DJRTP to ‘move on quickly’ after McLaughlin-Coulthard clash

Shell V-Power Racing expects to quickly put the clash between its drivers Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard behind them with the matter ‘sorted out’ after Race 13.

The Supercars Championship’s top two made contact at Turn 5 on the opening lap of Saturday’s race at Winton while fighting over second spot.

McLaughlin received a touch from Coulthard, sending both Mustangs off the road.

Coulthard rejoined at the rear of the field and copped a 15 second penalty for the contact while McLaughlin went through the infield, returning before Turn 9 in accordance with the rules.

McLaughlin went on to claim his ninth win of the season while Coulthard recovered to 15th spot.

Team managing director Ryan Story discussed the incident with both drivers after Saturday’s race to reiterate what is expected of them.

“I’ve spoken to both drivers, we’ll move on, and we’ll move on quickly,” Story told Speedcafe.com.

“To be honest, we sorted it out before the podium.

“You never like having days like the one we had today (Saturday).

“You still take the wins when you can get them, and we’ll bounce back and regroup to come out strong again.”

Initially, Coulthard questioned his team-mate’s controversial shortcut, which went unpenalised by the stewards, although he admitted post-race that he had broken the team’s policy by causing the contact with McLaughlin.

“I think when you can replay moments over and over you can get a much better analysis of things, but we as drivers operate in an environment where you have to make decisions in split seconds,” said Coulthard.

“We have to make decisions in those moments, and sometimes if you could hit the rewind button, you would.

“You never want to hit your team-mate, and I’ve put my hand up to apologise.

“Our policy is that we don’t hit each other, and today (Saturday) I broke that policy.

“The good news is that we have a fast car, we’re a great team and we’ll be back to fight again

McLaughlin says he has no hard feelings with his team-mate following the clash.

“The seas pretty much parted for me all the way to Turn 4 and I got around the outside of Fabian and then we came together at Turn 5, and I was off and across the grass,” said McLaughlin.

“We’ve talked about it, and it’s all good – no hard feelings.

“We’re professionals, and we’re ready to go again.

“It was a split-second decision, not something we want to see but we recovered well in the end.”

The Truck Assist Winton SuperSprint concludes today with a 200km race scheduled for 1345 local time/AEST.