Kiwi Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin has recovered from his worst start in two years to finish seventh in the opening race in Townsville.
Starting 16th on the grid, McLaughlin avoided a massive pile-up on the opening lap of the race to claim a top-10 finish, although his Mustang did cop rear damage which will need fixing before Sunday's race.
Kiw compariot Shane van Gisbergen was in the thick of the opening-lap crash when he made contact with Mark Winterbottom and Anton De Pasquale.
The race was won by Jamie Whincup, who started from pole to take the chequered flag for his 11th victory from 24 starts in Townsville.
"Not a bad day as the car is pretty quick, but I made a mistake in qualifying, and it cost me some positions," says McLaughlin.
"I knew the car was fast, so I just wanted to get through turn two, which we did. It was pretty crazy with the spin and everyone going everywhere. But I got through there and had a pretty solid race through to the end.
"Our pit stop was probably a little slow which cost us a couple of sports but apart from that it was a pretty good race from the boys. We'll regroup tonight and see how we go tomorrow."
McLaughlin still holds a 141point lead over Whincup in the drivers championship.
