McLaughlin powers to third victory
AUCKLAND: IndyCar racing has a new superstar — it is New Zealand driver Scott McLaughlin.
The Kiwi has won his third race of the season with a dominant victory in the Grand Prix of Portland from pole position.
Fellow Kiwi Scott Dixon will go into this weekend’s final race with a much better chance of claiming the title, although Australian Will Power will be hard to overhaul in the California showdown.
But Team Penske’s McLaughlin is the rising star, without a doubt, and is one of five drivers still in the hunt.
He led for 104 of the 110 laps on the flat Portland road course which includes an infamous first chicane that all the drivers negotiated successfully this time.
Pundits are raving about McLaughlin’s progress in his second season, after switching from his brilliant career in Australasian Supercars.
One commentator has already installed McLaughlin as the favourite for the IndyCar series title in 2023, after he recorded his fifth consecutive topfive finish in the penultimate race of 2022.
‘‘It’s all Scotty Mac,’’ raved another as McLaughlin stormed to victory in Portland.
McLaughlin retains a remote title chance this season, in a battle that also involves leader Power (523 points), Josef Newgarden and Dixon (20 points) and Marcus Ericsson (39). McLaughlin is 41 points behind Power.
With the final race at Laguna in California, McLaughlin is also looking forward to fulfilling a dream to play golf at Pebble Beach.
On his IndyCar title chances, he said: ‘‘We’re a long shot but I don’t care, we’re a shot.’’
It was an Australasian triumph in Portland as Australian Will Power finished second and Dixon third.
The 41yearold Power is guaranteed a second IndyCar series title if he finishes in the top three in the final race.
Dixon, seeking his seventh title, started from 16th in Portland and said: ‘‘We’ve got to stop getting most improved during races.
‘‘We’re still in the fight. Anything is possible. We’ve won on tiebreakers before and we will never give up.’’