Scott McLaughlin says the scrupulous approach both himself and Team Penske took to the IndyCar iRacing Challenge was the catalyst in ensuring he remained competitive across all six rounds.
The double defending-Supercars Champion has proven to be an exceptionally polished sim-racer, claiming two wins against a full grid of full-time series regulars and unofficially claiming the virtual championship.
In fact, Team Penske were so strong the North Carolina-based team scored wins in all but two races and only Josef Newgarden and Helio Castroneves failed to finish on the podium across the virtual series.
In an recent interview with FormulaRapida, McLaughlin has credited the team’s profession approach to the championship as the driving force for his ontrack performance.
“We’ve prepped a lot,” McLaughlin told FormulaRapida.net.
“I think the first week, Watkins Glen, I didn’t have a spotter or engineer sort of helping me, realized there was a few drivers in there that were using one, and we sort of jacked up the preparation, the data share and all that sort of stuff.
“They [Penske] are professional, got some great people on board, and I was able to use Jonathan Diuguid, my engineer, when I do potentially race, and TJ Majors on the ovals as a spotter. It was really cool.
“[I was] privileged to learn off some pretty experienced guys, and yeah, absolutely, it’s a pretty class act at Team Penske, and everything they do they want to win in and are very competitive, and Roger expects the highest level.
“It sort of carries all the way down with every piece of personnel on the team.”
McLaughlin has also been competing for Penske in the BP Supercars All Star Eseries which he leads the standings by 74 points over Cameron Waters with five of the ten rounds so far complete.
