Great Scott, those Mustangs are fast
SCOTT Mclaughlin has put daylight between his Ford Mustang and the Supercars field at the Australian Grand Prix, grabbing two pole positions for the weekend’s meet.
The reigning champion and early series leader charted a new qualifying lap record of 1:53.8280 at Albert Park in the first qualifying session yesterday.
The 25-year-old was slower but still first in a second rapid-fire session shortly after, giving him the best chance of extending his run of race wins beyond his pair at the season-opening Adelaide 500.
Mustangs dominated the day’s racing, recording the first four positions for race one, and five of the top six positions in race two.
The dominance of the new Ford model is likely to lead to further blow-ups in pit lane about parity, given the almost complete absence of Commodores near the top of the timing chart.
Mclaughlin called the poles “a good start”.
“Albert Park qualifying is always one of the hardest qualifying of the year because it’s only one lap,” he said. “It’s definitely satisfying to get a couple of poles, that’s for sure.”
Mclaughlin will be joined by teammate Fabian Coulthard on the front row of the grid for today’s first race, with Tickford’s Cam Waters and 23Red driver Will Davison on the second row.
Shane van Gisbergen was the only Holden in the top five in race one; his Red Bull HRT teammate Jamie Whincup the only one among the leaders in race two.