Podium a big boost for Volvo V8 team, says McLaughlin

The outfit was rocked by news late last week that Volvo will be discontinuing its V8 Supercars programme for next season, leaving GRM’s future beyond 2016 well and truly up in the air.

But McLaughlin rallied to give the team an against-the-odds podium today after qualifying ninth, a bold two-stop strategy and a brilliant middle stint almost seeing the young Kiwi nab victory from Mark Winterbottom.

According to McLaughlin, the podium finish was important for the team and left Rogers rather emotional.

“It’s been a tough week for everyone,” said McLaughlin. “It was time for us we stood up, and for me and James Moffat to be the leaders of the team.

“That was my goal for the weekend, and we had a really good result for the whole team and stuck up a few people.

“It’s pretty cool when you see your boss at the end of the race in tears, pretty much. That’s a pretty cool feeling, you feel like you’ve done a good job.

“When we walked into the track on Thursday, a lot of the guy’s heads were down and it was kind of an awkward situation – because no one knows really what’s ahead.

“But when Garry and Barry [Rogers] got us together said ‘we’re going to press on’, that lifts everyone.”

Made the move too early

McLaughlin also admitted that his decision to go for the lead at the end of the penultimate lap, not the final lap, is what cost him a genuine chance of overhauling Winterbottom.

“I wish I didn’t have a go at Turn 7. I got too excited and thought I was going to have a run,” he said.

“When I got to [Winterbottom] I thought ‘my tyres are gone as well’, and if I could get him on the second-last lap it would help me more.

“But I went too early and stuffed it.

“All in all, second is a great result for us.”