Supercars: Fabian Coulthard breaks through in 2019 as Anton de Pasquale grabs maiden podium

James Pavey

Supercars: Fabian Coulthard breaks through in 2019 as Anton de Pasquale grabs maiden podium image

After seeing teammate Scott McLaughlin taking win after win this season, Fabian Coulthard finally has one of his own.

Coulthard won the Sunday race ahead of McLaughlin, leading home the second Shell V-Power Racing 1-2 in as many days at Phillip Island.

It was Coulthard's first win in 11 months following Sunday success at Winton in May 2018.

The Shell Mustangs were again a class above - but Coulthard flipped the narrative on Sunday. 

After McLaughlin won the start from pole, Coulthard jumped his teammate during the first round of pitstops and never looked back.

SUPERCARS:  Everything you need to know about the 2019 Supercars Championship

MORE:  McLaughlin leads Shell V-Power 1-2 at Phillip Island, Heimgartner third

Coulthard retained track position after the second round, and crossed the line in the 45-lapper just 0.679 seconds ahead.

Anton de Pasquale was a shining light for Penrite Racing in third, which marked the 23-year-old's maiden Supercars podium.

De Pasquale held off a fast-finishing gaggle of Tickford Mustangs, with Will Davison, Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters filling spots four through six.

Shane van Gisbergen finished seventh, with Rick Kelly, Tim Slade and Nick Percat rounding out the top 10.

Jamie Whincup's disappointing weekend ended with a 12th-placed finish, just ahead of Saturday podium-finisher Andre Heimgartner.

The race started with Todd Hazelwood being turned by James Courtney, who was hit with a 15-second penalty for the incident. 


Hazelwood would recover to 16th, but karma would catch up to Courtney - the 2010 champion copped a tyre blowout during Saturday's race, and after the Hazelwood drama, Courtney suffered two further blowouts.

However, all smiles were reserved for Coulthard, who closed the gap to McLaughlin at the top of the championship standings.

"We work so hard as a team, Scott has had a lot of wins this year, which is a credit to all those guys, they’ve done a fantastic job," Coulthard said.

"To finally get one is awesome, I can’t thank my crew enough.

"I’m not sure what happened to Scott on one of his outlaps, because I was expecting a red car to go blowing past.

"But thankfully we had great pitstops, we had a fast car, it looked after its tyres, it ticked all the boxes."


 

SUPERCARS: PHILLIP ISLAND SUPERSPRINT

RACE 10 RESULTS

Position Driver Car Margin
1st Fabian Coulthard Ford  
2nd Scott McLaughlin Ford +0.679
3rd Anton de Pasquale Holden +4.190
4th Will Davison Ford +5.899
5th Chaz Mostert Ford +8.319
6th Cameron Waters Ford +11.095
7th Shane van Gisbergen Holden +13.934
8th Rick Kelly Nissan +25.564
9th Tim Slade Holden +26.144
10th Nick Percat Holden +26.507
11th David Reynolds Holden +27.119
12th Jamie Whincup Holden +28.159
13th Andre Heimgartner Holden +30.156
14th Lee Holdsworth Ford +30.401
15th Scott Pye Holden +32.229
16th Todd Hazelwood Holden +33.211
17th Mark Winterbottom Holden +40.827
18th Simona De Silvestro Nissan +42.465
19th Garry Jacobson Nissan +43.030
20th Jack Le Brocq Holden +52.851
21st Macauley Jones Holden +53.962
22nd James Golding Holden +1 LAP
23rd Richie Stanaway Holden +1 LAP
24th James Courtney Holden +2 LAPS

SUPERCARS: CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

AFTER RACE 10

Position Driver Car Points/Margin
1st Scott McLaughlin Ford 1058
2nd Fabian Coulthard Ford -124
3rd Chaz Mostert Ford -243
4th Shane van Gisbergen Holden -256
5th David Reynolds Holden -267

James Pavey

James Pavey Photo