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Fabian Coulthard the real deal for Supercars glory

Supercars retro round is about more than just liveries. (Photo: POLESTAR Volvo)
Roar Guru
13th April, 2017
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The arrival of young superstar Scott McLaughlin to DJR Team Penske in 2017, was said to marginalise incumbent driver Fabian Coulthard – with onus on the junior Kiwi to raze the senior.

Though two rounds into the new season of Supercars, it’s wise for those who had written off the 34-year old’s prospects for the championship to have an urgent rethink.

Coulthard’s start to the 2017 campaign has been a strong one and in tandem with the advances that DJR Team Penske has made on title rivals Red Bull, his results are indicative of the force that the Shell V-Power Fords will be this year.

The season opening Clipsal 500 yielded a podium at the first race for Coulthard, while the following day saw fifth claimed to establish the Kiwi into second in the standings behind compatriot Shane van Gisbergen.

Despite the Australian Grand Prix support round not accommodating championship points, Coulthard won two of the four races to go on and accumulate the most points for the round and back up the promising Clipsal outing.

Round two in Tasmania was an event of two faces for Fabian however, with the Saturday race being marred by mass carnage in which the Kiwi was involved and penalised 35-championship points.

Sunday though saw redemption for Coulthard, as he returned the Dick Johnson name into the Supercars winners circle for the first time since 2013, leading a one-two finish with teammate McLaughlin.

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After four races and the unfortunate 35-point penalty, Coulthard remains second in the standings and is now 20 points adrift of the series leader van Gisbergen.

It is quite easy to overlook Coulthard as a top driver, especially with the likes of McLaughlin and van Gisbergen on hand, as well as the veterans in Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes – though he’s one who just needs consistency under the belt.

Having tasted some success at his previous team in Brad Jones Racing, Coulthard lacked only consistency which deterred him from ever mounting a title tilt for the Albury based Holden outfit.

Four victories for BJR, including multiple podiums across his four-year tenure had brought Coulthard to the fore as one of the stars of Supercars, in line with the aforementioned.

Though it wasn’t until the move to Queensland and DJR Team Penske in 2016, did it seem possible that Coulthard would one day fight for a championship from season’s beginning to the final chequered flag.

The freshman year at the Ford squad didn’t quite yield the results that he or the team would have hoped for, but with all bets on 2017 being the season of success for DJR Team Penske – there was plenty to look forward to.

Now that it is evident that DJR Team Penske will be the team to challenge the Red Bull juggernaut for the top honours, the legendary team clearly have two drivers that will be equally matched in their pursuit.

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With the addition of engineering prowess from Ludo Lacroix, DJR Team Penske are truly a ‘dream team’ in 2017 and as much as it’d be compelling to see McLaughlin crowned the youngest ever champion in Supercars – the case for Coulthard to be victor is just as fascinating.

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