FABIAN COULTHARD TOPS THE CHAOS IN SYDNEY
Fabian Coulthard Tops the Chaos in Sydney – Photo: Dirk Klynsmith
FABIAN COULTHARD has come out on top of a controversial Race 17 in the Supercars Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The DJR Team Penske driver took the win in an action-packed race that saw a clash between defending Champion Shane van Gisbergen and points leader Scott McLaughlin that saw the Red Bull Holden driver spin at Turn 2 and McLaughlin hit with a time penalty. As a result of being docked 15 seconds McLaughlin fell from second to 10th, and had his championship lead over Jamie Whincup trimmed to 78 points.
The clash came after a restart, in which van Gisbergen pulled alongside McLaughlin on the pit straight to seize the lead.
“What can I say?,” said McLaughlin after apologising to van Gisbergen. “An absolute balls up on my behalf. Not the way I want to do it; it’s not my style.”
And, on the restart?
“I just caught asleep. It was not the best race of my life. I apologise to Shane.”
In the revised results Chaz Mostert took second place ahead of Whincup, whose Commodore completed the race with a bashed-in bonnet and a smoking tyre.
“I thought that tyre was going to last two laps, max!” he said post-race.
“I can’t remember the last time a Safety Car played into my hands, but it did. Rapt to be third, but it could have been different.”
Mark Winterbottom was fourth after being in contention early – Photo: Dirk Klynsmith
Mark Winterbottom was fourth and looked to be in contention for the race win early in the race, but was caught out in the pits, losing a position to Coulthard. Scott Pye was an excellent fifth ahead of Nissan’s Michael Caruso.
With multiple incidents to investigate it is expected to be some time before the results are finalised, though most of the drivers seemed to be satisfied that there were no bitterness in what happened on the track.
Whincup summed it up;
“We are all going to be nervous when nothing goes on and we are all out of a job. A lot went on. Not the best day for us but tomorrow is another day.”
‘Tomorrow’ starts with a 20-minute Qualifying session at 11am, with Race 18 due to run over 52 laps, starting at 2pm.
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