Jamie’s ‘back in fight’
GOLD Coast driver Jamie Whincup has declared himself “back in the fight” after winning a one-on-one war with Scott McLaughlin to revive his championship dream.
Matching the might of the Mustang to show the Commodore could still be king, Whincup gave every Holden fan hope when he delivered McLaughlin a rare defeat at Hidden Valley in Darwin on Sunday.
“That race felt like 2017 and 2018 when we were going massively head to head,” Whincup said.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t given them (DJR Team Penske) much of a run in recent times but it was great to be able to take the fight to them. Hopefully we gave everyone at home what they wanted.”
Maybe the only man that can stop McLaughlin from claiming a V8 three-peat, Whincup proved he was no fading force by beating the flying Ford in a fair fight.
Whincup bounced back from a practice crash to win both the last race and the Triple Crown.
“I am completely wrapped because we ground it out all weekend,” Whincup said.
“We had a quick car and got the win. We are pretty proud to get the win.”
McLaughlin had claimed a Darwin pole three-peat to edge another step closer to Whincup’s all time qualifying record.
Continuing his stunning season of one lap speed, McLaughlin claimed his seventh qualifying win of the season when he went backto-back to win both Sunday sessions after also winning on Saturday.
Taking his career tally to 68, the Ford flyer is now just 18 qualifying wins away from equalling Whincup’s 86.
In the final instalment of the Northern Territory Triple Crown series, Whincup and McLaughlin went head-tohead in a top of the table fight.
Continuing the heavyweight rivalry between DJR Team Penske and Red Bull, McLaughlin blasted out of the blocks to land the first blow for Ford.
But Whincup hit back in his Holden when the seventime champion undercut the flying Falcon to steal the lead.