Scott McLaughlin has proven the importance of a strong finish, maintaining a three-digit lead at the top of the Supercars Championship standings.
McLaughlin was only able to secure one podium finish from three races in Townsville this weekend, with some disappointing performances in qualifying making things tough for the Kiwi.
But while the two-time defending champion started in 16th and 13th in the first two races of the weekend, with nearest rival Jamie Whincup qualifying to start in pole position for both, McLaughlin worked hard in the Townsville heat to improve his positioning through the races and was able to jump nine and seven spots in races one and two respectively to secure top 10 finishes to keep Whincup at bay.
For McLaughlin, one poor performance could see Whincup complete close the gap – as he pointed out after the second race of the weekend on Sunday afternoon.
"I was just too safe at the start," McLaughlin said after his seventh-place finish. "There was a lot of kamikazes going out there with nothing to lose, but I've got plenty to lose so I just settled in to bit of a rhythm at the start."
Top-10 finishes ensured he secured a decent share of the points (64 then 68), before earning pole position for the final race of the weekend.
McLaughlin finished just 0.02sec faster than Australian rival Cameron Waters in qualifying, and got off to a perfect start from pole position in race three on Sunday afternoon.
The 27-year-old got off the mark quickly and put a few seconds of space between himself and the chasing pack, which is where he stayed for the entirety of the race.
Waters, coming into the race more than 350 points adrift on the season ladder in fifth place, pushed McLaughlin from start to finish though, pushing his car hard to give himself a chance of tipping up the competition leader.
In the end, McLaughlin claimed a four-second win, with Waters in second and Whincup in third.
It was a tough weekend for fellow Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen, who further lost touch with McLaughlin with just one podium finish.
Van Gisbergen was able to finish third in the second race of the weekend, but that came after a horror start to the weekend when he finished 19th after starting the opening race in third row.
In the final race, however, van Gisbergen showed more promising signs ahead of next weekend's event at the same venue, qualifying in 13th but improving to an eighth-place finish.
Supercars Championship standings:
1. Scott McLaughlin 1556 points 2. Jamie Whincup 1433 3. Chaz Mostert 1172 4. Shane van Gisbergen 1157 5. Cameron Waters 1157 6. Nick Percat 1069 7. David Reynolds 1046 8. Mark Winterbottom 1024 9. Fabian Coulthard 1018 10. Lee Holdsworth 993
