McLaughlin lifts lid on feud with van Gisbergen
Scott McLaughlin has revealed the extent of his bitter rivalry with fellow Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen in his explosive book, Road to Redemption.
McLaughlin pipped van Gisbergen for last year’s Supercars title, but a feud between the two drivers emerged during the penultimate round in Pukekohe.
After winning the Saturday race, van Gisbergen parked his Holden up close to the side of McLaughlin’s Ford, which made it hard for him to get out of his Falcon.
McLaughlin was fuming with van Gisbergen afterwards and brought it up at the post-race press conference.
But in McLaughlin’s soon to be released book on his championship-winning season, McLaughlin revealed the depth of their feud and how he also took pleasure on hearing van Gisbergen being booed by Kiwi motor racing fans in Pukekohe.
‘‘I pulled into the correct position for finishing second and was about to get out of the car,’’ McLaughlin wrote.
‘‘That’s when Shane pulled in right beside me – leaving absolutely no room to get out. I was annoyed because it was uncalled for; it was a rubbish act of sportsmanship.
‘‘In some ways it was just immature on his part. I respect the guy, but that one moment made me want to beat him and his team more than ever.’’
Van Gisbergen tried to play
down the incident, saying it was a mistake, but McLaughlin didn’t believe him.
‘‘He says it was a mistake, but I’m pretty sure everyone knows it wasn’t,’’ he wrote.
‘‘He’s the most flamboyant guy on the grid. He can put his car centimetre perfect at over 200km an hour, so I’m not buying that he made a ‘mistake’ while parking.
‘‘And the funny thing was I was getting ready to get out of the car and shake his hand – that race was as good as it gets. It just put a sour taste in my mouth.’’
In Sunday’s race at Pukekohe, which McLaughlin won, van Gisbergen’s team-mate Jamie Whincup slowed down on the final lap to allow van Gisbergen to overtake him, so he’d get more championship points.
It led to van Gisbergen hearing boos in New Zealand for the first time in his career.
‘‘The boos that came for Shane were amazing – people had totally turned against him after the incident post-race on Saturday, and then Whincup slowing down to a stop on the final lap on Sunday to let Shane pass and grab second,’’ McLaughlin wrote.
‘‘The fans hated both moves and they let both Red Bull drivers know about it. You could tell Shane was rattled by his home fans’ jeering.
‘‘This was his crowd as much as mine and they were turning on him – he’d become the villain. I had to look away to hide the smirk on my face.’’
‘‘In some ways it was just immature on his part. I respect the guy, but that one moment made me want to beat him and his team more than ever.’’ Scott McLaughlin on Shane van Gisbergen