Tension between Supercars title rivals Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin bubbled over on Saturday at Pukekohe Park, as the Aucklander scored a championship-tightening victory over his countryman.

The points margin was small – van Gisbergen narrowed McLaughlin’s lead from 14 to two points – but in psychological terms, the Red Bull HRT driver struck a huge blow, romping all over his rival on the track and then belittling him off it.

Van Gisbergen played the role of alpha dog as he pulled his Commodore alongside McLaughlin’s Falcon after the race, denying his rival enough room to get out as he celebrated his race win wildly.

The 2016 champion said he “didn’t mean to do that, but whatever” before apologising after the race.

“I didn’t realise I did it until after and it was pretty awkward … I was just excited to jump out, get on the roof and start cheering,” he said.

McLaughlin, sitting alongside his rival, deadpanned his response.

“It is what it is. Obviously, it was a mistake,” he said.

Van Gisbergen jokingly countered “I’m sure he’ll get me back for it”, to which McLaughlin sharply responded “yeah, tomorrow, when you finish second”.

There was no doubt van Gisbergen’s Holden held superior pace on Saturday.

Van Gisbergen looked a winner even as he turned into the first corner in second place, dramatically swinging his Commodore in front of third-placed David Reynolds as if to deny him oxygen.

His relentless pursuit of McLaughlin had begun and, after a safety car for Fabian Coulthard’s unfortunate exit, he had his man shortly after with a dive-bomb move on turn eight.

After McLaughlin’s DJR Team Penske outfit won their man back the lead by undercutting van Gisbergen in the pits, van Gisbergen overtook him with a contentious move to lead again.

Stewards handed van Gisbergen a five-second penalty for shunting McLaughlin but he won by 5.5 seconds for the race win.

“Seeing the crowd as we were side by side was awesome,” van Gisbergen said.

“The next few laps, everyone cheering, it was one of the coolest races I’ve ever had.”

McLaughlin denied any confidence hit.

“I got pole today and second. It’s not a bad thing. We’re still leading the championship. I’m happy,” he said.

“We’ve got a few things we need to work on.

“We fixed it throughout the race and we need to do more and we know where we can make our car go better.”