John Bowe's End of Year Review: Part Three

Here we have our tenth to fifth Championship finishers. These guys are all very capable racers with the ability to move forward next season – will they? 

Scott McLaughlin: The most impressive debut season for a long time from this young fella. A very well grounded and balanced young man from what I can see.

He has been groomed for years even though most folk would not know that. Another graduate from the Stone Brothers talent spotting process, in full knowledge it is barely recognised in our sport. 

Scotty is a star, no question; whether the Volvo allows that to show next year at present is unknown. I was very impressed by his loyalty to Gary Rogers, GRM are the closest thing we have to an old-fashioned family race team. Loyalty is no bad thing, it says a lot about the quality of this young fella.

I hope the Volvo gets pace early; I am looking forward to seeing Scotty perform for the next few decades. 

David Reynolds: He finished in ninth spot – a good result – many would say. However, when your teammates have finished third and fourth, it's not so amazing, really.

He has a bucket load of natural ability and a lovely freestyle way about him. I admire his driving and his way of life. 

Anything less than top five next year will be a disappointment for Davey in my book. Everyone at this level wants to win a Championship and win Bathurst. Dave has the capability to do both, although I’m not close enough to him be a true judge, I can't help but think he really needs to get serious. He has all the right ingredients and is in the right place.

In my experience – jokers don't win Championships!

Garth Tander: A Champion for sure; one of the most mentally complete drivers on the grid. I didn't always enjoy racing with Garth but I always admired what a hard arse he was and his innate skill level. His fortunes have risen and fallen on the back of HRT, or as it is now, Walkinshaw Racing. 

I have a feeling they will be very strong next year, with different engineering staff and Adrian Burgess is a very strong leader and organiser of people. If this all happens, then Garth is more than capable of winning another championship. He exhibits similar qualities/strengths as Jamie W – he is very clinical, a strong chaser and dour defender with the ability to pass with precision. However, four cars is a huge task for any team, someone will be the loser – I doubt it will be Garth though! 

Jason Bright: The moment Brighty pulled on a race helmet, he was destined to be a professional racer. He has so much natural ability, I’m pleased BJR has provided him with a car to make everyone realise once again how good this fella really is. A few mishaps aside, he could have finished even further up the ladder. 

He is the right fit for the BJR culture, he has a close-knit engineering team and hopefully he can challenge for the Championship next year. 

In my opinion, he’s at the top of his powers, despite many people in the media writing off 40-year olds as over the hill. Just goes to show – they’re journos not racers. I’m not convinced they quite understand what is required in our sport at this level! 

Fabian Coulthard: This was certainly his best year, ever! When you finish in front of a driver of Jason Bright’s character, one has to say well done Bro! I think Fabian does benefit enormously from having the intuitive Phil Keed in his corner, together they make a formidable team. 

It's in the hands of team BJR as a structure to go that extra yard to be able to challenge Triple Eight and FPR for a Championship win. They’ve done amazingly well for the little country town of Albury. 

Both of their drivers can win the Championship and so can the team, they have to think and behave like Champions not occasional race winners to achieve this and take the next step!

Stay tuned for the top five next Tuesday, read the top 20 here and the bottom nine here.

Cheers,

JB

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