DJR Team Penske has won its first Virgin Australia Supercars Championship races over the weekend during the Australian Grand Prix, with Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard taking the first three wins in the four-race, non-championship race weekend.
While Penske’s teams have long succeeded in North America and have had some international success, notably a Formula 1 win at the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix with John Watson, success has thus far eluded them since arriving in Supercars two years ago as majority shareholders of Dick Johnson Racing.
McLaughlin had the honor of beating Coulthard to the first win in race one of the weekend, before Coulthard doubled up with wins in races two and three. The first two races were one-two finishes, though, and McLaughlin said he’d received a text from Roger Penske in the wake of the victory.
“I got a text from Roger straight away and they’re all pretty happy,” McLaughlin told Supercars.com.
“They’re thanking me but I should be thanking them for giving me the opportunity.”
Well done @DJRTeamPenske @FabianCoulthard @smclaughlin93 https://t.co/1PL9NIh5HG
— Tim Cindric (@TimCindric) March 26, 2017
Things are good! Our first @DJRTeamPenske 1-2 ! Super happy for everyone at the team and our supporters! Thank you! #VASC pic.twitter.com/Ii57hpnMr2
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin93) March 26, 2017
Thanks @DJRTeamPenske what a weekend! 1-2 finish for @smclaughlin93 and I. 🏆 #VASC #AusGp #FabPack pic.twitter.com/LkXhcdp8aw
— Fabian Coulthard (@FabianCoulthard) March 26, 2017
Amazing weekend at the #AusGP, taking home wins across the board for @ScuderiaFerrari and @DJRTeamPenske #ShellVPowerRacingTeam #VASC pic.twitter.com/xAZ4TVIqSB
— Shell Australia (@Shell_Australia) March 27, 2017
.@DJRTeamPenske 1️⃣-2️⃣ 🏆 #VASC pic.twitter.com/nnkzkpQtYp
— Supercars (@supercars) March 26, 2017
The first race was marred by this incident between Nick Percat and Lee Holdsworth, Percat having lost his brakes entering Turn 1 and crashing into Holdsworth, who was an innocent bystander.
But once the race resumed, McLaughlin held off Coulthard for the victory.
Coulthard led from start-to-finish in race two after his second straight pole position. He did the same in race three, albeit not in a Penske 1-2 as Jamie Whincup came second for Red Bull Holden Racing Team Commodore. McLaughlin was third.
A left-front puncture stopped Coulthard making it three in a row in the fourth race, and with steering damage, McLaughlin was resigned to 17th. Chaz Mostert took the win his Supercheap Ford, ending his own winless spell that dated to August of 2015.
Also of note from the weekend, ex-IndyCar driver Simona de Silvestro in her Team Harvey Norman Nissan Altima finished 13th in race one, her best finish yet in her first full season in the series.
The Supercars series is back in action at Symmons Plains Raceway on April 7-9. Coulthard sits second in the series championship, 51 points back of Whincup’s teammate, Shane van Gisbergen.
