MOTORSPORT: McLaughlin and Mustang dominate

Scott McLaughlin ticked almost every box he could in Adelaide at the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship (VASC) opener, delivering two wins and a pole position for the new Ford Mustang.

Celebrating his 200th Supercars race start on Sunday, the McLaughlin departs Adelaide with the points lead ahead of arch-rival Shane van Gisbergen, who achieved two third places in his Red Bull HRT Holden Commodore ZB.

Finishing between them in the two races were van Gisbergen’s team-mate Jamie Whincup on Saturday and Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters in a Monster Mustang on Sunday.

With McLaughlin’s team-mate Fabian Coulthard snaring the Saturday pole, it was a clean sweep of the lead positions for the new Mustang and the DJR Team Penske operation.

There is no doubt this result will make louder the Holden and Nissan teams grumbles about the new Mustang, because all six examples in the field looked fast at some stage or another of the four days.

Red Bull Holden boss, Roland Dane voiced his concerns in a television interview after the lead Shell V-Power Mustang driver’s dominant performance in race two.

Along with Mclaughlin and the Mustang’s domination of the weekend, the heat was the other big story.

The drivers endured 250km in 40-degree plus ambient conditions on Saturday and then 30-plus degrees in a race slightly shortened because track repairs delayed the start on Sunday.