V8 Supercars
Ed Jackson 6y

Coulthard rues tough Supercars day on GC

AutoRacing

A poor qualifying run, a late race penalty and a championship lead all but evaporating - Saturday was a day to forget for Supercars star Fabian Coulthard.

The DJR Team Penske driver began the day 91 points ahead in the championship race and hoping to take a jump on his title rivals.

He ends it holding on by 37-points from six-time driver's champion Jamie Whincup after a 19th-place finish in a rain-marred 94-lap race at the Surfers Paradise street circuit.

Coulthard's points haul would have been better had he not fallen down the grid due to a 15-second penalty for an incident late in the race with Holden's Nick Percat.

The New Zealander later attempted to make amends with Percat but in keeping with his day, he was angrily brushed off by the Brad Jones Racing driver.

"The incident with Nick, he had a bit of a wobble on the way in and he was wide and came across pretty hard. I had to check up a little bit and then it felt like I got a shot from behind," Coulthard said.

"We can't do anything now, I've been given a penalty and have to cop it on the chin. I was a little bit disappointed with Nick. I tried to go and apologise and he's obviously annoyed with what happened but he needs to look at circumstances from every angle before he lays judgment."

Coulthard's championship-challenging teammate Scott McLaughlin also had a tough day at the office.

Co-driver Alex Premat's early spin sent their Falcon back to dead last in the field with McLaughlin eventually managing to come home 12th.

It means McLaughlin, who led the championship heading into the Bathurst 1000 earlier in October, is 76 points behind his stablemate.

"We don't really have a lot of strengths ... we struggled for a little bit of turn, drive - key things you need here," Coulthard said.

^ Back to Top ^