Scott McLaughlin admits he’s been left frustrated by the Supercars parity storm that’s surrounded the Ford Mustang this season.
The reigning Supercars champion has been at the centre of the parity debate this season, through a dominant showing that’s included eight wins and eight wins from the 12 races so far this season.
DJR Team Penske teammate Fabian Coulthard has two wins to his name, Tickford Mustang driver Chaz Mostert one, and Shane van Gisbergen the sole non-Mustang victory of the season so far.
The Mustang has since gone through two waves of parity adjustment, the first a centre of gravity change before the Tasmania round, followed by a reduction in downforce heading into last weekend’s Perth SuperNight.
It didn’t change much in terms of results, however, with Coulthard and McLaughlin bagging a win each. All six Mustangs also would have finished in the Top 10 in both races had it not been for Mostert’s engine failure on Saturday night.
According to McLaughlin, the ongoing debate regarding the Mustang has robbed the DJRTP crew of credit it deserves.
When asked if he’d taken the controversy personally, McLaughlin said: “I wouldn’t say personally, but yeah, absolutely I’m frustrated.
“I’ve seen how hard everyone’s worked as soon as this [Mustang] thing was announced. They worked bloody hard on building the car from the computer screen to what it is now.
“We got through all the VCAT [testing] and all that sort of stuff and got to a point where it got all ticked off by everyone. And then eventually all this stuff happens.
“I understand there’s bits and pieces that went on, but whether you agree with it or not, you’ve got to deal with it. We’ve got to push on and Supercars have got to adjudicate where they need to.
“I’m probably more on the [team’s] side, you look at it from a frustrating point of view because you feel like you’re just a good team, and we do feel like we are one of the best teams up there – and that’s where we feel the differences [are] rather than the actual car.”
McLaughlin added that the 2019 dominance is DJRTP’s “true potential”, arguing that the ageing FG-X package had a pace deficit to the then-new ZB Commodore during his title-winning 2018 season.
“I think last year we were probably on the back foot a little bit in terms of overall car pace,” he said.
“I think that’s all sort of evened out now and we’re showing true potential.
“I feel like we really punched above our weight last year. [In] 2017 obviously everyone knows what happened — I ballsed that up and Jamie [Whincup] did an awesome job as well.
“It’s been an awesome battle and still is an awesome battle and just looking forward to the future. I think it’s great for Supercars to have two, three, four teams battling up the front week in, week out.
“I think it’s got a really good future, the whole category.”
Race winner Scott McLaughlin, DJR Team Penske Ford
Photo by: Dirk Klynsmith / LAT Images
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