Thrills, spills in V8s
A WARM-UP lap crash. A disqualification. An engine failure. A wheel falling off.
On-track shunts and offtrack verbals.
A teammate crash and a guy with the flu beating all comers for the trophy.
The F1 might be the main game at the Australian Grand Prix but it had nothing on the Supercars for thrills and spills on the weekend at Melbourne’s Albert Park.
Who could have predicted the drama across the four races, three won by Scott McLaughlin and the other by Chaz Mostert?
That McLaughlin arrived and leaves as the series leader is perhaps the only constant.
His prang in the on-lap to race three, which ruled himself and Cam Waters out of proceedings and left the front row of the grid vacant, cost the Kiwi the chance to continue his series clean sweep.
Yesterday the DJR Team Penske phenomenon used his Mustang’s superior pace to get back to winning ways, apologising for the mishap over the team radio.
“That was for yesterday. Sorry,” he said, knowing he’d blown a chance to continue his 100 per cent start. Stewards cleared Water and McLaughlin of fault, with the defending champion eager to move beyond it.
“It was an absolute cluster. We move on. We’re big boys,” he said.
“(Five wins from six races) is such a great start.
“We focused on speed and coming out strong ... over the last couple of years I haven’t started this strong and I’m excited for what’s ahead.
“We’ve got to keep the momentum going.”
While McLaughlin can look forward to the next-up trip to Symmons Plains on top of the standings, the weekend belonged to Mostert.
The 26-year-old was fighting the flu and produced inconsistent qualifying efforts but pushed his Ford to the front of the field for a race win, two second-place finishes and a fifth.