Battle bubbles to finale
FOR the second straight Supercars season, two Gold Coast-linked drivers will take to the streets of Newcastle to decide what has been a fascinating championship tussle.
This time last year, Jamie Whincup clinched a record seventh crown in dramatic scenes after Scott McLaughlin was penalised for a late-race collision with Craig Lowndes.
Fast forward to now and former Saint Stephen’s College student McLaughlin is again in the thick of it but this time is up against Whincup’s teammate Shane van Gisbergen, who lives on the Coast.
DJR Team Penske spearhead McLaughlin (pictured, left) holds a 14-point lead over Red Bull Holden Racing Team ace van Gisbergen (right), with no other driver still in the mix.
The rivalry between the two Kiwi drivers has bubbled away.
Van Gisbergen this week moved to downplay a “fake rivalry” with McLaughlin but the Bulletin recalls some fiery moments in the past two months.
October 3, van Gisbergen: “As a team, our three cars work so closely and that’s been key because they (McLaughlin and Coulthard) seem to work separately and race against each other. Working together has really been helpful to push the team forward and now we’re up there fighting and putting a lot of pressure on them.”
October 3, McLaughlin responds before storming off: “That’s pretty interesting. There hasn’t been much contact between myself and Fabian unlike those guys. At least they are talking about us because obviously they are a little bit worried.”
October 21, van Gisbergen again plays at the teamwork theme: “We’re a three-car team versus a one-car team.”
November 1, McLaughlin: “There has been a lot of chitchat between the sides but I’m looking forward to dropping the crap and getting on with it.”
November 3, van Gisbergen beats McLaughlin to first place on the Saturday race in New Zealand and backs that up by parking so close to McLaughlin’s driver-side door in pit lane that his clearly frustrated adversary is unable to hop out. Van Gisbergen later called it a “mistake” while McLaughlin that night took to Instagram to write: “Good news is I wasn’t parked in on the way home.”
November 4, McLaughlin hits back with a victory in the Sunday race to re-widen his points advantage, while van Gisbergen limits the damage by taking second on the final lap ahead of Whincup, who controversially slowed down.
McLaughlin, 25, is gunning for his maiden championship; 29-year-old van Gisbergen has won once before in 2016.