Supercars: Scott McLaughlin extends championship lead after Pukekohe race win

Scott McLaughlin is edging closer to a Supercars Championship win.
Scott McLaughlin is edging closer to a Supercars Championship win. Photo credit: Photosport

Kiwi Scott McLaughlin has extended his Supercars championship lead back out to 14 points, after a stunning victory in Race Two at Pukekohe on Sunday.

A raucous crowd was treated to another fantastic 70-lap race, as the Shell V-Power driver chased, caught and passed Red Bull Racing's Jamie Whincup to score a crucial victory, as the race for the championship winds down.

Countryman and title rival Shane Van Gisbergen came home second, passing teammate Whincup on the last lap in an orchestrated move to ensure McLaughlin's points advantage was as small as possible.

The 14-point margin is exactly where the two started yesterday, so if McLaughlin can repeat his weekend's results next time out, he will be crowned champion by the smallest of margins.

It was a great day all round for the Kiwi contingent, with all five earning spots in the top-10 shootout, won by Whincup. McLaughlin started alongside the Australian on the front of the grid, with Van Gisbergen third, Fabian Coulthard sixth, Richie Stanaway seventh and Andre Heimgartner 10th.

Stanaway's race was ruined by an early incident with the lapped Nissan of Michael Caruso that caused the Kiwi to lose positions, after he needed to pit.

He never recovered and eventually came home 20th.

After crashing on Saturday, Coulthard completed a remarkable recovery to finish seventh, while Heimgartner had an uneventful race, but drove well for eighth.

The teams head to Newcastle for the final two races of 2018, but it's a track that will haunt McLaughlin, after he threw away a championship win in the final race of last season.

He will head there full of confidence, after a dominating win in front of his home crowd, with the comfort of knowing, if he finishes in front of Van Gisbergen twice, the title will be his.

Newshub.