Scott McLaughlin stands by his comments on a racing incident with Shane van Gisbergen in Perth, after he felt the fellow Kiwi had not been respectful on-track.
The young Volvo star called his countryman an “arsehole” and claimed van Gisbergen had given him “the bird” when racing for position at Barbagallo last month.
But McLaughlin believes his words will not effect the pair on-track, as the V8 Supercars field prepares for the weekend’s SKYCITY Triple Crown in Darwin.
Part of the reason for his emotion after the race was that McLaughlin felt his competitor’s behaviour went against a ‘Kiwi code’ that meant the New Zealanders would not hinder each other on-track.
While neither van Gisbergen or third Kiwi in the pack Fabian Coulthard would comment on the incident or the code, McLaughlin is glad he spoke out about his feelings post-race.
“I am not upset with what I said because I felt like it needed to be said,” McLaughlin, who last week turned 21, said.
“I felt it was only fair I said what I thought.
“But I have moved on. I am sure he has too because we shook on it and it’s one of those things.”
While the competitors were back in the pack when the incident occurred, the two are tight in the points race, a difference of just 21 separating sixth placed van Gisbergen and seventh placed McLaughlin in the Championship, with the SKYCITY Triple Crown just days away.
The S60 pilot believes there will be no backlash from the TEKNO driver as they continue their 2014 campaigns.
“I think you have to get on with it and that’s life. Shane and I shook and moved on from it,” McLaughlin said.
“So I don’t expect any retaliation from it.
“All I want to do is go out there and race fair – and that’s all I wanted to do in the first place.”
That’s why he’s not worried about talking about the Kiwi code publicly – for McLaughlin, V8 Supercars is about racing hard, but fair, and good sportsmanship.
“It was always sort of there,” he said of the code.
“(We have) always said we have got to look after each other a bit. It’s just a little thing where the Kiwis sort of looked out for each other, so it’s not a massive thing, it’s just one of those deals – I felt a bit upset about it and I made my feelings known to the bloke and he understands.
“That’s all I can ask.”
McLaughlin scored his first Championship victory in the new-for-2014 Volvo S60 in Perth and is looking to back that up at the SKYCITY Triple Crown in Darwin this weekend.
He told v8supercars.com.au last week his Valvoline GRM team is going to Hidden Valley to win, so the Volvo squad will be pushing hard to improve on last year’s race results of 11th, 27th and eighth.
Starting from the front will help – McLaughlin already has four ARMOR ALL Pole Positions to his name this season, and the best qualifying average in the field – 4.3, ahead of Jamie Whincup (6.1, also with four poles), Championship leader Mark Winterbottom (6.5) and second placed Craig Lowndes (7.3).
Can McLaughlin take his ‘blue beast’ to the Top End and gain another win for Volvo? Stay tuned this weekend – tickets for the event are available now.
