McLaughlin in Seventh Heaven

July 21, 2018

Fabian Coulthard - No. 12 Shell V-Power Racing Ford

Practice 3 – 11th (Fastest Lap: 1m09.3815s)
Qualifying – 2nd (Fastest Lap: 1m08.6923s)
Race 19 – 5th (Fastest Lap: 1m10.0250s)
 
Scott McLaughlin - No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford

Practice 3 – 1st (Fastest Lap: 1m09.0645s)
Qualifying – 1st (Fastest Lap: 1m08.5014s)
Race 19 – 1st (Fastest Lap: 1m10.2046s)

RECAP: 

• After a penalty for Chaz Mostert in qualifying, the two Shell V-Power Fords started side-by-side on the front row of the grid with Scott McLaughlin earning his ninth pole of 2018. The start was strong from both cars, going into turn one side-by-side, with respect shown from both drivers, slotting into first (McLaughlin) and second (Fabian Coulthard) across the first stint of the race. McLaughlin took his stop on lap 14, and rejoined the race in effective first place, just in front of Chaz Mostert. McLaughlin was then able to maintain the lead across the rest of the race, managing the gap back to the field throughout to take a dominant win – his seventh of 2018. Coulthard sat in second place until lap 14, when he was pushed to third by a charging Shane van Gisbergen. They pitted nose-to-tail, and exited in the same order with Coulthard sitting in effective fifth. He passed Mostert on the road to claim fourth place, then chasing Lowndes in an attempt to gran the final podium place for the majority of the race. He was passed by Whincup – who was on much fresher tyres - late in the race, and finished in fifth place. McLaughlin has maintained his Championship lead, 143 points in front of Van Gisbergen, with Coulthard solid in sixth. The team is second in the Teams' points, 66 behind Triple Eight.

COULTHARD QUOTE:
"Bit of a frustrating day. Started off the front row and had a cracking start alongside Scotty and held onto second until just before the stop. We had a problem in the pitstop and lost a couple of places there. Got checked up by Lowndes at the end there, and ended up fifth. We win and lose as a team, so a big congrats to Scotty on the W. We'll tune it up and go again tomorrow."

MCLAUGHLIN QUOTE:
"We were really able to control that race, watching the gaps. We had a go early in the race to see what we had, were able to pull a gap then and when we pitted, I just needed to get out in front of Mostert and watch the gaps to those behind us. It was a great team effort, good pitstop, the car was awesome. Really good day."