Coulthard’s not giving up despite loss of lead
FABIAN Coulthard has declared he will go into the final two rounds of the Supercars Championship stronger than ever after handing over the series lead to rival Jamie Whincup at the Gold Coast 600.
The DJ Team Penske driver took a 91-point lead into the Gold Coast 600 but was pun- ished for a lack of pace in qualifying and now trails Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Whincup by 17-points.
Coulthard said the dream of winning the championship was still alive as he prepares for the final two rounds at the ITU Auckland Super Sprint Newcastle 500 next month.
“We will go back to the drawing board and have a look to see what we can learn and come back stronger for the next one,” Coulthard said.
“We have to move forward and make the most of the next two. We just need to put the package together on the day. It’s a case of regrouping and going again in New Zealand.”
Coulthard – whose teammate Scott McLaughlin came from 13th to win yesterday – was brought undone by poor qualifying times across both races on the weekend.
The 35-year-old New Zealander started from 16th on Saturday and finished in 19th in wet conditions.
Things got worse when he qualified 22nd yesterday but Coulthard secured ninth after co-driver Tony D’Alberto started in the driver’s seat and took the duo to eighth. “We moved up the same amount of spots as Scotty but we just started too far back,” Coulthard said.
“We probably needed some dry running (Saturday) to really tune the car up a little bit more. We struggled for qualifying pace but to come through in the race like we did shows that we have a reasonable car.”