Wrap: And funny enough we are exactly where we started the weekend with McLaughlin 14 points up. What a race and what a weekend. The two Kiwis dominating. Coulthard came home seventh, Heimgartner eighth and Stanaway 20th.
Final Lap: Scotty holds him off again and again - this is so close. Whincup is backing uop so SVG can get past and McLaughlin is gonna win this one! SVG second and Whincup third.
Lap 67/70: Scotty really struggling on these tyres now - Whincup is all over his back - looks like he might get him
Lap 66/70: Whincup right there ready to pounce on a McLaughlin mistake. SVG is 11 seconds back.
Lap 64/70: Whincup pulling that gap back to half a second now as McLaughlin maybe struggling with grip.
Lap 62/70: Coulthard is seventh, Heimgartner is eighth and Stanaway down in 20th.
Lap 60/70: And SVG is past Reynolds at the hairpin - well done Shane, he avoided frustration there and stayed patient. McLaughlin leads be a second from Whincup with SVG 10 second back with Lowndes fourth and Reynolds now fifth.
Lap 58/70: Reynolds holding off SVG for now but his tyres are worse off - he won't make it easy though - McLaughlin leads Whincup by a second with SVG in fourth a further 11 seconds back.
Lap 56/70: Whincup closing the gap to McLaughlin - it's bouncing between just over and just under a second. SVG has pased Lowndes for fourth and he is right on Reynolds' bumper,m 11 seconds behind the leader.
Lap 54/70: A tardy stop and a bit of misfortune early in the race has Richie Stanaway way down in 21st.
Lap 50/70: McLaughlin, Whincup, Reynolds, Lowndes, SVG, Mostert, Coulthard, Heimgartner, Winterbottom and Slade.
Lap 48/70: Crucially for SVG he gets out just in front of Mostert and with fresh tyres he will be on his bike. McLaughlin leads by over a second to Whincup, Reynolds, Lowndes and The Giz is 13 seconds behind the McLaughlin in fifth.
Lap 47/70: SVG (still to pit), McLaughlin, Whincup, Reynolds, Lowndes, Mostert and Coulthard as SVG pits.
Lap 44/70: Almost a huge off for Percat at the top of the hill - he almost got turned around by Waters then three wide down the front straight but they they escape with no more contact.
Lap 41/70: McLaughlin's lead over Whincup is out to a second - SVG still technically in front as he looks to stay out in hope of a caution.
Lap 40/70: McLaughlin rejoins just in front but Whincup is all over him - he is just holding on and appears to have cemented the spot - SVG is in the lead but is yet to pit.
Lap 38/70: McLaughlin pits from the lead - can he hold on - he should.
Lap 36/70: Whincup rejoins a lap down as McLaughlin just squeezes past him - that's big as now car no.1 can't hold him up.
Lap 35/70: Whincup pits from the lead and Reynolds is in from 3rd.
Lap 33/70: Action in the pits now as stratgey starts to play out. Lowndes, Courtney, Waters, Pye and Mostert all in.
Lap 31/70: Winterbottom pits - he was playing spoiler to SVG's race so the Kiwi is released.
Lap 29/70: McLaughlin has closed the gap to Whincup to three and a half seconds. Whincup, McLaughlin, Lowndes, Mostert, Reynolds.
Lap 27/70: Kiwis update - 2-McLaughlin, 7-SVG, 8-Coulthard, 11-Heimgartner, 20-Stanaway who's race was ruined by Michael Caruso.
Lap 25/70: 14 seconds between McLaughlin in second anmd SVG in seventh.
Lap 21/70: Whincup with a four-second lead over McLaughlin, Lowndes, Mostert, Reynolds, Winterbottom, SVG, Courtney, Coulthard and Waters.
Lap 19/70: So De Silvestro leads but she is yet to pit. Whincup second from McLaughlin, Lowndes, Mostert, Reynolds, Winterbottom, Courtney, SVG and Coulthard, Heimgartner is 13th with Stanaway 20th.
Lap 17/70: Crucially for SVG he gets back out of Coulthard - only just. Reynolds leads from Waters, Percat, Holdworth and De Silvestro but they are all yet to pit.
Lap 16/70: SVG, Coulthard and Heimgartner pit.
Lap 14/70: McLaughlin rejoins five seconds behind Whincup but is on fresher tyres.
Lap 12/70: The top five of McLaughlin, SVG, Reynolds, Coulthard and Heimgartner are yet to pit. Whincup is in 12th but he is the first runner of those whio have pitted as McLaughlin pits.
Lap 9/70: Stanaway pits from 7th - rejoins in 21st.
Lap 8/70: McLaughlin leads by two-seconds with SVG holding off a fast charging Reynolds.
Lap 6/70: McLaughlin, SVG, Reynolds, Coulthard and Mostert.
Lap 5/70: Mistake from Stanaway who was running well in sixth - he's off at the second corner but has recovered. A lapped Caruso bumped him. Stanaway now 8th. Whincup pits.
Lap 3/70: Whincup, McLaughlin, SVG, Reynolds and Coulthard. Winterbottom, Courtney, De Pasquale and Caruso have all pitted early.
Race Start: Clean start and it's as is around the first corner. Trouble for De Pasquale on the bag staright and he has been turned arond.
4.10pm: Cars head out on their warm-up lap.
4.08pm: Just running a bit behind schedule so looking at 4:15pm now.
4.05pm: Clock is ticking - five minutes from the Green Flag. Such a huge 70 laps ahead of us with the Championship on the line. A poor result for either McLaughlin or Van Gisbergen could spell the end of their title hopes.
3.45pm: Cars are heading out onto the grid for the pre race build up. Five Kiwis in the top ten - lets hope they all have clean races and finish that way.
3.38pm: The protest by DJR-Penske against car no.97's wheen spin incident has been dismissed by the stewards and Twitter is blowing up.
3.30pm: Hello folks - Countdown is on to the main event. 40 minutes from the Green Flag.
2.50pm: In case you were wondering there doesn't seem to be to much threat of rain this afternoon. There is a bit of cloud cover about but no forecasted rain at this stage.
2.40pm: So Race Two is set for the Green Flag drop at 4.10pm.
2.20pm: Whincup, McLaughlin, Van Gisbergen, Mostert, Reynolds, Coulthard, Stanaway, De Pasquale, Waters and Heimgartner.
2.17: Reynolds with a smooth lap but not quick enough and he will start fifth. Whincup earns pole with a great lap.
2.15pm: McLaughlin just misses out by a hair - literally with a 1.02.4. Reynolds is last to go.
2.13pm: The Gix goes second with a 1.02.6 - had a poor first sector. McLaughlin up next.
2.10pm: Whincup kills that lap. 1.02.4 and he goes top. That man is quick. The Giz is up next.
2.08pm: Mostert just pips Coulthard with a 1.02.6. Great lap. Here comes Whincup.
2.06pm: Coulthard goes to the top with a slightly quicker 1.02.7. Mostert up next.
2.04pm: De Pasquale does a 1.02.9 - jumps Waters but not Stanaway. Coulthard up now.
2.01pm: Stanaway goes quicker with a 1.02.7.
2.00pm: Cam Waters does a 1.02.9 to go fastest. Stanaway next.
1.56pm: Heimgartner does a 1.03.4 - that's almost a second slower than his qualifying lap but a tidy lap.
1.52pm: Ok guys and girls - about three or four minutes away from the start of the top 10 shootout - Heimgartner will go first.
1.24pm: Nice bit of trolling from Red Bull over SVG's parking technique yesterday.
1.03pm: Just under an hour until the shootout - Massive crowd here today, the lines for the driver signings are huge. Great vibe out there today.
12.30pm: Spoke to Andre Heimgartner in the pits and as you would expect he is excited about this afternoon.
"Great to have all five Kiwis in the shootout. Awesome for the crowd and I'm stoked I squeezed in."
11.27am: Five Kiwis in the top 10 shootout! Final positions: Reynolds, McLaughlin, SVG, Whincup, Mostert, Coulthard, De Pasquale, Stanaway, Waters and Heimgartner. Awesome job from all the New Zealanders. Five in the top ten for the first time ever.
11.22am: Stanaway jumps to fourth, Coulthard to second. Reynolds still fastest with three minutes left.
11.19am: Green flag and we are back underway.
11.16am: Hazlewood off the track and we have a red flag so he is done for the session. Reynolds, McLaughlin, SVG, Waters, Lowndes, Mostert, Winterbottom, Whincup, Percat and De Pasquale is the top ten. Coulthard 11th, Heimgartner 18 and Stanaway 20th.
11.15am: Reynolds to the top - McLaughlin off at the second corner - he rejoins damage free.
11.11am: Everyone pits after three laps: McLaughlin, Reynolds, Mostert, Caruso, De Pasquale, Lowndes, Pye, Percat, SVG and Whincup is the top ten. Stanaway 11th, Coulthard 12th and Heimgartner 15th.
11.08am: One lap in and it's Reynolds, Mostert, Stanaway, Pye and Whincup.
11.05am: Qualifying is underway - this will decide grid spots 11-26. The top ten will compete in the shootout later in the afternoon.
10.55am: Erebus and DJR-Penske protested Race Control's ruling re SVG's pit lane infringement - expect a decision later in the afternoon.
10.52am: Kiwi Supercars legend Greg Murphy with some nice comments re his fallen conmrad Jason Richards.
10.35am: Fabian Coulthard's car is looking prestine ahead of today's action. His team were at the track until 2am last night making repairs.
10.20am: Morning everyone - 40-odd minutes from qualifying...probably the most important session of the year for the two Kiwi frontrunners.
Here is a bit of paddock reaction to Shane Van Gisbergen's post race anticts with Scott McLaughlin.
===================================================
Welcome to live coverage of what could prove to be moving day in the Supercars championship race.
Scott McLaughlin's lead has been trimmed to two points with just three races left after Shane Van Gisbergen’s somewhat controversial win on Saturday.
The Red Bull Holden driver was facing the prospect of a 100 point deficit if found guilty of spinning his back wheels during his final pit stop yesterday.
The stewards decided there was no issue and he escaped punishment free, much to the chagrin of Shell V Power Racing and Erebus Racing’s David Reynolds who committed a similar offence at Bathurst.
Today is jam packed full of action with qualifying set for 11.05pm, a top ten shootout just before 2pm and then the final race of the round from 4.10pm.
Newshub.
