Scott McLaughlin reflects on near-top-10 at Mid-Ohio: “It’s a bloody hard series”

Kiwi Scott McLaughlin recorded another impressive result at this morning’s Honda Indy 200, finishing 12th and second within the Team Penske stable.

While it was a “solid run” in the former Supercars champ’s eyes, it was also a case of ‘what if’. The Kiwi had run in the top 10 for part of the race, looking set to break a four-race top-10 drought.

Speaking in a video posted to social media, McLaughlin said it was the need to save fuel in the final stint that cost him.

“A pretty good day, solid run. We compromised ourselves a little bit on strategy. We saved fuel towards the end, that really stopped our pace,” said McLaughlin.

“But we showed some pretty good promise, moved up a couple of spots. I feel like we’re learning every weekend.

“It’s a bloody hard series. There’s a lot of very good, talented drivers, really good teams. You can’t afford any errors.

“We just need to qualify a bit better and hopefully we can run up the front a bit better as well.”

Following this morning’s result, McLaughlin sits 13th in the standings. He still leads the rookie rankings, with former Formula 1 ace Romain Grosjean (who isn’t taking part in this season’s oval events) three spots back.

Across the Penske pit-bay it was celebration for McLaughlin’s teammate Josef Newgarden. The former champ held off a late charge from Marcus Ericsson to take the first win of the year for both himself and his team.

“Big congrats to my teammate Josef [Newgarden] on the win, awesome to get the monkey off the back for Team Penske,” McLaughlin added.

“Hopefully that opens a few of the doors and we can all contribute a little bit there towards the end of the year.”