Scott McLaughlin scored a strong podium finish in the first day of the ITM 500 Auckland V8 Supercars race weekend at Pukekohe, New Zealand by crossing the finishing line in third position for Volvo Polestar Racing.
”It was an awesome race with good racing and to finish third at my home race is great,” said McLaughlin.
The Kiwi finished ninth in the first race, a position he improved by six positions to the second race where he was right on the rear bumper of reigning champion Jamie Whincup at the end of the race.
Team mate David Wall finished 23rd in the second race while he climbed three positions to finish 18th in the first race.
”We got stuck back in the back but managed to get forward in the races. I need to qualify better and then I feel we have something race with,” said Wall.
The V8 Supercars weekend in New Zealand continues tomorrow with a final qualifying session and race of 69 laps.
ITM 500 Auckland – V8 Supercars
Circuit: Pukekohe Park Raceway
Length: 2910 m
Lap record (V8SC): 0:56.0781, Greg Murphy, 2005
Results
Race 28 – Top 5
1 Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore 21 laps
2 Shane Van Gisbergen Holden Commodore +4.3846
3 David Reynolds Ford Falcon +5.0154
4 Scott Pye Ford Falcon +7.4882
5 Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore +7.9546
…
9 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +11.5763
18 David Wall Volvo S60 +23.1532
Race 29 – Top 5
1 David Reynolds Ford Falcon 21 laps
2 Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore +0.5031
3 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.8706
4 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon +1.5664
5 Shane Van Gisbergen Holden Commodore +1.9131
…
22 David Wall Volvo S60 +15.6773
Qualifying for Race 28 – Top 5
1 Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore 1:03.3203
2 David Reynolds Ford Falcon +0.0045
3 Scott Pye Ford Falcon +0.0850
4 Shane Van Gisbergen Holden Commodore +0.1325
5 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.1569
…
21 David Wall Volvo S60 +0.8220
Qualifying for Race 29 – Top 5
1 David Reynolds Ford Falcon 1:02.4690
2 Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore +0.0228
3 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.1024
4 Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore +0.1220
5 James Courtney Holden Commodore +0.1982
…
23 David Wall Volvo S60 +0.9288
Schedule
(Times in UTC +10h)
Friday 6/11
10:25 Practice 1 (60 min)
13:10 Practice 2 (60 min)
Saturday 7/11
11:05 Practice 3 (15 min)
12:05 Qualifying for Race 28 (10 min)
12:30 Qualifying for Race 29 (10 min)
15:00 Race 28 (21 laps)
17:00 Race 29 (21 laps)
Sunday 8/11
10:50 Practice 4 (15 min)
13:20 Qualifying for Race 30 (20 min)
16:00 Race 30 (69 laps)
Championship Standings – Top 5
1 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon 2707 points
2 David Reynolds Ford Falcon 2420 (-287)
3 Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore 2401 (-306)
4 Garth Tander Holden Commodore 2219 (-488)
5 Shane Van Gisbergen Holden Commodore 2185 (-522)
…
11 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 1684 (-1023)
24 David Wall Volvo S60 875 (-1832)
TV Schedule
Australia: http://www.v8supercars.com.au/view/tv-schedule
Europe: http://www.motorstv.com
Sweden: http://www.viasat.se/sport/motor
International: http://www.v8supercars.com.au/v8live/schedule