50 SPORT SUNDAY JUNE 18 2017 Ford triumph after one-two finish

JAMES PHELPS

DJR Team Penske continued AT THE FINISH their Supercars blitz with Fabi- V8 Supercars - Hidden Valley an Coulthard beating Scott Speedway, Darwin (circuit McLaughlin at Hidden Valley 2.87kmm 42 laps): 1 F Coulthard to land the Shell Fords another (Ford) 52min28.2817sec, 2 S McLaughlin (Ford) 52:28.6593, 3 one-two finish on a day of N Percat (Hol) 52:29.6271, 4 J Rookie driver Jaxon Evans in full flight en route to domination in Darwin. Whincup (Hol) 52:30.0508, 5 C victory during the Porsche Carrera Cup series at Striking back after being Mostert (Ford) 52:30.6006, 6 C Waters (Ford) 52:32.4742, 7 C Picture: JUSTIN KENNEDY downed by the Red Bull Hol- Hidden Valley Speedway yesterday Lowndes (Hol) 52:37.0589. 8 D den Racing Team last start, Reynolds (Hol) 52:37.6309, 9 J the Fords flew to belt Moffat (Hol) 52:38.1997, 10 L in the latest instalment of Holdsworth (Hol) 52:38.9260, 11 T Rookie’s strong Slade (Hol) 52:39.3226, 12 T the heavyweight war in a 42- Blanchard (Hol) 52:39.6897, 13 W lap fight. Davison (Hol) 52:40.0099, 14 M start helps set up On the same week he re- Winterbottom (Ford) 52:43.6313, vealed he and partner Becky 15 J Bright (Ford) 52:44.7699, 16 Lamb were expecting twins, M Caruso (Nis) 52:45.1963, 17 C McConville (Hol) 52:46.0954, 18 T maiden triumph Coulthard delivered his team a Kelly (Nis) 52:46.7018, 19 J Le double celebration by leading Brocq (Nis) 52:53.4136, 20 S De teammate McLaughlin home Silvestro (Nis) 52:57.8695 for a DJR Penske one-two. GREY MORRIS Qualifying: 1 R Kelly (Nis) “It is my first “It has been a massive 1min5.7110sec, 2 S McLaughlin PORSCHE Carrera Cup week,” Coulthard said. (Ford) 1:05.7710, 3 F Coulthard Australia rookie Jaxon race win, so it “We have twins on the way (Ford) 1:05.7760, 4 D Reynolds Evans kept a cool head to and now we have this win. It is (Hol) 1:05.8710, 5 S Van Gisbergen feels pretty (Hol) 1:05.9530, 6 N Percat (Hol) claim his maiden series win going to be a big year and 1:05.9560, 7 C Mostert (Ford) at Hidden Valley yesterday. special” hopefully we can finish it off 1:06.0090, 8 T Slade (Hol) David Wall started on in style.” 1:06.0390, 9 J Whincup (Hol) top, taking his first ever “It is my first race win, so In an action-packed race 1:06.0460, 10 C Waters (Ford) 1:06.0470 TAG Heuer Pole Position it feels pretty special. that saw surprise pole sitter in his 38th round in the “I didn’t think my first slam into a wall at Championship: 1 F Coulthard championship, with Evans win would come this soon. high speed and reigning cham- (Ford) 1210, 2 J Whincup (Hol) joining the Sydneysider on “I knew I had the speed pion 1176, 3 S McLaughlin (Ford) 1170, 4 S Van Gisbergen (Hol) 1023, 5 C the front row. but putting it all together taken out by a blown tyre, Mostert (Ford) 972. 6 M Evans had the best jump for the win this early in the Coulthard made McLaughlin Winterbottom (Ford) 861, 7 G off the start line to lead into season certainly wasn’t ex- pay for an error on lap two to Tander (Hol) 831, 8 C Lowndes turn one, closely followed pected. take the win. (Hol) 822, 9. D Reynolds (Holden) 807, 10 C Waters (Ford) 805, 11 J by and Wall. “Race two will be my first The victory was both Coul- Moffat (Hol) 696, 12 L Holdsworth Evans maintained the race start off pole position. thard and DJR Team Penske’s (Hol) 654, 13 T Slade (Hol) 636, 14 lead and didn’t look threat- Wall got away to a pretty first win in Darwin. W Davison (Hol) 612, 15 T Kelly ened until the closing laps, slow start so I’m not sure if “It was my first win here as (Nis) 610, 16 N Percat (Hol) 603, 17 M Caruso (Nis) 579, 18 R Kelly when Davison closed to that was due to the track well,” Coulthard said. (Nis) 552, 19 J Courtney (Hol) 516, within striking distance. conditions on the inside.” “But credit must go to all 20 S Pye (Hol) 508 But Davison ran wide at Wall placed second from the guys here and Shell V turn one in the final lap and Davison, who was able to Power Racing for making it lost second place to Wall, hold off Dylan O’Keeffe happen. driver Rick Kelly comes to grief as he crashes into the wall at Hidden Valley yesterday on lap 18 during V8 Supercars action as part of the Crownbet Darwin Triple Crown Pictures: JUSTIN KENNEDY while handing Evans an and James Abela who “Scott (McLaughlin) played easy run to the chequered closed on the rear of the pretty kind there at the end so “I am sorry to everyone for stopped DJR Penske from thought I blew it so to be first flag to claim his maiden No.888 Porsche once Da- It was really good to be able to that. I was trying to hang it out scoring another qualifying win. is obviously a credit to the Carrera Cup win in just his vison re-entered the circuit get a one-two for the team.” wide and it just didn’t work.” Setting his time of 1.05.71 guys with the car,” said Kelly, fourth event. following his final-lap mis- McLaughlin was left ruing McLaughlin rebounded to midway through the session, who moved his career pole “I’m really happy – I hap. his failed overtaking move score second and keep himself Kelly stood the test of time to tally to nine. couldn’t have asked for a Races two and three are early in the race that cost him a in the title fight. win as the Darwin sun belted But Kelly’s day ended in dis- better start to this week- scheduled from 12.20pm winning shot. Kelly stunned the field ear- down to heat the track. aster with the veteran slam- end,’’ Evans said. and 3.25pm today. “I just had a brain fart,” lier to drive his “The lap was OK,” Kelly said. ming into a wall on lap 18 to Mclaughlin said. to the surprise pole that “I clipped the kerb and ruin his race. CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown. LIVE coverage from 9.30AM | No ad-breaks during racing.

No one knows Supercars like FOX SPORTS

Foxtel Now requires internet, data & a compatible device. Foxtel and some services not available to all homes.Foxtel marks are used under licence by Foxtel Management Pty Ltd.

NTNE01Z01MA - V1