Whincup turns tables on McLaughlin in final Darwin Triple Crown Supercars race

JAMIE Whincup turned the tables on Supercars championship leader Scott McLaughlin in the final race of the BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley after McLaughlin won the first race of the day ahead of his Holden rival

JAMIE Whincup turned the tables on Supercars championship leader Scott McLaughlin in the final race of the BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley after McLaughlin won the first race of the day ahead of his Holden rival.

Whincup (#88 Commodore ZB) was one of three different race winners across the weekend securing the race, and round honours after total points across the three races were tallied up.

Whincup gets by McLaughlin and into the effective race lead! #VASC pic.twitter.com/bRLKt7PZhQ

— Supercars (@supercars) August 16, 2020

Whincup ended up tied on 228 weekend points with Fabian Coulthard (#12 Mustang), taking out the Darwin Triple Crown trophy courtesy of his higher finish in the final race.

Anton De Pasquale (#99 Commodore ZB) scored a maiden Supercars race win in a chaotic opening leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday and McLaughlin (#17 Mustang) won the second race of the series earlier Sunday afternoon.

.@jamiewhincup rolls into @PirtekAUS Victory Lane, taking his second victory in 2020! #VASC pic.twitter.com/pRBiv8Jy5y

— Supercars (@supercars) August 16, 2020

McLaughlin’s drivers’ championship lead is back to 101 points over Whincup, the same as at the start of the day on Sunday, and DJR Team Penske heads Triple Eight Race Engineering by 30 points in the teams’ standings.

Saturday race winner De Pasquale had started the final race on top of the round points leaderboard but had little left to fight with having used his soft tyres in the opening two heats.

Close call between Coulthard and Whincup! #VASC pic.twitter.com/B0bR7hyZUM

— Supercars (@supercars) August 16, 2020

He crossed the line 23rd out of 24 finishers and well out of contention for total round honours.

Local Darwin-born driver, Bryce Fullwood, crossed the finish line in 19th place in the final leg of the Darwin Supercars Triple Crown. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

Local Darwin-born driver, Bryce Fullwood (#2 Commodore ZB), making his debut at his home track as a Supercars driver this weekend, crossed the finish line in 19th place.

The 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship continues next weekend with a second event at Hidden Valley, the CoreStaff Darwin SuperSprint, to mark a first for Darwin — back-to-back Supercars weekends in the Top End capital.

Above: Jamie Whincup completed a remarkable comeback to take out the overall BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown honours after starting the weekend by crashing heavily in practice

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FINAL RACE STANDINGS

Supercars Race 15

1 Jamie Whincup › Holden Commodore ZB

2 Scott McLaughlin › Ford Mustang GT

3 Shane van Gisbergen › Holden Commodore ZB

4 Chaz Mostert › Holden Commodore ZB

5 Fabian Coulthard › Ford Mustang GT

6 Nick Percat › Holden Commodore ZB

7 Mark Winterbottom › Holden Commodore ZB

8 Jack Le Brocq › Ford Mustang GT

9 David Reynolds › Holden Commodore ZB

10 Rick Kelly › Ford Mustang GT

11 Cameron Waters › Ford Mustang GT

12 Lee Holdsworth › Ford Mustang GT

13 Garry Jacobson › Holden Commodore ZB

14 Jake Kostecki › Holden Commodore ZB

15 Jack Smith › Holden Commodore ZB

16 Andre Heimgartner › Ford Mustang GT

17 James Courtney › Ford Mustang GT

18 Macauley Jones › Holden Commodore ZB

19 Bryce Fullwood › Holden Commodore ZB

20 Todd Hazelwood › Holden Commodore ZB

21 Chris Pither › Holden Commodore ZB

22 Scott Pye › Holden Commodore ZB

23 Anton De Pasquale › Holden Commodore ZB

24 Alex Davison › Holden Commodore ZB