Ride with the times
Has the younger generation of Supercars drivers passed the old guard?
WELL and truly.
The truth of the matter is the old faithful, fan favourites like Craig Lowndes, simply can’t keep pace with their younger rivals.
The wave of relatively fresh-faced aces led by Scott McLaughlin, Chaz Mostert and Shane van Gisbergen are just on another planet in terms of onelap pace and let’s face it, you can’t consistently win races from 15th on the grid.
If you haven’t already seen it, check out footage of McLaughlin’s shootout lap at Bathurst to grab pole position. Sensational is an understatement.
Other than hoping for rare engine trouble to strike as it did at the Mountain, how do you match that as a rival driver? Lowndes, Mark Winterbottom and Garth Tander still have the nous and racecraft to haul themselves into decent positions.
But while they’re busy doing so, McLaughlin and co are driving off into the distance.
Their extreme commitment will be seen better than ever this weekend when they get up close and friendly with the Surfers Paradise concrete barriers in search of lap time. Forget caution. They’ll back themselves to be the best of the lot. Fabian Coulthard and Jamie Whincup have used every ounce of experience to lead the title fight. They’re not going anywhere.
But in McLaughlin, Mostert, SVG, Richie Stanaway and Cameron Waters we have years – even decades – of incredible Supercars battles to look forward to. OK, the results aren’t our best friend when trying to make this argument.
However, like a drunk trying to ice skate, let’s swap reality with ambition.
Specifically, let’s ask one question: who would you like to drive for your life?
Scott McLaughlin and Chaz Mostert, fine young drivers, are on the rise. No-one can doubt that.
Yet give me a Craig Lowndes or Mark Winterbottom if I needed to get across town in record time.
Fact: Few people become worse drivers as they get older
... or at least until a certain age.
Sure, most of us aren’t barrelling around a track at 300km/h wailing for someone to save us from this wheeled machine.
Yet experience isn’t given away on the back of a cereal box, thusly ensuring those who have it earn it. McLaughlin and Mostert hold a distinct advantage in terms of results. No argument here.
Yet those boys would be starting from the back of the grid against the older brigade, metaphorically speaking, in experience.
If you want to win a race in the 2017 edition of the Supercars, sure, McLaughlin and Mostert may be the men.
If you want your bogged Landcruiser unbogged, you go to the bloke who is one mission short of having “experience” etched onto his forehead. And if you want someone to drive for your life, or at least know the ins and outs of a trip to anywhere in the world, I’d suggest getting Frosty or the Smiling Assassin on the blower.