Newcastle 500: Qualifying, Top 10 Shootout And Race 31

November 23, 2019

Fabian Coulthard - No. 12 Shell V-Power Racing Ford

Qualifying – 4th (Fastest Lap: 1m10.3830s)
Top 10 Shootout – 6th (Fastest Lap: 1m10.4593s)
Race 31 – 3rd (Fastest Lap: 1m11.1117s)
 
Scott McLaughlin - No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford

Qualifying – 8th (Fastest Lap: 1m10.4717s)
Top 10 Shootout – 2nd (Fastest Lap: 1m10.2374s)
Race 31 – 2nd (Fastest Lap: 1m11.0382s)
 
RECAP: Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard have taken a double podium at the Newcastle 500 today, to take the Shell V-Power Racing Team one step closer to securing the 2019 Supercars Teams' title to go along with Scott McLaughlin's already secure Drivers' Championship.
 
McLaughlin started off the front row alongside Shane van Gisbergen after jumping from eighth to second in the Top 10 Shootout. He dropped to third place off the start, but good pace and good strategy saw him leading in the middle stint.
 
He was third in the later stages of the race, before Jamie Whincup made a rare error that saw him run up the Turn 1 escape road to drop off the podium.
 
Coulthard secured the sixth-placed grid spot in the Top 10 Shootout, and was seventh across the opening stint. He was to take his first pit stop, and used superior pace in the middle stint to jump some rivals and be fourth before Whincup's excursion elevated him to his first podium since Townsville.
 
The result saw the team extend their lead in the Teams' points to 143 over Triple Eight, with McLaughlin's secure championship lead now sitting at 538. Coulthard is fourth, with a 138-point deficit to third placed Whincup.

COULTHARD QUOTE: "The timing of this podium is perfect. We were gifted that one a little bit with Jamie [Whincup] going down the escape road, it's a pretty rare mistake from him, but we'll take it. We want to win that teams' championship pretty bad and we'll do what we can to do that. I said at the start of the race I was happy with the car. The middle stint is probably what set it up for us. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

MCLAUGHLIN QUOTE: "This track is a tough one, we're working hard out there. Great job by everyone at Shell V-Power Racing, double podium - two and three, obviously Jamie made a mistake there and gifted us a double podium, but I'm sure they'll come back strong tomorrow. Overall, a great team result."