McLaughlin continues winning start to year
Kiwi champion pays tribute to Christchurch after taking out first of four Melbourne races
Scott McLaughlin extended his winning start to the 2019 Supercars season to three races with a comfortable victory in Melbourne yesterday.
But it was a bitter-sweet result for Christchurch-born McLaughlin, who was devastated by the news which unfolded in his home country earlier in the day, with at least 49 people killed in terrorist attacks on two mosques.
“The car was great but this goes out to New Zealand,” McLaughlin said. “Tough times over there in Christchurch, my home town, they’re all suffering, so all love to you guys.”
McLaughlin was not headed in the race as he and Shell V-Power teammate Fabian Coulthard cleared away. Coulthard pitted early to avoid any pit lane issues, leaving the way clear for McLaughlin to claim his third straight victory.
Earlier, Chaz Mostert snapped McLaughlin’s run of pole positions in the final qualifying session of the weekend.
McLaughlin led the way in both
10-minute sessions on Thursday and continued that form with another commanding performance yesterday afternoon.
It took his Supercars pole tally to
50, and the defending Supercars champion led the way into the closing stages of the final 10-minute hitout with 1m 54.3655s.
The separate qualifying sessions for each race mean Mostert will start alongside McLaughlin in the second race today and again in the final race tomorrow as he attempts to break the Shell V-Power racers’ winning stranglehold.
Mostert caught the eye in yesterday’s race, climbing from 22nd to finish fifth.
McLaughlin arrived in Melbourne leading the series after winning the opening two races in Adelaide a fortnight ago.
“It’s been an unreal start for us this year,” said Mclaughlin. “Between my teammate [Coulthard], we cleanswept all the poles and race wins.
“It’s a great start for the team and we just have to focus on keeping the momentum going for the rest of the year. I couldn’t have asked for a better start.”
For the second year in a row, the Australian Formula One Grand Prix weekend is now a points-scoring round of the Supercars championship.
“This is a great track for me and the team and I have always gone well here in the past. I really enjoy performing here in front of the Formula One teams and fans. It’s very exciting and the second time here we’re racing for points.
“It’s a unique format for qualifying at Albert Park. You have four races and four qualifying sessions. And because the track is so long, you only really get one shot.
“If you stuff it up, you get buried back in the pack. Thankfully that didn’t happen to us. The car is good, it was awesome, the 53.8 [from first qualifying] was amazing. I’m stoked for everyone at Shell V-Power Racing and Ford Performance,” he said.
His second qualifying stint didn’t go quite as well but it was good enough for pole number so far this weekend.
“The driver needs a big tune-up after that second lap, I just made a mistake. It wasn’t my best lap by any means.
“I had a really good first sector and half a good second sector, I was lucky to hold on in that last sector,” McLaughlin told Supercars after qualifying.
Starting up front is key for all four sprint races this weekend (one yesterday, two today and one tomorrow) as two races are 25 laps each and the final two are a mere 13 laps in distance — barely enough time to get anything warmed up.
With race distances being so short, being mired mid-pack, as fellow Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen is in race two, is going to make for a painful weekend’s racing.
“We’ve come out strong, which is the main thing,” said McLaughlin.