Tick-Bits Magazine July-Oct 2019

BACK SEAT NEWS!
Ford on brink of manufacturers’ title
A win for any Mustang driver in today’s second leg
of the Watpac Townsville 400 will hand Ford the
2019 Supercars Manufacturers’ title.
The Blue Oval has dominated the season with its
new Mustang, taking out 16 of the 17 races held to
date.
Unlike the points-based drivers’ and teams’
crowns, Supercars’ Champion Manufacturer Award
is based solely on race wins.
With 16 races remaining, Holden can only equal
Ford’s tally even if it wins every race for the rest of
the season.
Ford’s haul has been largely thanks to Scott
McLaughlin, who has won 13 of its 16 total,
including Saturday’s Townsville hitout.
Shell V-Power Racing team-mate Fabian Coulthard
has added two victories, and Tickford Racing’s
Chaz Mostert one.
Holden had wrestled the Champion Manufacturer
title away from Ford last year, following a strong
season for its then-new ZB Commodore.
Ford’s 2017 triumph had broken a streak of seven
consecutive titles for Holden, stretching back to
Triple Eight’s first season running Commodores.
The manufacturers’ title has been awarded since
1999, with Holden winning 14 times and Ford six.
McLaughlin’s Saturday victory meanwhile
helped him close on the all-time record of
wins in a season by a single driver, set at
16 by Craig Lowndes in 1996.
The reigning champion is also on a run of
six consecutive wins, two shy of
Lowndes’ record, also set in his stunning
run to the 1996 title as a rookie.
McLaughlin currently holds a 358-point
lead over Coulthard in the drivers’
standings, while Shell V-Power Racing is
817 ahead of Red Bull HRT in the teams’
points.
NZFPVTOC TICK- BITS 30