Motorsport: Coulthard leads home Kiwi 1-2

Fabian Coulthard during practice 3 for the Darwin Triple Crown. Photo / Getty Images

Fabian Coulthard and Scott McLaughlin produced a Kiwi and Shell V-Power Racing one-two finish in a chaotic Saturday Supercars race at Hidden Valley Raceway near Darwin.

The third New Zealander in the field - defending series champion Shane van Gisbergen - was the big loser as a blown tyre and a late-race accident forced him out and saw him take a major hit in the championship standings.

Coulthard ensured he remains at the head of the standings with his third win of the season while McLaughlin recovered from an early race error to finish second while Nick Percat held off Jamie Whincup for third.

It was Coulthard's eighth career race win and it comes in the same week that he announced he and partner Becky are first time expecting parents.

"Scotty played pretty kind there and to get a one-two for the team is awesome," Coulthard said.

"It's been a big week - twins on the way at the end of October - it is going to be a massive year and hopefully we can finish it off in the correct style."

Mclaughlin was left ruing his early race mistake but still banked some valuable points.

"That was an absolute brain fart on my behalf so sorry to everyone at Shell=V-Power Racing. I was trying to hang it on the cush there and it didn't really work but I got away with it," he said.

"We have shown we have got some pace but there is a long way to go.

"Some good points today."

Pole-sitter Rick Kelly got off to a strong start and led the race into the start of the pit stops but his race came to a sudden end on lap 18 when he suffered a throttle jam and went flying off into the tyre bundles, which produced a safety car intervention.

Also on lap 18 van Gisbergen had a tyre blow on him at the end of the main straight and dropped from the front of the field to the back by the time he made it back to the pits and changed.

He began to fight his way back to the mid-pack but he collided with Garth Tander in the dying stages and broke a steering arm to end any chance of picking up points. The incident will be investigated post-race but it won't help the New Zealander.

Coulthard headed McLaughlin when it all washed out and the pair drove unchallenged to another one-two finish.

Sunday sees a longer race, which will test drivers and cars in the heat of the Northern Territory.

Championship Standings
Fabian Coulthard 1210 points
Scott McLaughlin -34
Jamie Whincup -40
Shane van Gisbergen -187