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Supercars star Scott McLaughlin wears his heart on his sleeve in his first major published interview in his new position as a DJR Team Penske driver.
After spending his four full-time seasons in the main Supercars Championship Series with the colourful Garry Rogers Motorsport squad, McLaughlin has found himself in every boy racer’s dream job.
Driving for Team Penske has become a dream come true for McLaughlin.
Icing the move to the Australian/American organisation is the fact that he will be at the helm of the #17 Falcon, one of the most coveted numbers in domestic motorsport made famous by co-team owner Dick Johnson.
As the 2016 Barry Sheene Medallist, the equivalent of a best and fairest, McLaughlin was third in the Championship fight in a David and Goliath battle against Brisbane’s Red Bull squad.
He now moves to a team on the rise and one equipped with all the resources to supply him, in time, with a maiden series title.
McLaughlin opens up to Speedcafe.com Editor-in-Chief Gordon Lomas on what it means to become a member of arguably the most successful motor racing organisation in the world.
SPEEDCAFE: With respect to the Melbourne team, clearly going from GRM to DJR Team Penske is akin to going from one extreme to the other in terms of how the teams operate. What was your reaction when you strolled into the Queensland team’s headquarters for the first time?
McLAUGHLIN: Just going into the place and seeing how things are set out was eye-opening. GRM did some great things for what we had. I felt like we punched above our weight a lot.
And they have done that for many years in the business.
Jumping into DJR Team Penske the resources are there to go big and really contest championships in the future.
We understand how much work is ahead but we all know the goal for Roger and Dick and everyone else and that’s to win races and championships in the future.
As you walk into the place you can see that is the focus with everyone.
They all know there is a good thing that is going on and it’s going to be great to be a part of it.
SPEEDCAFE: You’ve been to the shop and met the workforce. Has it been sorted out who is going to engineer you?
McLAUGHLIN: It’s all sort of up in the air at this stage. We’ve got a bunch of guys there who are awesome and they work together really well.
That will sort itself out in the near future. I’m leaving that up to Ryan (Story) and Tim Cindric. Tim will be out here soon.
I’m comfortable with the people who are there. They are a great bunch who get along well.
SPEEDCAFE: There is a strong indication that you will be reunited with Alex Premat for the Pirtek Enduro Cup this year which you have requested, is that correct?
McLAUGHLIN: It hasn’t been signed off on yet. But I have requested that Alex be my co-driver. He is my first choice as a co-driver. I know him well but until that dotted line is signed I haven’t yet got anyone.
Obviously Campbell (Matt) has been signed at Red Bull so we will have to move pretty quick.
SPEEDCAFE: What is so attractive about Premat being your co-driver?
McLAUGHLIN: He’s someone who is fast and he also knows his job. He has forgotten about the main series ride and finally let that go.
Alex was pretty gutted when he lost his full-time ride at GRM but he quickly accepted that the best way to stay in the series is to just be a solid co-driver.
For me, he was the fastest co-driver last year.
He has always been really fast. He always raised his game around the enduro time.
I think a lot of people forget about his background that he has raced a lot of open wheelers and prototypes as well.
SPEEDCAFE: What is the goal for 2017? Is it realistic that you can challenge Red Bull for that Championship?
McLAUGHLIN: I’m a racer and I want to challenge for the championship but you’ve got to be realistic and to be honest, I just want to get in the car and get a feel for everything and see where we are at.
It would be stupid not to aim for that but I think we’ve got to be realistic of where we are at the moment.
We need to get on the track and see what gains if any we have made in the off-season but I’m pretty confident we have made some.
It’s not just making the gains in the off-season, it’s making the gains across the season and that’s what Triple Eight and Prodrive a few years back were very good at.
Just keep developing the cars to go faster and faster and that’s probably one area we lacked at GRM.
SPEEDCAFE: There’s a degree of reset with the whole field this year in relation to the new tyre construction coming into play. So that has the potential to shuffle the pecking order.
McLAUGHLIN: Yes that’s another thing that everyone must learn from the start. There’s no data and it will be a learning exercise for all teams at every track.
I just want to get in the car. I know I can drive it as fast as I can and I’m confident I can challenge for race wins and whatever.
I’m going to have a new engineer, new team-mate, new partners and everything is new to me.
So until I get in the car I’m not going to set a goal and see where I’m at.
SPEEDCAFE: When is your first time likely to be turning laps in the #17 DJRTP Ford?
McLAUGHLIN: Potentially at the all-in test day in February. But the team is talking about a ride day before that so I’m not 100 percent sure at this stage.
SPEEDCAFE: At Clipsal, is another famous ‘f… yeah’ moment on the cards?
McLAUGHLIN: Haha. It would be nice but I’m a bit more mature now. That definitely changed my life but when you are a Penske driver there’s a certain way about how you conduct yourself.
There’s a certain standard you need to maintain and I also want to be myself.
But I understand that this is probably one of the more important times of my career so I need to strap the belts on and get on with it.
SPEEDCAFE: What is your interpretation of what the ‘Penske way’ is?
McLAUGHLIN: Roger has got a standard with his business partners and how his business works with them.
So I feel the Penske way is clean-cut, shaven, good presentation, tucked in shirt the whole deal.
You can see it with all the crew. It is the only team in pitlane that runs tucked-in shirts and I don’t mind it. I think it’s a cool thing.
It is the image that a brand would want to be a part of.
There is a process for everything and it is just so organised.
It will probably teach me how to represent myself a bit better as well.
Everyone knows how I act and how I conduct my interviews and I sort of wear my heart on my sleeve.
I’ve told Tim (Cindric, Ryan (Story), Dick (Johnson) and even Roger (Penske) that is how I act and I feel if I act any other way I will be turning into someone that is not myself.
So really I feel more comfortable in that state.
SPEEDCAFE: It is a big shift in how GRM operates publicly. The two teams really are polar opposites.
McLAUGHLIN: Yes absolutely and there is nothing negative about that. I have to thank Garry (Rogers) who was the one who taught me to wear my heart on my sleeve and just to be myself in front of the camera.
In 2013 when I started in the main game full-time, during all my interviews I was quite nervous even though I’d done a bit of media training here and there.
But I didn’t really know my place until I started being just me.
There was a lot of good things to come out of GRM but the thing that really stuck with me was just to be myself and people appreciate that.
SPEEDCAFE: Have you been to Penske’s sprawling race headquarters at Charlotte?
McLAUGHLIN: Yeah I went there as a race fan in 2014. I just went by myself and looked at a few of the NASCAR teams like Joe Gibbs, Waltrip and Penske.
I did the walk through like any member of the public and it is on such a huge scale.
You could see that Roger could take people through there on personal tours and it all looks like a laboratory. Everything is in its place, everything is just so clean and tidy and organised.
And I think he’s brought that standard to Australia too. I feel like we’ve got that at DJR Team Penske.
SPEEDCAFE: What about your relationship with Roger. How much time have you spent with him and how much of an influence has he been in these early days?
McLAUGHLIN: I haven’t spent a lot of face-to-face time with him but I’ve spoken to him a few times on the phone.
He sent me a text last year congratulating me on finishing third in the Championship which was pretty cool. When his number comes up on my phone I either crap myself or I get excited.
When the announcement came out that I was signing on, Roger got on the phone to me before it all happened and he appreciated me coming on board.
That felt weird because I felt like I had to thank him.
It’s pretty special because I’ve followed his team my whole life.
IndyCars to be honest I like more than F1 in many ways.
Penske and Ganassi had a big influence on me coming through and now to be driving for Penske is surreal.
SPEEDCAFE: How did the deal come about? Who rang who and what was the timing of it?
I always said hello to Tim (Cindric) in the paddock. (Marcos) Ambrose was also a help.
I was waiting on the Volvo deal for a long time early last year.
I obviously had to keep my options open. I was speaking to various teams. There was HRT and a few others.
When the Volvo deal fell over is the time when it got really serious.
But I didn’t sign the papers until the day it was announced (with DJRTP). We’d agreed on terms and it all sort of happened in a few months.
I didn’t speak to Roger until it was pretty much close to being done.
SPEEDCAFE: Did part of the discussion talk about other opportunities in the US with Team Penske?
Very early on I said I would love to get to America one day but I understand I’m being employed as a Supercars driver. So I know my job is here.
But if we go well there’s obviously potential to get a reward somewhere down the track.
