Great Scott... How Did He Do It?

19th To First...


Article heading image for Great Scott... How Did He Do It?

It's the stuff of miracles.

Maybe it was plain old luck.

Or maybe he really is that good.

Whatever your take on it, Scott McLaughlin's blast from 19th on the grid to victory on Sunday at Barbagallo will be talked about for a long time to come.

Before that, nobody had done any better than Larry Perkins' win from 12th back in 1997.

Previously, the #17 had won 10 of his races from pole, another from second and there was also a race on the Gold Coast when he started 13th.

But Scotty wasn't the only driver who carved up the grid.

Craig Lowndes had a day to remember, making up 22 spots from 25th on the grid to finish third and join McLaughlin on the podium.

Neither of these guys expected to finish where they did, which begs the question, how did they do it?

Speed, good tyres and plain old luck.

McLaughlin avoided some fracas on track to work his way up to 12th by the time a Safety Car came out on lap four.

“Luckily I was on the right side of everything that happened," he raved.

“I was bombing people to get some moves and make a lot in that first stint. Then the Safety Car really fell in our hands.”

As drivers dived into the pits to make the most of minimal time lost, McLaughlin emerged from the stop in 7th and retook the race lead on lap 65.

Lowndes' big move came in the second round of stops, moving from 13th to 5th by lap 67, 12 seconds off McLaughlin before some passes on Andre Heimgartner and James Courtney put him on the podium on lap 82.

Craig admits it helps to be driving something really quick after pulling a third placed rabbit out of the hat.

"You can't go from the back of the grid to anywhere in this field unless you've got a really fast car under you, and we did."

We'll leave the last word to race winner McLaughlin.

“I can’t wait to watch the race when I get home," he said.

 

 

Sean Maynard

8 May 2018

Article by:

Sean Maynard




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