McLaughlin and Coulthard on top in Tasmania

April 6, 2019

Tyrepower Tamania SuperSprint – Saturday, April 6 – Practice, Qualifying & Race
 
Fabian Coulthard - No. 12 Shell V-Power Racing Ford

Practice 3 – 3rd (Fastest Lap: 50.8457s)
Qualifying – 4th (Fastest Lap: 50.8235s)
Race 7– 2nd (Fastest Lap: 51.4232s)

Scott McLaughlin - No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford

Practice 3 – 4th (Fastest Lap: 50.8551s)
Qualifying – 2nd (Fastest Lap: 50.6960s)
Race 7– 1st (Fastest Lap: 51.5170s)

RECAP:  On the second anniversary of Shell V-Power Racing Team’s first victory, the team has achieved a repeat 1-2 result around Symmons Plains Raceway in Tasmania.
 
While that result in 2017 saw Fabian Coulthard take the team’s first win, with McLaughlin second, it was a reverse of that today around the 2.4km circuit.
 
Despite battling a sinus infection, McLaughlin qualified a strong second before getting a brilliant start to beat pole-sitter Mark Winterbottom to the first corner. He was then able to build a gap across the opening stint of the race.
 
Coulthard started from fourth, slotting into third with a strong pass on David Reynolds early in the race before driving up to Winterbottom ahead of his pit stop. Coulthard took service on lap 19, using the undercut to pass Winterbottom and claim second place.
 
McLaughlin pitted a lap later, slotting back in front of Coulthard. The pair then were able to work together to build a gap to Winterbottom behind.
 
The only threat to this was Shane van Gisbergen, who took his stop late and used his fresh tyres to drive up to the final podium position, however he ran out of time to catch either of the Shell V-Power Mustangs.
 
Following the 1-2 finish, McLaughlin leads Chaz Mostert in the Championship by 135 points, with Coulthard only seven points behind in third.
 
The team leads the Teams’ points by 227 over Brad Jones Racing, as Triple Eight have dropped to third place.

COULTHARD QUOTE: “No matter what they throw at us, this team digs in and gets it done. I couldn’t be prouder of everyone here at Shell V-Power Racing Team, we got the reward for the effort we’ve put it. We’ve had some rotten luck so far this year, but hopefully this is the point where it all turns around. We took a 1-2 here in 2017, and to take another one today is a credit to everyone.”

MCLAUGHLIN QUOTE: “Yeah, today was pretty tough. I’ve definitely felt better, but there’s not much better medicine than a race win. I will have a good sleep tonight and come back better tomorrow. That was for Ford fans and our team. There has been a lot of stuff thrown at us but we just fight on. We are a strong group.”