Scott McLaughlin upped his preparations for his maiden car night race by logging laps under lights in a go kart ahead of this weekend’s Red Rooster Sydney SuperNight 300.
The championship leader regularly drives his kart to keep himself race sharp but elected to run at night to help adjust to the conditions he will face at Sydney Motorsport Park when night racing returns to Supercars.
McLaughlin has limited experience of competing at night having only raced the conditions in karts previously.
While night racing in a Supercar will be a new challenge, the 25-year-old feels the run out at the Ipswich Kart Club circuit at the weekend was beneficial.
“I always go out in my go kart all the time but I guess the track was open to go out at night,” McLaughlin told Speedcafe.com.
“It was nice to go out and drive around at night. It is probably not the best lit track too so it was nice to adjust your eyes.
“You always get some benefit out of kart but in a kart everything happens so fast. It is a lot slower in a V8 which is kind of weird.
“A lot of the guys use karting as part of their preparation. It was nice to get some laps under the lights.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s 300km race, McLaughlin says he feels prepared for all eventualities the Sydney SuperNight will provide.
“To be honest I’m really excited,” he added.
“I’m excited because I feel prepared.
“There are going be a few different things that are going to come up as the weekend goes on.
“We will have to make changes on the run but it is going to be an awesome spectacle for the sport and as a driver and I’m looking forward to grabbing it with both hands.”
McLaughlin holds a 131 point lead over Shane van Gisbergen (Red Bull Holden Racing Team) heading into a weekend which offers a whopping 300 points to the race winner.
While admitting it is a race that he cannot afford to retire from, he is not prepared to change his approach.
“Obviously it is one of those races that you need to finish which is like every race but especially this one. I have just got to go out and do the normal thing,” McLaughlin added.
“There is no point putting any more emphasis on anything but if we tick all the boxes and prepare as well as we can there is not much else we can do.”
The Sydney SuperNight begins on Friday with a practice session held under lights at 1800 AEST.
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