Motorsport: McLaughlin throws down gauntlet at V8s

Scott McLaughlin says his car is good enough to make the podium. Photo / Getty

New Zealand has taken first blood in the transtasman battle at the ITM 500 Auckland yesterday, with Kiwi young gun Scott McLaughlin the fastest in practice.

The Volvo driver upstaged V8 Supercars Championship leader Mark Winterbottom and legend Craig Lowndes on his home turf at Pukekohe Park Raceway.

"Any time you can get a podium or a win at home is massive, and I think we have a good enough car to do that this weekend," McLaughlin said.

Six-tenths under his existing race lap record yesterday, McLaughlin is excited to be getting soft tyres today and is confident of a strong showing in front of his home crowd.

"The soft tyre will be even faster," McLaughlin promised.

Championship leader Mark Winterbottom goes into the weekend looking to shore up his Championship hopes after a shaky weekend on the Gold Coast.

"You've just got to race," said McLaughlin. "You ... get in a position because of what has worked for the first 11 rounds, and you don't just change your position. Obviously, if you can beat him and he's [Lowndes] third, we're going pretty good."

Lowndes had a few wild off track excursions early in the day, before recovering to finish the day third. He's looking to continue momentum that has seen him close the gap to Winterbottom over the last two races.

"You've just got to focus on your own job," said Lowndes on chasing down Winterbottom. "If you win races it takes care of itself."

The Kiwis were all in the top half of the field in practice yesterday, with Shane van Gisbergen seventh fastest, Fabian Coulthard 10th quickest and Andre Heimgartner pushing the super Black Racing Ford to 12th fastest.

The ITM 500 continues today with final practice in the morning followed by two qualifying sessions and two races in the afternoon.