MOTORSPORT: Ford Mustang and Holden Commodore split Supercars wins

A rare victory for Brad Jones Racing and Nick Percat was the undoubted feel-good highlight of Supercars’ return to racing at Sydney Motorsport Park over the weekend.

Otherwise it was normal service at the top of the podium, with defending two-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin winning two races in his DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang as the category returned to action following a three-month lay-off forced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With three qualifying sessions and 32-lap sprints on the high-wear track surface requiring judicious management of five sets of tyres, Percat and BJR got it just right in race two early on Sunday afternoon, charging forward from sixth on the grid to claim victory.

It was the Holden Commodore ZB driver’s first win since the Adelaide 500 in 2016 and the first for the team since Winton the same year.

Sadly, the TV-only meeting meant no live fans watched the drama and team owners, Brad and Kim Jones, couldn’t be on hand because of tight limits on crew numbers at the track.

The key to victory was decision to swap four tyres at race two’s one mandatory pit stop, which enabled Percat to run down factory Holden Racing Team driver Jamie Whincup, who had only swapped two tyres.

“I had a great car all weekend and felt strong and confident to push it to the limit,” said Percat. “The team and I have been working very hard throughout the time off so it feels bloody good to finally get this win.”

Percat’s move denied victory for the seven-time champion Whincup in his 500th race. But it was his own 200th start so it was still a milestone result.

McLaughlin held off Whincup’s team-mate Shane van Gisbergen for the win on Saturday afternoon with Whincup third. McLaughlin also completed the podium in the second race.

In the third race of the weekend, he was chased home by Tickford Racing’s Lee Holdsworth, the Ford Mustang driver benefitting from fresh tyres to pass 11 cars in just seven laps. Whincup again completed the podium.

McLaughlin, who also claimed two of three poles across the weekend, now has a 49-point championship lead over Whincup with Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden driver Chaz Mostert in third place a further 93 points back.

Pre-season title favourite van Gisbergen has climbed to eighth place in the points, but was never a victory threat on Sunday.

“We probably could have made some better decisions with strategy, but it is what it is,” said van Gisbergen.

“Overall, it’s just great to be back racing. I think the rules we have around tyres makes things interesting and makes the racing itself really good.”

Mind you, on Saturday van Gisbergen had complained about the amount of turbulence the aerodynamics of the cars were generating and how difficult it was making passing – never an easy task in this category.

It was a comment endorsed by other drivers, including McLaughlin’s team-mate Fabian Coulthard.

“This year is the worst it's been,” he said. “It's so hard to follow. It's pretty much follow the leader, which for me is not enjoyable. Adelaide was the same.

“Hopefully we can sort something out, because obviously the fans want to see racing manoeuvres being made. Admittedly towards the end of the race when, with the tyre deg, there is some discrepancies between the cars there is some passing.

“But I feel like we should be able to have that sort of passing at any time in the race to spice things up.”

Supercars cut aero performance by about 12 per cent in the off-season and has committed to further downforce reductions with the new Gen3 tech rules due for introduction in 2022.

Supercars will be back in action with another TV-only meeting at Winton in Victoria in three weeks. The tyre rules there have been further spiced up by allowing teams the choice of both soft and hard compounds.

Supercars driver 2020 series points
1. Scott McLaughlin  574
2. Jamie Whincup 525
3. Chaz Mostert 432