsport
DNF. Scott Pye – Charlie Schwerkolt Racing