After producing the ‘Lap of the Gods, Ford’s record-breaking Scott McLaughlin has been reduced to mere mortal status midway through a wet and wild Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama on Sunday.
The Supercars series leader’s Great Race appears over after his Falcon came to a complete stop due to the loss of oil pressure on lap 75.
It is a blow to his championship lead – he led Holden’s Jamie Whincup by just 84 points heading into the 161-lap classic.
Surprisingly it prompted the first and to date only safety car of the enduro despite horror conditions.
At the halfway mark, Ford’s Chaz Mostert leads reigning Sandown 500 winner Cameron Waters with Holden cult hero David Reynolds third.
However, no one was making any bold predictions as drivers slipped and slided their way around the unforgiving mountain almost 30 seconds slower a lap than usual due to the relentless rain.
“It’s like an ice skating rink. This is almost undriveable,” Supercars great Mark Skaife said.
The weather proved a challenge but in the end electrical and mechanical issues appear to have finally ended pole sitter McLaughlin’s day.
A day after “the greatest day of my life”, McLaughlin came crashing back to earth on Sunday.
He left the Bathurst faithful in shock and himself in tears of joy on Saturday when he clocked two minutes, 03.83 seconds – the fastest Supercars lap ever seen on the infamous Mount Panorama street circuit.
McLaughlin became the first to crack the 2:04min barrier on the mountain after shattering the record mark he had set barely 24 hours earlier in Friday’s practice.
It earned him the new “Lap of the Gods” tag, first coined when fellow New Zealander Greg Murphy shattered the lap record back in 2003.
However, McLaughlin could not take a trick on race day – going wide on the first corner on lap four, relinquishing his lead and falling back to sixth.
Then his Falcon began to falter.
McLaughlin’s Bathurst curse had struck again.
Remarkably the Ford gun has never finished on the Bathurst 1000 podium.
His best finish is fifth in 2015 despite starting on the front row for the third straight year.
“It’s pretty hard (to take) but we were battling anyway,” McLaughlin said.
“I think we are pretty much done.
“These are the hardest conditions I have seen in a long time.”
There was almost drama from the outset when Ford’s 2013 Bathurst champion Mark Winterbottom got the best start from the second row but was almost wedged between McLaughlin and Reynolds.
All drivers – even six-time Bathurst champion Craig Lowndes – have had their moments on the slippering track.
But few have had it as bad as Holden’s Tim Blanchard and Nissan’s Michael Caruso who have endured windshield wiper failures while driving at up to 280km/hr.
The fastest lap to date has been 2:27.54 by Mostert – more than 21 seconds slower than Reynolds’ race lap record.
