Scott McLaughlin’s two Supercars championships might have come driving a Ford, but the DJR Penske flyer began his career in a Holden.
As a prodigiously talented teenager, the New Zealander was part of the red lion family in 2012 and 2013, racing for Garry Rogers Motorsport.
Knowing how the legendary brand operates, McLaughlin is bracing for the Holden army to have added motivation for this weekend’s season-opening Adelaide 500.
This won’t be just to prevent McLaughlin cantering to a third-straight title, but to send Holden off on a high after General Motors’ announcement of plans to shut down the car brand by the end of the year.
« It’s sad news. I started my career in that car (a Holden), » McLaughlin said.
« To a number of Australians and New Zealanders, it’s a massive marquee for the sport.
« They were already probably coming in with a lot of emotion after last year so they’ll be wanting to send Holden off on a high and we’re ready for that. We kind’ve want to spoil that party. »
McLaughlin was near untouchable last year, finishing a whopping 562 points ahead of Red Bull Holden’s Shane van Gisbergen.
He won an extraordinary 18 races in 2019 to break the Supercars’ record for most victories in a season.
One of those was his breakthrough success at Bathurst, which was marred by controversy after cheating allegations.
It opened the door for a number of rivals to take aim at McLaughlin, with Scott Pye saying the championship season would « forever be tainted ».
But McLaughlin is supremely fit after dropping 7kgs in the off-season and testing in an Indycar in America.
« It’s going to be a long slog (this season), but really excited for the challenge of trying to go back-to-back-to-back, » McLaughlin said.
http://www.espn.com/v8-supercars/story/_/id/28733938/mclaughlin-knows-holdens-coming
