It wasn’t that long ago when the Repco Bathurst 1000 welcomed two first time winners to the top step of the podium being only five years since New Zealander Scott McLaughlin and Frenchman Alex Premat took the flag.
The 2019 Bathurst 1000 was controversial, but also welcomed the first win for Dick Johnson Racing at the Mountain for 25 years and the maiden success for Team Penske as the Queensland-based operation was still aligned with the legendary American multi-discipline squad.
McLaughlin led the championship standings heading into the event although this didn’t matter as the only target was a victory at Mount Panorama.
Announcing his intentions early, McLaughlin was quick throughout the practice sessions to a record mark, which he again bettered on Friday leading into qualifying.
Continuing this form into qualifying was academic for McLaughlin as he bought a wave of momentum and expectation to the Top 10 Shootout.
However, McLaughlin delivered by dominating the Shootout as he was the last to set his lap, a stunning 2m 03.378s. This was a whopping 0.411s faster than Tickford Racing’s Chaz Mostert.
McLaughlin and Premat dominated the race, but were added when teammate Fabian Coulthard backed up the field as a safety car period was required to recover the stricken James Hinchcliffe/Alexander Rossi Walkinshaw Andretti United Wildcard ZB Commodore.
This prevented a double-stack for DJR Team Penske and delayed many other contenders considerably.
McLaughlin and Premat crossed to win, but it was controversial to say the least. It was revealed post-race Coulthard had operated under team orders and DJR Team Penske was fined $200,000 ($100,000 of it suspended) and 300 points in the Teams’ Championship.
Further more, DJR Team Penske was fined a further $30,000 when it was discovered the valve lift in a number of cylinder exceeded the maximum permitted also disqualifying McLaughlin from not qualifying, but the Top 10 Shootout. This means his laps failed to count.
McLaughlin and Premat retained the win, but it proved a controversial Bathurst 1000 for two first time winners.