SHANE van Gisbergen got the better of Scott McLaughlin in a game of pit stop cat-and-mouse to score a narrow win in Sunday’s Ipswich SuperSprint.

First the Red Bull Holden Racing driver beat pole sitter McLaughlin off the start, and then he played the long game with his stops which proved the difference when the chequered flag was waved.

Van Gisbergen cut McLaughlin’s Supercars championship lead to 131 points after the DJR/Team Penske man took out Saturday’s race.

The victory gave van Gisbergen a 300-point gap to the rest of the chasing pack of Holdens — teammate Jamie Whincup, David Reynolds and Craig Lowndes.

Queensland has proved a happy hunting ground for van Gisbergen, who backed up his last-round victory in Townsville with Sunday’s win at Queensland Raceway.

“That was awesome,’’ van Gisbergen said.

“It was another great battle with Scotty and I was able to get him in the end. It is a great result for the team and I am very stoked with that.

“Scott is very consistent as well,’’ van Gisbergen said.

“That team is consistent and I am really enjoying the fight upfront. I am just loving it.’’

McLaughlin, still just 25, created a piece of history when he beat van Gisbergen in qualifying by just 0.04 of a second to claim the third-most pole positions in the history of the sport.

McLaughlin scored his 42nd qualifying win to surpass Lowndes and now sits behind only Whincup (75) and Peter Brock (57) on the all-time list.

McLaughlin was all business following the milestone.

“The car was a bit loose today,’’ McLaughlin said.

“It was a bit harder, we’ve got to work on that but I’m so stoked for everyone not only here, but at the workshop.”

Van Gisbergen charged to finish second fastest in a major improvement after qualifying for race one in eighth.

“I think we made some progress overnight,’’ van Gisbergen said.

“We studied hard and did what we could, so hopefully we can take the fight to them today.

“I’ll probably stuff up the start today after getting such a good start yesterday.’’

He didn’t.

In almost a carbon copy of the line launch that allowed him to steal five places in race one, van Gisbergen took the lead from McLaughlin at the start.

McLaughlin chased hard and closed the gap before electing to take the undercut by pitting after just 11 laps.

Van Gisbergen continued to run long and rejoined the race three spots behind McLaughlin on lap 21.

On fresh rubber and with more fuel, the Red Bull driver floored his way past Fabian Coulthard, Whincup and Chaz Mostert to set up another down to the wire fight with McLaughlin.

The Kiwi won out in the strategy fight following the second round of stops when he emerged to lead McLaughlin by just over a second.

And he could not be caught.

“Overall it was a good weekend,’’ McLaughlin said.

“I had a bit of a tussle with Shane in the middle but at the end of the day they were two fast.’’

Mostert survived a late attack from Whincup to score a drought-breaking podium.

“Getting third feels like I have won the race,’’ Mostert said.

“It has been a real tough year and to get a trophy get the monkey of my back.’’