McLaughlin issues warning with lap record
BATHURST: Runaway Supercars series leader Scott McLaughlin yesterday sounded an ominous warning, setting a record on an incidentpacked opening day of practice for the Bathurst 1000.
Ford gun McLaughlin made it clear he was hungry to claim a maiden Bathurst title, clocking a blistering 2min 03.77sec yesterday.
It was 0.06sec faster than McLaughlin’s old mark set in 2017.
Defending series champion McLaughlin topped the time sheets in the third and final practice session of the day ahead of Holden’s fourtime Bathurst winner, Jamie Whincup, and Ford young gun Cam Waters.
McLaughlin has adopted a ‘‘win it or bin it’’ approach at Mount Panorama in a bid to break his Bathurst duck after jumping to a 598point championship lead before the Great Race.
‘‘I had a lot of fun. Hopefully, tomorrow the [forecast] rain stays away and we can have another crack,’’ McLaughlin said of his record.
But the New Zealander will know it only takes one mistake to come undone on the mountain — especially after the notorious track claimed more scalps yesterday.
The field for the third onehour practice session was missing the Holdens of former Bathurst winner David Reynolds and wildcard entry Brodie Kostecki which remained in the garage after practice crashes.
Reynolds’ codriver, Luke Youlden, was monitored by medical staff for concussion after he slammed into the wall at Reid Park early in the second practice session.
Their Penrite Racing team was working furiously to have the Commodore ready for the opening qualifying session late this afternoon.
‘‘We will put it together and have a crack tomorrow,’’ Reynolds said.
Remarkably Kostecki’s cousin and teammate, Jake Kostecki, also shunted the wall at Reid Park almost at the same spot as Youlden late in the second session held for codrivers only.
Holden driver Macauley Jones was officially Mount Panorama’s first scalp yesterday, hitting the concrete wall at The Cutting so hard it loosened the roof in the opening session.
Jones emerged unscathed but his team could not put the Commodore back together again in time for his codriver Dean Canto to contest the second session, and emerged with a patched up Holden in the third practice.
Whincup’s codriver, seventime Bathurst champion Craig Lowndes, earlier made an encouraging return to the track after retiring from fulltime driving last year, clocking the eighthfastest time in the second onehour session.
‘‘It was nice to get back out there. It was not perfect but I was getting back into the swing of things,’’ Lowndes said. — AAP