At a glance
The green-eyed monsters have been out in force in Supercars lately, with drivers lining up to take pot shots at Scott McLaughlin.
They want to put him down, say his Bathurst win and 2019 title should have asterisks next to them, because of infringements by his team.
There’s a quote from Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali that goes: ‘‘The thermometer of success is merely the jealousy of the malcontents.’’
What Dali meant was that you can tell how good you’ve become by the level of criticism aimed at you.
Judging by Dali’s theory and the condemnations towards McLaughlin lately , the Kiwi could probably call himself the greatest Supercars driver there’s been.
This week Scott Pye has said McLaughlin’s title is tainted, Nick Percat has compared him to Lance Armstrong and David Reynolds referred to him as an ‘outsider’ in the paddock. Reynolds has previously called him ‘‘precious’’, ‘‘boring’’, and ‘‘corporatised’’ and has become his biggest critic.
Yet through all this criticism of McLaughlin there’s more than a hint of jealousy through it.
McLaughlin has had the fastest car this year and he’s made best use of it. It’s just the same as Lewis Hamilton in
Formula One, with Mercedes.
The likes of Pye – who was dumped by DJR Team Penske to make way for McLaughlin – Percat and Reynolds would love nothing more than to be in McLaughlin’s Ford Mustang.
There is no way to get away from the fact that McLaughlin’s team has twice got into hot water this season.
Firstly, there was Fabian Coulthard’s go-slow at Bathurst to hinder cars behind McLaughlin; then the revelation that in qualifying for that race, the engine used exceeded the maximum permitted valve lift.
Without getting too complex, the valve lifted by less than the thickness of a piece of paper over the acceptable limit. But breaking the rules is breaking the rules and McLaughlin and his team accepted the punishment.
As for the incident during the race at Bathurst, it was clear Coulthard was obeying orders to help out his teammate and it wasn’t a good look.
Newcastle 500 schedule:
Today: 12.50pm qualifying, 3.15pm Top 10 shootout, 6.15 race.
Tomorrow: 1.20pm qualifying, 3.20pm Top 10 shootout, 6.15pm race.
Leaderboard: Scott McLaughlin 3614 points, Shane van Gisbergen 3064, Jamie Whincup 2968, Fabian Coulthard 2791, Chaz Mostert 2705, David Reynolds 2517.
But that’s similar to what Jamie Whincup did at Pukekohe last year when he eased up to let Shane van Gisbergen overtake him on the last lap to finish second, because it improved van Gisbergen’s chances of pipping McLaughlin for the title.
It’s been sad to see McLaughlin temper his celebrations for winning back-to-back Supercars titles.
He says he can’t control what other people say about him, but it does appear that the criticism has hurt.
McLaughlin, 26, admits he’s changed over the past year – he’s lost that boyish enthusiasm that made him so popular when he started in Supercars.
He’s matured as a person and a driver , and other drivers are struggling to come to terms that they’re not as good as him.
McLaughlin insists the criticism he’s faced won’t force him to accelerate his eventual move to racing in Nascar, but all of this won’t be encouraging him to stick around in Supercars.
That may please the likes of Pye and Reynolds, but it would be dreadful for Supercars.
McLaughlin has taken over from Craig Lowndes as the face of Supercars. Not just in New Zealand, but also Australia, and without him, the category would be considerably poorer.
McLaughlin deserves his championships and his Bathurst win. He also deserves a bit more respect along pit lane.
‘‘McLaughlin admits he’s changed over the past year – he’s lost that boyish enthusiasm.’’