SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN
THE FLYING KIWI IMAGES Supercars, DJR Team Penske, Peter Norton
After a heartbreaking championship loss in 2017, Scott McLaughlin bounced back with a run of three championship wins between 2018 and 2020. Of those titles, the 2019 was the most dominant. This is the story of that campaign.
t 26 years of age, Scott McLaughlin hit the peak of his powers in 2019. The New Zealander seemed destined for Supercars stardom, from making his debut in the Dunlop Super2 Series as a baby-faced 16-year-old in 2010 to winning races in his first full-time season in the Supercars main game in 2013 to finishing in the top 10 of the championship in each of his full-time seasons, having won races across two teams, four different cars and three manufacturers. The move to DJR Team Penske in 2017 and the partnership with engineer Ludo Lacroix elevated him to the next level, leading to the record-breaking run of 2019 that saw him win a second consecutive championship and the Bathurst 1000 for the first time. This is the story of his season, the key players and the factors in his success. 18
THE TEAM
McLaughlin’s second title marked the first consecutive championship defeat for Triple Eight Race Engineering since the start of its dominant run in 2008. The rise of DJR Team Penske is incredible when put in the context of the near demise of Dick Johnson Racing in the 2012-2013 off-season. While many point to the arrival of Team Penske as majority owners in 2014 as the salvation for Dick Johnson’s team, it was in fact the work of Ryan Story which saved the team and had it in a position where it was a worthwhile investment for the likes of Team Penske. DJR Team Penske had been on the rise ever since, despite scaling back to one car for its first season in 2015 and the initial setback of Marcos Ambrose stepping down after just two rounds. What followed was a concerted rebuild to inject new life into what had become of Dick Johnson Racing, with steady gains
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15/06/2023 9:46:49 AM
