MOTORSPORT: McLaughlin-Penske move confirmed

Rising Supercars star Scott McLaughlin’s signing by DJR Team Penske has been confirmed this morning.

The move and timing of the announcement was exclusively predicted last Thursday by motoringcom.au – and emphatically denied by DJRTP boss Ryan Story at the time.

McLaughlin will join DJRTP from Garry Rogers Motorsport from 2017 on what is assuredly a lucrative multi-year deal, replacing fellow young gun Scott Pye in the team alongside fellow New Zealander Fabian Coulthard.

The release confirms McLaughlin in the seat of the '#17 Ford' -- the first time DJRTP has publicly referred to what cars it will enter in 2017. It currently races Falcon FG Xs.

This morning’s statement is lacking in much detail. However, there will be a media phone hook-up late this afternoon at which McLaughlin and team management will speak.

McLaughlin, 23, is the key signing of the 2016 driver market and had been tipped for months to shift to the team now owned by US motor racing mogul Roger Penske and in which local legend Dick Johnson still has a share.

“We have watched Scott closely over the last few seasons and have admired his talent and his ability to get the best results out of his car week in and week out,” said Roger Penske in this morning’s statement.

“As we continue to raise the level of performance at DJR Team Penske we believe he will be a key addition to our Team on and off the track.”

McLaughlin was quoted as saying: “This is a great opportunity for me to join one of the most accomplished Supercar teams in history and, hopefully, we can continue to grow together.

“I want to thank two absolute motorsport legends in Dick Johnson and Roger Penske for believing in me.  I’m really excited about the future with the organisation.”

Johnson was also quoted: “There’s no question that Scott McLaughlin is one of the top drivers in the series and we’re excited to bring him aboard at DJR Team Penske.

“With the combination of McLaughlin and Coulthard we look forward to chasing race wins next season in what really is the most competitive touring cars series in the world.”

The timing of the announcement is earlier than expected. Story had previously insisted Pye would be given until Bathurst to prove his talent to the team and keep his seat.

But signing McLaughlin is in keeping with DJRTP’s drive for the top in Australia, which has seen it scoop up the best drivers and engineers available, once it overcame the false start of selecting Marcos Ambrose to drive for the team when it debuted last year.

McLaughlin, along with Prodrive young gun Chaz Mostert, is the superstar of his generation and is almost certainly a future champion of the category. But he matches prodigious talent with an outgoing character that has made him immensely popular with the public.

His veteran engineer at GRM, Richard Hollway, worked with a young Craig Lowndes and has spoken publicly of McLaughlin’s similarities with the greatest modern star of Australian tin-top racing.

McLaughlin is the winner of 10 Supercars races since he debuted in 2013 and runs third in the 2016 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He has only ever raced full-time at the senior level for Garry Rogers Motorsport, after his first year in privateer Holden Commodores and the last three seasons in factory backed Volvo S60s.

Rogers, the motor racing veteran who celebrated his 50th year in competition in 2015, always faced a tough task holding on to McLaughlin beyond the end of his contract and those chances – if they still existed – would have been snuffed out when Volvo announced its withdrawal from supercars racing in May.

Nevertheless, it will not have been an easy decision for McLaughlin, even though the Penske deal will deliver him a far higher wage and perhaps eventually a shot at NASCAR in the USA, a category he has previously expressed an interest in contesting.

McLaughlin is very close to Rogers and Hollway and many other members of the team. He even worked full-time at the team’s Dandenong shop in 2013 to finish off his welding apprenticeship.

With this new deal it’s unlikely McLaughlin will have to go on the tools any time soon.