The 2015 V8 Supercars season finale in Sydney had its ups and downs for Volvo Polestar Racing with both Scott McLaughlin and David Wall having strong performances in qualifying and the three races.
"I got an awesome start in the final race, had a really good pace and managed to close the gap to the leaders. Then unfortunately we bent a steering arm, that is just the story of our year. We were in a good spot for a podium, unfortunately that is just the way the cookie crumbles. I can't wait to hit reset ahead of next year. We managed to come back from nothing and prove to everyone that we still got some fight in us," said McLaughlin.
The first two races of the weekend saw the young-gun climb from eleventh to eighth and sixth to fifth respectively.
McLaughlin went on to qualify provisional second on the grid for the final race, but dropped to seventh in the Top Ten Shootout after a mistake. A bent steering arm saw him dropping from fourth to nineteenth in the last race of 2015. However, despite the challenges on track, he maintained his position in the drivers' championship, finishing eighth for the season.
David Wall ended 2015 with his best qualifying performance of the year. The Volvo driver secured seventh in the qualifying session for the final race and tenth position in the following Top Ten Shootout.
After being just outside the top ten for the majority of the race, a late race incident saw him dropping to seventeenth position.
"Best qualifying of the year to start with, really happy to make the shootout. I had a good start of the final race and managed to hold my position, the car was pretty good. We had some problems with locking front tyres though; I think it had something bent. I was running 12th towards the end but made a mistake, lost a couple of spots. But good to end the season with my best qualifying result of the year," said Wall.
Volvo Polestar Racing will be back on the grid in 2016 with two S60's for Scott McLaughlin and newly signed James Moffat. The new duo will take on the famous Adelaide street circuit at the season opening Clipsal 500 on March 3-6.
Sydney 500 - V8 Supercars
Circuit: Homebush Street Circuit
Length: 3500 m
Lap record (V8SC): 1:28.3839, Craig Lowndes, 2011
Results
Race 34 - Top 5
1 Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore 37 laps
2 Shane van Gisbergen Holden Commodore +1.0855
3 Jason Bright Holden Commodore +14.0367
4 James Courtney Holden Commodore +15.3602
5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon +22.5070
...
8 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +24.7737
19 David Wall Volvo S60 +55.5281
Race 35 - Top 5
1 Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore 37 laps
2 David Reynolds Ford Falcon +1.8208
3 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon +5.4817
4 James Courtney Holden Commodore +7.1248
5 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +8.0469
...
19 David Wall Volvo S60 +37.9652
Race 36 - Top 5
1 Shane van Gisbergen Holden Commodore 74 laps
2 Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore +0.4058
3 Rick Kelly Nissan Altima +2.7401
4 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon +3.6779
5 David Reynolds Ford Falcon +4.4087
...
17 David Wall Volvo S60 +29.9250
20 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +5 laps
Qualifying for Race 36 - Top 5
1 Shane van Gisbergen Holden Commodore 1:27.9903
2 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.2275
3 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon +0.3488
4 Rick Kelly Nissan Altima +0.3633
5 Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore +0.4227
…
9 David Wall Volvo S60 +0.5546
Top Ten Shootout - Top 5
1 James Courtney Holden Commodore 1:28.0666
2 Shane van Gisbergen Holden Commodore +0.0187
3 Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore +0.1320
4 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon +0.1618
5 Rick Kelly Nissan Altima +0.2048
...
7 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.4782
10 David Wall Volvo S60 +1.4500
Championship Standings - Top 5
1 Mark Winterbottom Ford Falcon 3246 points
2 Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore 3008 (-238)
3 David Reynolds Ford Falcon 2910 (-336)
4 Shane Van Gisbergen Holden Commodore 2712 (-534)
5 Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore 2647 (-599)
...
8 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 2205 (-1041)
23 David Wall Volvo S60 1118 (-2128)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Greg Bosnich
Director, PR and Corporate, Volvo Car Australia
T: +61 2 9020 1673
M: +61 419 620 995
E: greg.bosnich@volvocars.com
volvocars.com.au