Volvo Polestar Racing drivers Scott McLaughlin and David Wall had to fight hard throughout the entire V8 Supercars weekend in Darwin. McLaughlin finished the weekend with an impressive climb up through the field, from 25th position to 11th.

"It has been a pretty tough weekend and I made a few mistakes, so I got to blame my self a bit. While we are lacking pace in qualifying, the car was really strong in the races and the team gave me a good strategy, enabling me to climb," said McLaughlin.

The Kiwi retired from the first race of the weekend after an incident with Craig Lowndes while the second race saw him climb into the top ten. Contact with the tyre barriers in practice meant a tough qualifying session and grid position 21 for the final race. The team selected a different strategy with McLaughlin starting on hard tyres, a strategy that paid off.

"We are still struggling on the hard tyre but I was able to make strong progress. We need to continue working hard for Townsville and I couldn't have a better team behind me," said McLaughlin.

David Wall showed improved performance this weekend, fighting into the top ten in the first race before making a brief off-track excursion. The second race looked strong before Dale Wood pushed him off track. The Australian finished the weekend by finishing 20th in the third race.

"The weekend in Darwin has been eventful for sure. We are still struggling in qualifying, really need to fix that, it is making our weekends far longer than they need to be. The race car is pretty good though. We have a big debrief coming up trying to make our car better heading into Townsville," said Wall.

McLaughlin sits in 18th position of the drivers' championship with team mate Wall in 22nd position.

"The results this weekend are obviously not what we wanted. But the team is aware of the issues and are working hard to catch up with the others. We are still just five race weekends into the 2015 season and there is no rest for us until we are back in the top," said Christian Dahl, CEO of Polestar.

Next up is the Townsville 400 weekend on July 10-12.

Darwin Triple Crown – V8 Supercars
Circuit: Hidden Valley Raceway
Length: 2870 m
Lap record (V8SC): 1:09.0149, Jason Bright (1999)

Results
Race 13 – Top 5
1 Chaz Mostert Ford Falcon 21 laps
2 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon +1.019
3 Rick Kelly Nissan Altima +2.047
4 James Moffat Nissan Altima +2.431
5 Michael Caruso Nissan Altima +3.386
…
15 David Wall Volvo S60 +7.0645
DNF Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60

Race 14 – Top 5
1 Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore 21 laps
2 Tim Slade Holden Commodore +1.8391
3 Chaz Mostert Ford Falcon +2.4449
4 Scott Pye Ford Falcon +3.8876
5 Shane Van Gisbergen Holden Commodore +5.3266
…
9 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +10.2431
17 David Wall Volvo S60 +19.4609

Race 15 – Top 5
1 David Reynolds Ford Falcon 70 laps
2 Chaz Mostert Ford Falcon +0.8712
3 Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore +1.4172
4 Shane Van Gisbergen Holden Commodore +9.6256
5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon +13.1698
…
11 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +32.2206
20 David Wall Volvo S60 +1:07.9581

Qualifying for Race 13 – Top 3
1 James Courtney Holden Commodore 1:07.1190
2 Chaz Mostert Ford Falcon +0.0295
3 Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore +0.0554
…
14 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.3451
25 David Wall Volvo S60 +1.5751

Qualifying for Race 14 – Top 3
1 Rick Kelly Nissan Altima 1:06.2920
2 Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore +0.0126
3 Chaz Mostert Ford Falcon +0.1370
…
11 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.3970
23 David Wall Volvo S60 +1.1231

Qualifying for Race 15 – Top 3
1 David Reynolds Ford Falcon 1:06.2526
2 Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore +0.1247
3 Shane Van Gisbergen Holden Commodore +0.1727
…
21 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.6945
25 David Wall Volvo S60 +1.3728

Championship Standings – Top 5
1 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon 1165
2 Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore 1070 (-95)
3 Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore 1010 (-155)
4 Chaz Mostert Ford Falcon 991 (-174)
5 Shane Van Gisbergen Holden Commodore 940 (-225)
…
18 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 573 (-592)
22 David Wall Volvo S60 435 (-730)