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Scott McLaughlin finished a difficult NTI Townsville SuperSprint on a high note, fending off a determined Cameron Waters to win the final race of the weekend.
McLaughlin’s points lead dwindled in the first two games as his main rival Jamie Whincup took the victories and Shell Ford battled poor qualifying results.
Starting from pole in the final, McLaughlin’s victory looks straightforward on paper, effectively leading the entire race to take the flag 4.2 seconds away.
However, it was a hard-fought victory, with Waters building up pressure for most of the 39 laps.
“It was an incredible battle with Cam, it was fast,” said McLaughlin, who now has a 123-point lead over Jamie Whincup.
“I’m proud of everyone at Shell V-Power Racing for continually working hard and getting a win on a tough weekend is a great thing.”
Waters added: “I gave Scotty everything I had then and I couldn’t get him to make a mistake, so the second thing was all we could do.
“But there is a lot of pace in this car and we had a really good weekend. I am absolutely thrilled. “
McLaughlin had held the lead from the start, while Waters slowly drifted away from second and was lucky to drop a spot to Nick Percat.
Waters returned to second place with an inside pass over Percat in Turn 2 the next time, before turning his attention to McLaughlin.
The Monster Mustang stalked the entry of Shell V-Power, with the gap stretching only slightly to 1.3 seconds by the time key racers made their pit stops.
Percat was two seconds behind Waters when Holden pitted for four tires on Lap 15, prompting Waters to enter on Lap 16, also for four tires, and McLaughlin for three tires on Lap 17.
McLaughlin emerged unchanged in the gap with Waters, but the Tickford driver immediately increased the pressure and moved closer to the championship leader’s bumper.
Meanwhile, Whincup maintained his fourth place on the starting grid and chose to run long, finally stopping on lap 25 and grabbing two tires to narrowly emerge ahead of Percat.
However, the Red Bull HRT driver faced a 10-second deficit to the former and as he got closer to Waters, there would be no late heroics.
McLaughlin pulled away in the final stages to claim victory, while Waters was just 1.8 seconds over Whincup, with Brad Jones Racing, Percat and Todd Hazelwood fourth and fifth.
Scott Pye was the big improver, passing 15th on the grid to sixth, while Team 18 teammate Mark Winterbottom was 10th, after a possible top six escaped due to a slow pit stop.
Penrite Racing’s Anton De Pasquale and David Reynolds looked set for seventh and eighth, before the latter dropped to the eleventh afternoon on worn tires.
Shane van Gisbergen was never a factor from 13th on the grid and finished eighth, losing more ground in the championship.
Fabian Coulthard had a surprise, dropping from his 16th place on the grid late at the start, before running the longest first period of all and bouncing back to 17th.
Chaz Mostert was unlucky as he was forced to pit to replace a flat right rear tire just one lap after his mid-race pit stop.
Walkinshaw driver Andretti United, who finished on the podium in the first two races of the weekend, had run inside the top 10 before that point and finished last.
Mostert remains third in the championship, now 384 behind McLaughlin, while Waters and van Gisbergen are tied for fourth, 399 adrift.
The Virgin Australia Supercar Championship continues next weekend with the Robson Civil Projects Townsville SuperSprint.
