DJR Team Penske driver McLaughlin had a bittersweet day in Sydney on Saturday, where after wrapping up the ARMOR ALL Pole Position award with his 12th pole of the season – continuing a streak of seven poles and 15 front row starts in succession, he lost the lead of the opening race off the start.
However with some good strategy from the team, the young Kiwi soon got the lead back through the pit stops.
However, a late race restart lead to an incident between McLaughlin and Van Gisbergen at turn two, which lead to Scott receiving a 15-second time penalty.
He crossed the line in second place, but dropped to 10th once the penalty was applied.
He continues to lead the Championship by 80 points from Jamie Whincup.
“The car was good, and we pitted early to get track position,” he said. “The safety car wasn't great for us, and the restart was a weird one. We'll have to look at the rule book there. Heading into turn two I made a bad judgement, made an error and got a penalty. When you do the crime, you've got to do the time. The best part about our sport is that I get to have another shot and try again tomorrow.”
Many in pitlane believed that Scott's penalty was too harsh and the matter is still currently under investigation by the stewards with an outcome due sometime later this morning.
