MOTORSPORT: Volvo mounts its challenge

As V8 Supercars now turn to endurance racing over the next couple of months, perhaps it’s time for a moment’s reflection on what’s come out of the super-sprint rounds.

After 28 races this season it’s clear that the newest of the new marques in the sport, Volvo, is the most competitive against the traditional Holdens and Fords.

At least the Volvo S60 in the hands of 21-year-old New Zealander Scott McLaughlin is. A question mark lingers over the long-term future of his Swedish teammate Robert Dhalgren in the other Volvo.

Last year’s newcomers, Nissan Motorsport and Betty Klimenko’s Erebus Mercedes, have made strides – Nissan in particular of late – but are not a match for McLaughlin and the Volvo yet.

McLaughlin started all three races at Sydney Motorsport Park on the front row of the grid and, while Saturday’s two didn’t work out well for him because of a power steering failure and a popped tyre , he did the job on Sunday by winning the 200km feature, albeit only by a car length from Nick Percat’s Holden Commodore.

Despite his youth, McLaughlin has won four times in V8 Supercars – including twice this season now for Volvo.

Holden already has wrapped up its fifth straight manufacturers’ championship and its No 1 driver, Jamie Whincup, is further advanced now towards a record sixth title.

Whincup had clawed his way into the lead over the past couple of months but, having gone to SMP 15 points ahead of Ford’s Mark Winterbottom, came away from the weekend 135 clear.

Whincup’s Triple Eight teammate Craig Lowndes lost ground to him at SMP but is boxing on in third place in the championship and could yet come into his own in enduros.

Shane Van Gisbergen won both 100km sprints on a wet and wild Saturday at SMP, making the round a clean sweep for New Zealand drivers , and is fourth in the championship.

Van Gisbergen was the only driver on the podium twice at the weekend, meaning there were seven other drivers up there – Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander, Lowndes, Ford Performance Racing’s Chaz Mostert, Whincup, McLaughlin, Percat and Brad Jones Racing’s Fabian Coulthard, yet another Kiwi.

That was an indication of the competitiveness of the series, with a nice blend of youth and experience.

Percat’s first podium as a full-time V8 Supercar drive was particularly meritorious. He might have been on the top step had there been another lap on Sunday.

The notable absentee from the SMP podium was Winterbottom, whose latest tilt at a belated first national title has lost momentum. He was in the wars on Sunday in particular, creating mayhem for a couple of other Fords – including teammate David Reynolds – and copping a drive-through penalty for it.

Then a damaged tyre left him a lowly 20th at the end of the day.

Winterbottom is quite a contrast to Whincup, who has the ability to jag plenty of points even when events don’t go well for him. Fourth, third and fifth places was a respectable weekend’s work from Whincup, and he topped Peter Brock’s record for the most pole positions in Australian touring car racing to boot.

HRT’s James Courtney lost two places in the championship at SMP but he was hot on Sunday until a transaxle issue sidelined him.

But, now 337 points off the lead, he’s going to need to have a big endurance season if he is to fulfill his dream of repeating his 2010 title.

The three rounds of the Endurance Cup are the Sandown 500 on September 14, the Bathurst 1000 on October 12 and the Gold Coast 600 on October 25-26.