Scott McLaughlin wins Race 22 at The Bend to complete Supersprint clean sweep, equal Craig Lowndes’ win record

Scott McLaughlin has extended his Supercars series lead with a clean sweep at The Bend — and equalled Craig Lowndes’ record of 16 wins in a season — to complete another big weekend in SA for the Mustangs.

Scott McLaughlin on track at The Bend OTR SuperSprint. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

• Chaz Mostert takes first pole at The Bend OTR SuperSprint
• McLaughlin continues winning run at the OTR SuperSprint
• Who won what in Saturday supports at The Bend
• Roland Dane’s family ties to South Australia

Shell V-Power Racing driver Scott McLaughlin equalled motorsport legend Craig Lowndes’ record for the most number of race wins of 16 in a season, as he and his Mustang blitzed the field to lead by as much as five seconds at one point late in the race, albeit helped by a botched pit stop by a competitor.

McLaughlin qualified in pole position with a new lap record of 1:47.4959 but Milwaukee Racing driver Will Davison beat him off the line from alongside him on the grid and took the early lead.

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Take another look at the start of Race 22 🙌

The battle for the podium has begun. #VASC pic.twitter.com/DRKCI957i4

— Supercars (@supercars) August 25, 2019

Supercheap Auto Racing driver Chaz Mostert, who qualified third, finished third to bring home the 1-2-3 for Ford.

The SuperSprint weekend result for McLaughlin completes the South Australian slam, as he also won both races at the Superloop Adelaide 500 earlier this year.

McLaughlin said the drivers around him got “blinder” starts but he knew he had a strong race car.

“It’s awesome to equal Lowndes’ record,” he said.

“I’m so proud of the team to give me a car to be able to do it.

“I’m trying to stay humble and drive the thing as fast as I can.
“I’ve got my home ground at New Zealand coming up (next round), hopefully we get a win there, but we’ll see.”

Scott McLaughlin drives his Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustang to a record-equalling 16th win of the season at The Bend on Sunday. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

Davison led for most of the race but a minor mechanical issue that also affected his Mustang at the previous round resurfaced on the second of his two mandatory pit stops, costing him a couple of seconds — enough to let McLaughlin take the lead.

“It’s really nice (to be on the podium) … it’s really good to bounce back from a difficult day yesterday,” he said.

“(But) I thought it was a missed opportunity.

“I knew I had a great car … I’m stoked to be up here but to let a couple of seconds go … it’s mixed emotions.”

Mostert said it was a successful weekend with two podium placings, after finishing second in the first race on Saturday, but said it was a hard track to master.

“I don’t know if we read a little bit into it too much,” he said.

“It’s a tricky place to nail the car.”

Todd Hazelwood loses grip in his Matt Stone Racing Holden Commodore ZB. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

South Australian Nick Percat flew the flag for the local drivers and for Holden, finishing in fourth position, backing up his top-10 result on the Saturday.

He had qualified for Supercars’ Race 22 in sixth.

Fellow SA driver Todd Hazelwood gained eight positions to finish 14th, Scott Pye improved four places to finish 16th, while Tim Slade lost two spots to finish 12th.

The second race was safety-car free and there was no repeat of the carnage seen in the first lap of the Saturday race, which saw three cars fail to finish.

This time, all cars passed the chequered flag and were on the lead lap.

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Originally published as Scott McLaughlin wins Race 22 at The Bend to complete Supersprint clean sweep, equal Craig Lowndes’ win record