Volvo Polestar Racing driver Scott McLaughlin qualified a strong second on the grid for the first race of the Gold Coast 600 weekend, a front row grid position unfortunately hindered by incidents in the race.
”The day started really good. We qualified second and the car felt really good on the hard tyres. Alex was doing a great job, he just made a couple of simple mistakes at the chicane and took too much curb. It snapped the bumper off and damaged the power steering cooler. When it rains it pours. We had a really fast car today and I think almost certainly we were up for a podium, but those things happen and we just need to push on for tomorrow,” said McLaughlin.
Co-driver Alexandre Prémat started the race and put hard pressure on pole man and race leader Jonathon Webb. But taking too much curb at one point of the circuit meant that Prémat damaged the front splitter and steering, with a lengthy pit stop following and dropping the duo from second to finish 21st.
”I had a really good start, but I hit the curbs which destroyed a bit of the front splitter. I didn’t know that the damage was so extensive. But Scotty did a really good job and the car speed was very good. Hopefully we can achieve a podium tomorrow,” said Prémat.
David Wall and Chris Pither had a tough day as well in the #34 Volvo to finish 16th after a visit in the tyre barriers, despite that climbing two places from their grid position.
”I made a mistake on cold tyres from the pits, I am kicking my self for that. I think if we can qualify for the top 15 tomorrow, we will have a really good chance for the top ten,” said Wall.
”We had a pretty rough start here on the Gold Coast. Overall the car it self wasn’t too bad. We will probably be in good shape tomorrow and 16th place I think is a pretty reasonable result after the incidents we had in the race,” said Pither.
The second race of the Gold Coast 600 race weekend starts at 14:30 local time.
Gold Coast 600 – V8 Supercars
Circuit: Surfers Paradise Street Circuit
Length: 2980 m
Lap record (V8SC): 1:10.0851, Will Davison, 2011
Results
Race 26 – Top 5
1 Shane van Gisbergen/Jonathon Webb Holden Commodore 102 laps
2 David Reynolds/Dean Canto Ford Falcon +1.6096
3 Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards Holden Commodore +1.7620
4 Garth Tander/Warren Luff Holden Commodore +2.3185
5 James Courtney/Jack Perkins Holden Commodore +3.6033
…
16 David Wall/Chris Pither Volvo S60 +1 lap
21 Scott McLaughlin/Alexandre Prémat Volvo S60 +11 laps
Top Ten Shootout for Race 26 – Top 5
1 Shane van Gisbergen Holden Commodore 1:11.5442
2 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.1412
3 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon +0.3194
4 Rick Kelly Nissan Altima +0.5347
5 James Moffat Nissan Altima +0.6343
Qualifying for Race 26 - Top 5
1 Shane van Gisbergen Holden Commodore 1:11.0913
2 Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore +0.0133
3 Rick Kelly Nissan Altima +0.0503
4 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.0526
5 Tim Slade Holden Commodore +0.2118
…
18 David Wall Volvo S60 +0.7476
Schedule
(Times in UTC +10h)
Friday 23/10
09:30 Practice 1 (30 min)
11:45 Practice 2 (30 min – co-drivers)
13:20 Practice 3 (30 min – co-drivers)
15:05 Practice 4 (30 min)
Saturday 24/10
10:00 Qualifying (20 min)
11:20 Top Ten Shootout (1 lap)
14:35 Race 26 (102 laps)
Sunday 25/10
11:55 Qualifying (20 min)
14:30 Race 27 (102 laps)
Championship Standings – Top 5
1 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon 2527 points
2 Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore 2221 (-306)
3 David Reynolds Ford Falcon 2197 (-330)
4 Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore 2030 (-497)
5 Chaz Mostert Ford Falcon 2017 (-510)
…
11 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 1476 (-1051)
24 David Wall Volvo S60 831 (-1696)
TV Schedule
Australia: http://www.v8supercars.com.au/view/tv-schedule
Europe: http://www.motorstv.com
Sweden: http://www.viasat.se/sport/motor
International: http://www.v8supercars.com.au/v8live/schedule