MCLAUGHLIN HAPPY DESPITE TRICKY DEBUT

Ever since he finished mid-february Spring Training third fastest, (now) three-time Australian Supercars champion Scott Mclaughlin had been expected to work miracles on his Indycar debut with Team Penske. Following a Bathurst-sydney-los Angeles-charlotte trip, he spent hours in the Penske simulator, caught up on some sleep, and then headed to St Petersburg.

The 90-minute practice session on Saturday saw him in the top 10 and, although he went off the road at the last turn on his final attempt at a flier, he had simply been overdriving on cold soft-compound Firestone reds, which he had never tried before as they’re not available in testing. Finding the limit on unfamiliar tyres is not easy on a track mostly lined by concrete walls…

Mclaughlin made a few errors in qualifying too, and was thus eliminated in Q1. But despite lining up near the back, his best effort in that Q1 Group 1 session was still within one second of pacesetter James Hinchcliffe.

“With a little more time, we will be OK,” he said. “I’m disappointed with myself, but it is what it is. It’s tough to learn the space around you on a road course. I’m used to knocking mirrors off on a wall, not necessarily my tyre.”

Although he would spin out of the race on the lap 46 restart, he was pleased to accentuate the positive.

“It was awesome. Far out, best day of my life bar my wedding,” Mclaughlin told NBC. “The car was going well and then I just tried to make a move and just had half a rear-lock. Cold tyres caught me out. I’m pretty disappointed but

I had a lot of fun today.”