The three-time Supercars champion hasn’t been seen again within the sequence since he departed for IndyCar on the finish of 2020.
That is regardless of efforts from his outdated crew Dick Johnson Racing to safe him as a co-driver for the Bathurst 1000 in each 2021 and 2022.
Scheduling has successfully been blamed for McLaughlin’s determination to not compete at Bathurst, the Kiwi preferring to concentrate on his US commitments somewhat than try and dovetail them with a Bathurst marketing campaign.
That’s much more of a difficulty shifting ahead given the Supercars enduro season has grown to 2 races with the reinstatement of the Sandown 500.
Whereas it was all the time thought {that a} McLaughlin return to Bathurst would include DJR, that too is a sophisticated state of affairs.
That is due to McLaughlin’s alignment with Chevrolet by way of the Penske Indycar programme, which may take showing in a manufacturing unit Ford off the desk.
The flip aspect, nevertheless, is that it does open the door for McLaughlin to make a sensational Nice Race begin in a Triple Eight Camaro alongside fierce rival Shane van Gisbergen sooner or later sooner or later.
However the door being open might not be sufficient for McLaughlin to need to speak by way of it, the motive force himself conceding that it’s an unlikely state of affairs – even when he would like to accomplice van Gisbergen within the Bathurst 1000.
“I extremely doubt it; that’s about it,” McLaughlin stated when requested by Motorsport.com if he may race a Purple Bull Camaro at Bathurst.
“I imply, if there was one particular person within the Supercars paddock that I’d like to race Bathurst with, it will be Shane. However, you recognize, I’ve bought loyalties to my those that I’ve labored with over there, and some different issues.
“And I’ve finished what I wished to do there. Proper now, the need to race Bathurst and Supercars… that is nothing on Supercars, it’s simply [that] I’ve moved on. I’m specializing in what I must do.
“I might love one other crack at Bathurst sooner or later, however I need to be certain it’s the suitable alternative and an opportunity that I may win.
“However it’s not in all probability within the foreseeable future, and I extremely doubt I might in all probability be with [Triple Eight].”
