WE’RE approaching the half-way mark of the Supercars Championship.
Scott McLaughlin has won ten races in the best start to a season in history while there are struggles throughout the field as the sport looks for a contender to challenge the rampaging 25-year-old Kiwi.
Here’s some things that we think will definitely happen in the second half of the year.
McLaughlin to win the title by October.
THE Supercars points structure – lots of points, very often – is conducive to helping create tight finishes in the championship as has been the case for the last two years.
Having said that, McLaughlin leads it by 244 points which means he can score zero points in one race this year and still find himself in front by 94 points.
If he has a horror weekend at Darwin and scores zero points, he’ll still be second – assuming it’s his teammate picking up the pieces. It’s an imperious position to be in after 14 of 32 races.
The scary thing for the opposition is that there’s a very good chance McLaughlin could have it sealed up by October.
If Bathurst – which is 300 points for one race – goes to plan then there’s a very good chance Car 17 could close out a second-straight championship by the Sunday of the Gold Coast, two weeks later.
Fabian Coulthard will be the perfect number two
FABIAN has had a much stronger season than he did in 2018 with the Mustang clearly suiting his style.
As a result he’s second in the championship, has won twice and finished second to Mclaughlin on four other occasions.
However, unless he finds between three and five tenths in qualifying, it’s unlikely he’s going to be able to topple McLaughlin in the championship – Scott is just too good over one lap which obviously translates into race results.
Instead, expect Fabian to play the perfect Penske team role and be in a position to get pole if McLaughlin can’t, and to win if McLaughlin can’t and to beat everyone else not in a Red Mustang.
If he does that, he’ll ensure the team win the team’s championship by August, he finishes second in the championship and it will make it very hard for anyone other than he to be in the No. 12 next year.
The fight for third means something
IN a season where there is such crushing domination from one team, being ‘best of the rest’ is small reward and yet a big target for everyone else.
Right now the battle for third place is a cracker with just 70 points covering Shane van Gisbergen in third and Chaz Mostert in sixth. Between them sit David Reynolds and Jamie Whincup.
I think there’s a bit in this. Triple Eight will be keen to beat Erebus to the claim of ‘Best Holden’, while Tickford will be anxious to make the most of what almost everyone says is a superior car and beat all of the Holdens to claim third in the championship. Anything less with such an apparent car advantage will not be looked on kindly. David Reynolds, meanwhile, will just be David Reynolds and do what he usually does. It has the potential to be a cracker.
Bathurst will still be epic
YES, there’s still a good chance that Bathurst is going to turn into a Mustang rout.
And if at least five of them aren’t in the shootout on Saturday, I’ll be very surprised – but I don’t think it’s quite that simple.
Bathurst is such a special place that even those with a significant car advantage have come undone in the past.
Couple that with the fact that Triple Eight have secured probably two of the best ever Bathurst combinations in race history and there’s so much to look forward to.
Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes back together will be sensational and Garth Tander should give Shane van Gisbergen all the ammunition he needs to finally get his first win in the 1000.
That DJR Team Penske felt the need to bring Alex Premat down for a 30-minute session at Winton (with a bonus ride day earlier this week) and Tony D’Alberto stepping up his regular season racing this year, it’s clear there’s already a lot of thought going into October.
..but McLaughlin’s shootout lap will be something to behold
YOU hate to talk these things up before they happen in case they let you down, but there’s little chance of Scott McLaughlin’s Bathurst shootout lap being something other than special this year.
This is a guy and a team regularly qualifying on pole by half-a-second on the shortest laps on the calendar.
What’s he going to do over the longest?
That one lap on a Saturday in October is always pretty special and McLaughlin already has a stunning shootout lap to his credit at Bathurst, but on his form this year 2019 could be something otherworldly. Here’s hoping.
There’s a dire need for some to have a strong second half
THE first half of the year has been good for some but horrible for others.
While Triple Eight’s struggles have been a story this year they’re still third and fifth in the championship so they’re not exactly horrible.
Instead, the second half of the year will be key for teams like Walkinshaw Andretti United, Kelly Racing and Garry Rogers.
KR jagged a podium at Phillip Island but have struggled everywhere else, while the pressure will surely be felt at Walkinshaw who after so much promise last year have gone backwards this season. Winton showed improvement and hopefully that trend continues in the second half of the year.
Meanwhile, the Boost Mobile cars have been nowhere this year and the only way there us up.
Comments