Coulthard to leave his ego in pit lane
Fabian Coulthard will be bucking the trend as a motor racing driver this weekend.
Drivers are known to be selfish characters and have a mentality that the person they want to beat the most is their team-mate.
It’s not like road cycling, where a team will all work for one rider to get all the glory.
Egos of motor racing drivers are delicate, but Coulthard is putting aside all of that this weekend.
The 36-year-old will sacrifice himself for his DJR Team Penske team-mate Scott McLaughlin, as his New Zealand compatriot tries to win this year’s Supercars championship.
This will be done by his team calling him into the pits at a time where he could get out just in front of Shane van Gisbergen, or by allowing McLaughlin to pit first if there’s a safety car, to avoid him double stacking.
‘‘The goal at the weekend is for the No 17 car to pull the No 7 off and be the No 1, so that’s what we’ll be working hard towards,’’ Coulthard said.
‘‘Scott’s objective this weekend is to beat Shane in both races. After Saturday night and seeing how the points stack up, I think you’ll find who’s leading will do just enough to finish where they need to, to seal the deal. It’s awesome that the title is going down to the final weekend and it gives fans something to watch and enjoy.’’
Craig Lowndes and van Gisbergen have both spoken about how tough it is to overtake around the Newcastle street circuit, but twice in the Sunday race last year McLaughlin charged through the field after receiving penalties, as he desperately tried to keep his championship lead.
‘‘There are a few opportunities,’’ Coulthard said.
‘‘If your car’s good and you can position yourself well, there are definitely moves to be done.
‘‘I’m looking forward to racing here, with my championship position [seventh], it means I can take risks here and there.’’
Coulthard finished third in the championship last year, but is unlikely to finish higher than seventh this season.
It has been a frustrating campaign for him where he’s had a number of mechanical problems and race incidents where we wasn’t at fault.
‘‘I’m looking forward to next year, but I’m also looking forward to helping Scott out as much as I can and helping the team win a drivers’ championship,’’ he said.
‘‘Personally, I feel like we’ve had a good car at times and been in good positions, but in those times we’ve had shocking luck so it’s looking like we’ve really struggled this year.
‘‘But with qualifying, I can only go off what we did last year and we’ve definitely bridged the gap to Scott.
‘‘So I’m looking forward to learning more this weekend and hitting the ground running next year in a Mustang and giving it a real go.’’