Sensational Scott ready to fire again
IF Scott McLaughlin can’t better his sensational recordbreaking lap of Bathurst from 12 months ago, he hopes no one else can.
The former Saint Stephen’s College student left jaws dropped last October when, during the Saturday Top 10 Shootout, he became the first Supercars driver in history to steer a lap of Mount Panorama in under 2min 4sec.
Engine dramas in the race meant he was unable to translate that pace into a maiden Bathurst 1000 crown. McLaughlin was a one-year-old when his DJR Team Penske squad last won the Great Race in 1994, then under the Dick Johnson Racing banner.
“It’s a race that we all want to win badly,” he said. “We have got a great car … I’ve had some bad luck so it’s got to change around here soon.
“Last year was probably the first time I had a genuine shot at winning, not an outsider and this year again we can come and genuinely win. I feel like I’m a lot more mature with it all too so hopefully that works out all right.”
Before race day, drivers will be at full tilt during practice and qualifying to lower the benchmark time owned by McLaughlin.
“It’s going to be interesting,” said the No.17 driver when asked if he could have another shot at the record this weekend.
“If it rains all through practice it’s going to be tough because obviously you had a lot of time there to refine your car – but if I can’t beat it, I hope no one else does.”
McLaughlin is 55 points behind championship leader Shane van Gisbergen and said the key to getting his title bid back on track was to focus internally rather than on what their rivals are doing.
“We lost our way a little bit, obviously they got a bit of momentum and we had a think about maybe how do we combat what their strengths are? We need to worry about our own strengths and get going,” he said.
“Certainly I feel like if we focus on the right things, we can definitely make this thing a beast.”
I’VE HAD SOME BAD LUCK SO IT’S GOT TO CHANGE HERE SOON. SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN