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Garry Rogers Motorsport’s Scott McLaughlin and Alexandre Premat believe they can take the fight to leading teams at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 after securing spots in the Top 10 Shootout.
The Victorian squad starred in the dying seconds of qualifying with McLaughlin finishing ninth and Frenchman Premat producing arguably his best performance in a V8 Supercar by grabbing the final spot for the Shootout.
The pace shown by the duo has seen them emerge as outside bets to star in Sunday’s 1000km epic.
The last and only time the team won The Great Race was back in 2000 with Garth Tander and Jason Bargwanna.
McLaughlin, who has already recorded two victories in his debut V8 Supercars season, admitted that making the Shootout has ticked off one of his career goals.
The 20-year-old is already looking ahead to the race, hoping to issue a surprise on Sunday.
“It’s huge to make it into the Top 10 Shootout and it means a lot for all the boys at GRM,” he told Speedcafe.com.
“It’s just an incredible feeling and if there was one thing I wanted to tick off after getting a couple of wins, it was getting into the shootout at Bathurst.
“I think we can challenge Red Bull in the shootout and the race. They are very fast and its a credit to them but anything can happen at Bathurst so we will see how we go.
“I think the Car of the Future is a lot more nimble and its catching a lot of people out and especially some of the older guys. I mean for me I’m used to it.
“I like a little bit of a sliding car and touch wood we won’t come unstuck.
“If I can win Bathurst I will be doing some crazy things for sure. For the race I’m happy with where the car is. For the shootout I’m going to give it a good hard go and see what happens.”
Securing a place in the Top 10 for Premat is a much needed boost for the former DTM driver after a difficult second season in V8 Supercars
Although with the amount of accidents that have beset the new generation V8 Supercars this weekend, the 31-year-old understands how easy it is to throw away the race with a crash in the shootout.
“It’s a real boost for me. We’ve worked pretty hard on the car since we’ve arrived and I think I could have gone maybe one or two tenths quicker,” he said.
“The car has been brilliant and its been really tough this year at times and even if you are a good driver you cannot come into V8 Supercars and be quick all the time.
“We have to be wary and part of the shootout will be about bringing the car home.
“It’s really easy to clip the walls here. I will do my best and in qualifying I was on the limit and I will attack in the shootout but be cautious too.
“The race pace is really good. I don’t want to say that we will be in the top five but I am sure we have the speed to finish in the top 10 in the race. “That is our goal. A top five finish in the race would be awesome.”
