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Coulthard says Tasmania crucial to Penske form

The next round of the Supercars series in Tasmania will provide the best indication yet of where form team DJR Team Penske really stands in relation to Triple Eight, says Fabian Coulthard.

Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Ford, Fabian Coulthard, Team Penske Ford

Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Ford, Fabian Coulthard, Team Penske Ford

DJR Team Penske

Podium: winner Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Ford, second place Fabian Coulthard, Team Penske Ford
Fabian Coulthard, Team Penske Ford
Fabian Coulthard, Team Penske Ford, Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Fabian Coulthard, Team Penske Ford
Fabian Coulthard, Team Penske Ford
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Ford, Fabian Coulthard, Team Penske Ford
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Ford
Fabian Coulthard, Team Penske Ford

The US/Australian owned squad has emerged as a key player this season, building on a solid opening weekend in Adelaide by taking three wins at the non-championship round at Albert Park, Scott McLaughlin with one and Coulthard with two.

With Adelaide and Albert Park having been strong tracks for the DJRTP Fords last season as well, Tasmania is looming as a real litmus test for the team. The Symmons Plains round was a poor one 12 months ago – Coulthard’s eighth on the Sunday the only single-digit result from the entire weekend – and the Kiwi says an improved showing this time around would show the progress the team has made.

“That was one of our worst rounds last year, so we’ll have to see,” Coulthard told Motorsport.com.

“We’ve got some more information about this package now, and how it likes to be run, and we’ll continue to be learning all year.

“Hopefully we can get to Tassie and roll it out somewhere close, and be able to fine tune it from there.

“We can only go off what we’ve done off the previous events [in 2017], and hope we can do the same there.”

While the Albert Park wins didn’t count in terms of the championship, Coulthard added that the three pole positions and two race victories were a real confidence boost after a tough 2016.

“It was a tough year last year,” he said.

“To be able to bounce back and have a pretty good year to date, it’s awesome for my confidence. It doesn’t just restore my confidence, but it restores all the faith to the team. It’s all worth it.

“We’ve gone to three tracks now and we’ve been competitive. Albert Park might be a non-championship event, but it’s nice to go well in front of a big crowd

“We still need to work hard, but it’s promising.”

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