While Jamie Whincup led Shane van Gisbergen in a Triple Eight one-two in Saturday’s leg of the Townsville 400, ahead of McLaughlin and the third Triple Eight Holden Commodore of Craig Lowndes, on Sunday van Gisbergen reversed the order – again with McLaughlin claiming the final podium spot ahead of Lowndes.

It was van Gisbergen’s first win since the season opener in Adelaide.

“Man it’s awesome,” he said. “Thanks to the guys and girls at the Red Bull Holden Racing Team, our cars were awesome all weekend.

"A good personal day for the 97 crew who turned our car around from qualifying to race and came out on top. As a team a double 1-2 is awesome.”

Whincup was looking strong early on despite a poor start, and ultimately was but ended up being beaten by his team-mate by a fraction of a second.  

“There was no team orders and no cruising to the end,” Whincup said. “I pushed him hard. If there was a gap, I would have taken, it but he did unbelievably well.”

For championship leader McLaughlin and the DJR Team Penske Ford outfit, the weekend was an exercise in damage control.

“All the guys and girls at Shell V-Power Racing gave me an awesome strategy, the tyre life was fantastic. I will take that today, that’s a good result for us.”

McLaughlin left Townsville with a 131-point lead over van Gisbergen as the Supercars prepare for the next round of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship at Queensland Raceway in two weeks.