Scotty McLaughlin has celebrated the arrival of Wilson Security as naming rights sponsor of the factory Volvo Polestar Racing for 2015 by claiming ARMOR ALL pole position for this afternoon’s 300km race at the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600.
The young Volvo S60 driver has now tied Red Bull ace Jamie Whincup for eight poles this year and is determined to come out on top of that battle.
Next year though, he hopes the added financial support Wilson Security will mean he will be racing Whincup and co for the drivers’ championship.
“Valvoline has been a great supporter of us this year, but I think Wilson Security coming onboard adds that extra punch to our team and hopefully we can develop more parts more quickly,” McLaughlin told v8supercars.com.au.
“I think we have a real good shot at the championship next year, which would be a dream come true for me, so hopefully I can do it.”
McLaughlin was delighted to grab pole in the dying moments for Race 32, pipping Whincup who will start behind him in position two.
“I was stoked because there was a lot of pressure to do that time at the stage because I knew I only had one lap,” he said. “I just made sure I got though the first turn and once we did that it was good, I just put my head down and I was away.”
Yesterday the #33 Valvoline Volvo started second on the grid with McLaughlin at the wheel, but the strategy backfired because a safety car fell at an inopportune time and meant co-driver Alex Premat spent too many laps behind the wheel.
After issues at both Sandown and Bathurst, McLaughlin and Premat’s hopes of claiming silverware – or in this case a surfboard – during the Pirtek Enduro Cup come down to this afternoon’s race.
“We have been close a lot over the whole enduro season and in some ways luck hasn’t gone our way,” said McLaughlin. “Hopefully today is our day but we can’t start any better than this. So whatever happens happens.”
He is sticking by his promise made earlier this weekend to go surfing with his prize if he finishes on the rostrum: I’ll do it tonight on the way home,” he laughed.
McLaughlin said the 17 psi mandated soft tyre minimum had helped the race-winning potential of the Volvo because it had impacted other teams who were more aggressive running lower pressures earlier in the season.
“Degradation hasn’t been as bad for us because we haven’t been as confident to run lower pressures,” McLaughlin said. “We were worse on the softer tyre and this has brought us closer to the pack.”
