MOTORSPORT: Ford Mustangs hit the wall

What was intended as a triumphal march for Ford on the Gold Coast last weekend instead proved trouble came in twos; two wrecked Supercars, two banged-up drivers and two 1-2 wins for the Holden factory team.

And all watched live by a member of the Ford family, Edsel Ford II.

The upshot is both the driver’s championship and the team’s championship are still alive, the former still tilted heavily in Scott Mclaughlin’s favour, the latter now only narrowly led by his team, DJR Team Penske, as the championship heads for the Sandown 500 in two weeks.

McLaughlin was the second of two Ford drivers to destroy his Mustang on the Gold Coast, pin-balling in Sunday morning qualifying from one concrete wall to the other on the front straight in a 43g 200km/h impact that left the car on its side, a shock absorber on a trackside balcony and the driver in hospital for precautionary checks.

“That was the biggest shunt of my career, and it’s testament to the work put into these cars that I was able to walk away,” the Bathurst winner said in a statement issued by the team.

“Because of the size of the crash, I had to go to hospital and have a few tests, but I’ve been given the all clear so now I’m looking forward to getting back on track again.

“I’m really sorry to my team. They’re going to have to put in some hard yards over the next week or so to get us ready for Sandown, but they are the best in the business so I’m sure we’ll be good as new in two weeks.”

On Saturday it had been fastest qualifier Chaz Mostert in the Tickford Mustang getting it all wrong at the 90-degree Turn 11 in his top 10 run, grazing the inside wall and cannoning straight into the outside barrier in a 30g impact.

“I’m gutted for the team. I didn’t have a great lap going to be honest, and just made a small mistake, but that’s all it takes to have a big one here,” said Mostert, who also escaped serious injury.

With those two cars out of contention, the way was left open for the factory Triple Eight Holdens to dominate.

On Saturday it was Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes leading home Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander. On Sunday they swapped that order to maximise van Gisbergen’s shot at the driver’s championship.

On Saturday McLaughlin and Premat had followed the Holdens home in third, at that stage playing it safe with the title within close reach. On Sunday it was David Reynolds and carsales.com.au’s Luke Youlden chasing hard and completing the first all-Holden podium of 2019 in the Erebus Commodore.

McLaughlin now leads fellow Kiwi van Gisbergen by 463 points in the driver’s championship with up to 600 points still available, but DJRTP’s teams’ championship lead has shrunk to just 132 points with more than 1000 points still available.

While van Gisbergen, who leapt from his car to rush to McLaughlin’s aid after the accident, is dismissing his driver’s championship chances, there’s no doubt Triple Eight is desperate to defend the team title it currently holds.

It would deliver some silverware to a team that’s been thoroughly trounced through much of the year by the DJRTP Mustangs and also inflict further punishment to the Ford team for the Bathurst safety car manipulation which affected the chances of victory of a bunch of cars led by van Gisbergen and Tander.

At Sandown, McLaughlin will race a brand-new car the team has started building for him, while Mostert will be in a spare car.