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MCLAUGHLIN OUT TO RAISE EYEBROWS

Scott McLaughlin out to raise eyebrows - Photo: LAT

By Bruce Williams

Scott McLaughlin out to raise eyebrows - Photo: LAT

Scott McLaughlin out to raise eyebrows – Photo: LAT

Having survived his bucks party with his prominent eyebrows intact, Supercars championship leader Scott McLaughlin is excited to put in some hair-raising performances at The Bend this weekend.

By BRUCE NEWTON

Entering the OTR SuperSprint, McLaughlin leads the title chase by a startling 433 points over DJR Team Penske teammate Fabian Coulthard, with Triple Eight’s Shane van Gisbergen 530 points adrift.

McLaughlin has won 14 of 20 races so far this season and has claimed 13 pole positions.

But he is deriving extra motivation this weekend from the poor results he and the team scored at the South Australian circuit’s Supercars baptism last year.

McLaughlin finished only 6-10 in the first two Supercars races at the new circuit in 2018 – and the team was subsequently busted and fined $30,000 for running an incorrect drop gear in his Ford Falcon FG X in Sunday qualifying.

“I am really excited to kill those old headlines and create some new ones,” McLaughlin told AUTO ACTION. “Obviously, everyone is talking about how we struggled there last year, and there’s nothing like a little motivation to help you come back and be strong.

“That all comes down to preparation and making sure we have our Is dotted and Ts crossed. We have all worked very hard behind the scenes set-up wise to be as prepared as we possibly can this weekend.

“I fully believe we will be there or thereabouts and we will be a lot more competitive than we were last year.”

The Shell V-Power Racing Ford Mustang star arrives at The Bend in winning form, having just beaten out van Gisbergen’s Red Bull Holden Racing Team Commodore ZB in a thrilling duel in race 20 at Queensland Raceway in late July.

Last year, van Gisbergen and teammate Jamie Whincup dominated at The Bend, claiming both poles and both race wins.

McLaughlin believes his competition is ramping up as RBHRT returns to form and Tickford Racing hones its Mustang with the aid of its first in-season test at Winton recently.

“We’re expecting things to get pretty tight, that’s why we always thought it would be important to build a points buffer in case things went wrong,” McLaughlin said. “I’m fully confident that we are a great team and we can still lead from the front, it’s just that the gaps might be a bit smaller now.”

McLaughlin celebrated his engagement in Queenstown, New Zealand, earlier this month with a traditional stag party and insisted he had escaped relatively unscathed from the experience.

He will marry fiancée Karly Paone later this year.

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