Scott McLaughlin vents frustrations with Ford after disappointing Sandown 500
SCOTT McLaughlin has warned Ford could face another flogging from Holden at Bathurst after the DJR Team Penske star claimed there was a “parity” issue between the cars.
V8
Don't miss out on the headlines from V8. Followed categories will be added to My News.
SCOTT McLaughlin has warned Ford could face another flogging from Holden at Bathurst after the DJR Team Penske star claimed there was a “parity” issue between the cars.
It was a day of Holden domination in the Sandown 500 as defending Supercars champion Jamie Whincup led home a Triple Eight trifecta, with teammates Shane van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes finishing second and third.
Five of the top six cars were Holdens in the opening endurance race of the season, with McLaughlin the best of the Fords in fourth place and his teammate Fabian Coulthard seventh.
Ford teams have this year claimed that the Holden ZB Commodore has an unfair aero advantage over their cars and the Sandown results have inflamed the debate.
McLaughlin suggested the Holden’ had a clear speed advantage that needed to be scrutinised by Supercars officials.
“There is a P word out there that a lot of people know ... the right people in the pit paddock know what is going on and it’s pretty clear what’s going on,’’ McLaughlin said.
“We’re having to disadvantage our cars in certain areas to be at their performance but we’re not even getting near it.
“At the end of the day it’s racing and they’re doing a great job, don’t get me wrong they are doing a fantastic job, but we are working our butts off and just getting demolished.
“I wouldn’t say (it’s an) unfair (advantage), but I would say there is certain areas of it that are certainly not within parity.
“Going off today, if there wasn’t the safety car they probably would have lapped the whole field and I’m not sure if Supercars wants that.
“It’s pretty obvious and until the right people look at it... I just don’t know. I’m lost for words, it’s frustrating.’’
McLaughlin, who sits second in the Supercars championship behind van Gisbergen, predicted the Fords could face another uphill battle to compete with the Holdens at Mount Panorama.
“We’ll got to Bathurst with our head held high but you’ve just got to wonder what’s going to happen,’’ McLaughlin said.
“Going off today, I can’t see any reason why it would be any different.
“We are going to go there tough as nails, give it our best shot ... and know that our car is fast.
“But if we have to do what we had to do this weekend and trim our wing out and that sort of stuff, it’s probably going to be another one, two, three for them.’’
The DJR Team Penske star went into the Sandown 500 trailing van Gisbergen by 19 points in the championship standings and now trails by 55 points.
McLaughlin suffered a heartbreaking finish to his Bathurst campaign last year when his car suffered a mechanical failure at the top of the mountain, but he’s hoping for redemption this year.
“We got to Bathurst for redemption in some ways, that’s a big one on my list,’’ McLaughlin said
“I’m going to give it a good crack.’’
REYNOLDS CONFIDENT AHEAD OF BATHURST
BATHURST champion David Reynolds says he heads to Mount Panorama full of confidence despite missing out on the chance to convert his pole position in the Sandown 500.
After a brilliant qualifying drive on Saturday to put his car at the front of the grid for the opening endurance race of the season, Reynolds finished fifth as the Triple Eight stable dominated the race.
But the Erebus driver was still happy with the result as he maintained his fifth place in the championship standings.
“We knew today was going to be a bit more of a struggle because there was no rain, or no weird organic components that we had to deal with,’’ Reynolds said.
“We knew that the Triple Eight cars were faster than us. I think we bridged the gap a little bit, but it just wasn’t good enough.
“The very first couple of stints we didn’t do the best job there and we got pushed back in 11th and then we strategised ourselves back into seventh and then raced forward to fifth.
“Overall it was a pretty good day. I think at best we could have got fourth, we could have got (Scott) McLaughlin.
“All in all I’m pretty happy, I’m kind of glad its over because it’s a very stressful day, but I’m looking forward to the next race, the big one.’’
Reynolds scored a famous giant-killing win at Bathurst with co-driver Luke Youlden last year and he is now focused on joining the list of back-to-back winners in the big race.
After his performance at Sandown, Reynolds is confident he can be a contender again.
“I can’t wait to get back there, it’s going to bring back so many good memories,’’ Reynolds said.
“I love that race, it’s just the greatest race of the year. It’s the best track, the longest race, the most enjoyable, the Grand Canyon, the grand finale, the holy grail, it’s everything to us.
“Our car is pretty strong on the hard tyre compared to the soft and our car was very, very strong there last year.
“It’s going to be hard though because Triple Eight have stepped up their game a bit in comparison to where they were last year.
“But weird things can happen. It’s such a long day and such a long race that it brings up so many good mysteries that I just can’t wait to do it again.’’
Originally published as Scott McLaughlin vents frustrations with Ford after disappointing Sandown 500