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Scott McLaughlin
Scott McLaughlin said he was thrilled to win the first Ford Mustang victory at the Supercars Championship in front of the top-ranked Ford Performance in the United States.
Ford Performance World Director Mark Rushbrook and Chief Aerodynamicist Sriram Pakkam were in Adelaide to witness McLaughlin's victory at the meeting.
His performance marked the first victory of the new car, and the first time that a Mustang has won a competition of Australian passenger cars for more than three decades.
Along with its introduction to Supercars, Ford also introduced the Mustang into the NASCAR Cup competition, where Brad Keselowski earned his first Penske win in Atlanta last weekend.
"I said NASCAR guys had taken the second week to get it (win with the Mustang), so I said we would do it from the first," McLaughlin joked.
"I just hoped that my words would hold up and I felt really good to have it today.
"It was my first win here and I was so happy. The crowd is just amazing. I was so pumped. "
His victory announces solid, allowing him to take the lead at the opening chicane after running three in front at the same time as Fabian Coulthard and Jamie Whincup.
McLaughlin and Coulthard, his teammate of Shell V-Power Racing, then controlled the first laps before the latter was given a penalty of 10 seconds for an accelerated departure.
"I felt pretty well converted – I just had to pick the middle or the left, I left left," McLaughlin said of his departure.
"I was just hoping they would not keep trying to shop around because I could not really stop myself too well."
The 2018 Supercars champion believes that, without penalty, Coulthard, who had recovered the sixth rank, would have proved to be a powerful contender on the podium.
"He probably would have opted for another strategy to end the double stack," McLaughlin said.
"I'm glad I took the track position fast enough. It was somehow my goal.
"I knew we were a little short of (tire) pressure because that's still how we ride with him, and he covered me for two laps before stalling a bit later."
Once informed by Coulthard's penalty team, McLaughlin simply managed the gap with Whincup, finally taking the race with just under 13 seconds.
Shane van Gisbergen took third place in the Red Bull Holden Racing Team's second Commodore and three Mustang trios ranked among Blue Oval's top six representatives in the top 10.
The second race of the Superloop 500 will take place at 3:20 pm local time after a 20-minute Armor All qualifying session and the Top 10 Shootout earlier in the day.
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