McLaughlin equals Whincup’s 2014 pole record

V8 Supercars

V8 Supercars6:42pm 7 December 2014

20141207-_E5R2231

Young gun Scott McLaughlin nabbed pole by just 0.03sec and earns himself $10,000 in the process at the Sydney NRMA 500.

Before the session, the Volvo driver had recorded nine pole positions for the season, while champion elect Jamie Whincup sat on 10. If the two tied, ARMOR ALL would also award McLaughlin the prize money today.

Spots of rain threatened during his warm up lap, but McLaughlin created some magic with his 1min28.313 lap around the 3.42km circuit.

From there he could only wait through the following qualifying runs – which included some of the best in the business with Garth Tander, Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen ahead. All previous race winners on the savage Sydney street track and all showing tremendous speed this weekend.

McLaughlin sat through seven laps – two aborted due to kerb hops with David Reynolds and Whincup unexpectedly not recording a fast lap.

The uncharacteristic error for the Champion elect was a huge relief for McLaughiln – but Tander came breathtakingly close, just 0.03sec away.

Van Gisbergen also pushed the limits but could only manage third behind the Holden Racing Team Commodore, leaving McLaughlin in the box seat and awarded the ARMOR ALL $1000 for today’s pole and $10,000 for the year’s effort.

“I’m so pumped, it was awesome – we’ve got a race to go yet but to equal Jamie, the champ, is great,” McLaughlin said.

Tander starts alongside, with van Gisbergen and James Courtney on the second row, and Mark Winterbottom, Rick Kelly, Scott Pye, Chaz Mostert, Reynolds and Whincup filling out the top 10.

Click here for full Top 10 Shootout results.

Click here for full qualifying results.

The year’s final race, the 250km run around the streets of Sydney, kicks off at 3.40pm local time.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

McLaughlin shakes down new S60 chassis

8:56am 14 April 2015

V8 Supercars
0

Wilson security grm’s scott mclaughlin completed an encouraging shakedown of his new volvo s60 chassis at winton motor raceway…  More >

Striking new look for DJR Team Penske at Perth

7:58pm 10 April 2015

V8 Supercars
0

Djr team penske has announced its first major partnership with a penske-affiliated company with the unveiling of the team’s…  More >

V8 Supercars offers up REC for tender

6:07pm 10 April 2015

V8 Supercars
0

The v8 supercars championship is widely regarded as one of the best and most entertaining motorsport categories in the…  More >

Prodrive: FG X can win the Championship

9:07am 8 April 2015

V8 Supercars
0

There’s more speed to come! that’s the message from prodrive racing australia (pra), which after three 2015 v8 supercars events…  More >

Volvo expect solution to engine dramas this week

9:18am 7 April 2015

V8 Supercars
0

The engine failures that have blighted wilson security racing grm and scott mclaughlin’s start to the 2015 v8 supercars…  More >

Courtney not stressed after losing V8SC points lead

3:13pm 31 March 2015

V8 Supercars
0

21-James_Courtney_-_Race_6

James courtney described an early championship lead as a luxury and wasn’t concerned about losing the top spot to…  More >

RACE COUNTDOWN

Indycars

Round 3

Toyota Grand Prix, Long Beach, 19 April

Moto GP

Round 3

Gran Premio de Argentina, Santiago del Estero, 19 April

Indycars

Round 4

Honda Indy Grand Prix, Alabama, 26 April

NZV8

Round 6

Pukekohe Park Racewa, 26 April

V8 Supercars

Round 3

Perth 400, 3 May

  • Latest story comments

  • CRC Motornews poll

    Which Kiwi will be the top driver in 2015 V8 Supercars?

      View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...
  • Newsletter icon

    Get the latest motorsport news delivered to your inbox