Tough First Race at The Bend
August 25, 2018
It was a tough day at The Bend, with Scott McLaughlin taking a sixth place finish and Fabian Coulthard putting in a strong recovery drive to end the day 14th.
Fabian Coulthard - No. 12 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Practice 3 – 16th (Fastest Lap: 1m50.7342s)
Qualifying – 22nd (Fastest Lap: 1m51.8455s)
Race 22 – 14th (Fastest Lap: 1m52.1024s)
Scott McLaughlin - No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Practice 3 – 12th (Fastest Lap: 1m50.3459s)
Qualifying – 22nd (Fastest Lap: 1m50.8069s)
Race 22 – 5th (Fastest Lap: 1m52.1410s)
RECAP: Race 22 of the 2018 Supercars Championship was uneventful for both Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard. McLaughlin started from fifth, with Coulthard 22nd. Both lost a position off the start, but then settled into a good rhythm as the race unfolded. The Safety Car came out on Lap 7 when Garth Tander's car expired, parking on the apex of Turn 18. Both cars pitted and took two left side tyres with Scott gaining one position to rejoin fifth. Coulthard was a big winner in that period, jumping up to p14. McLaughlin was parked in behind Mark Winterbottom after the restart on Lap 10 and pushed hard to try to get past his fellow Ford runner. He battled hard but was unable to get by, then being passed late in the race by a resurgent Jamie Whincup who was recovering after double-stacking in the pitlane. McLaughlin finished the race sixth and continues to lead the Championship by 41 points over Shane van Gisbergen. Coulthard gained eight positions before and during the safety car, however once the race settled he was unable to push any further forward, finishing 14th. Fabian is now seventh in the Drivers' point, with the team second in the Teams' points.
COULTHARD QUOTE: "We moved forward, which we had to do from back there. I would have liked to get closer to the top 10, but Scotty struggled and I struggled too. We're both a little bit off here at this circuit. We've got smart guys, and hopefully they'll be able to give us better weapons tomorrow."
MCLAUGHLIN QUOTE: "We have work to do tonight. I think at the end of the day, we've taken steps in the right direction today, we just need to find another big chunk of time. We're strong in some areas, they're just not the right areas we need to make moves and get through the field. The team did an amazing stop for me, but we got stuck with the line of traffic in the lane and had to wait. We'll take a good look at everything tonight and have another go tomorrow."