TOURING CAR GAMECHANGERS LAND IN UK
The Festival of Speed continues to conjure up cars that grab attention and this year fans were treated to the awesome force of one of the most talked-about touring cars in V8 Supercars history.
As part of the Penske celebration, an example of Scott Mclaughlin’s 2019 championship-winning Ford Mustang was shipped from Penske’s US base to tackle Goodwood’s famous hill.
Developed by then-djr Team Penske and Ford Performance in the US, the Mustang, especially in the hands of now-penske Indycar driver Mclaughlin, was a force to be reckoned with. The Kiwi rewrote the record books, winning 18 races in 2019 – more than any driver has achieved during
a season – on his way to a second consecutive Supercars title. The run included a Bathurst 1000 win that’s still seen as one of the most controversial after the DJRTP team was issued a $250,000 post-event fine for deliberately slowing its sister car under a safety car, and was fined another $30,000 for an engine rule breach at the following event.
While Mclaughlin’s pace was unquestioned, the Mustang sparked a vicious parity row between Ford and Holden teams, which forced Supercars championship organisers to make several parity adjustments in-season. It eventually resulted in Supercars having to re-homologate the aero on all cars for the 2020 season.
Ford CEO Jim Farley was on hand to pilot the iconic Shell V-powered Mustang up the hill, with Mclaughlin watching on. “Awesome seeing my old car run at Goodwood Festival of Speed, enjoy Jim Farley,” Mclaughlin posted on Twitter.
The Mustang was not the only gamechanging touring car on show, as two of Super Touring’s most influential weapons took to the hill. A 1994-specification Alfa Romeo 155, the same car that won the BTCC title that year, and the famous Audi A4 Quattro rolled back the years, with Emanuele Pirro, who drove the car in period in 1997, at the wheel.