Flu fails to stop Ford Mustang GT dominance in 2019 as McLaughlin claims victory in Race 1 at Symmons Plains

Holden has been able to rely on consistent wins at Symmons Plains in the recent past - 10 of the last 12 - but the dominance of the Mustang already has observers questioning the competitiveness of the 2019 season.

Yet Saturday's race could have been so much different.

The brakes on Jamie Whincup's Holden locked on the approach to the hairpin in qualifying and he slid into the gravel, leaving him to start from 15th on the grid.

Whincup - second in the championship before Saturday - then clipped the back of Chaz Mostert's Mustang and ended up in the gravel again early in the race, leaving him two laps behind.

Shane van Gisbergen had issues on the starting grid, and fellow Holden driver Mark Winterbottom - who qualified fastest for the first time since 2016 - was jumped at the start by McLaughlin who lead all the way.

McLaughlin celebrated on the podium and then left Symmons Plains immediately to get much-needed rest, looking and sounding much worse for wear.

He was replaced in drivers' press conference by DJR Team Penske boss Ryan Story, who said the entry of the Mustang GT in 2019 had lifted the standard of the series.

"When you reflect upon history, every time a new model roles out in tends to lift the game and change the game fundamentally," he said.

"We saw that last year in a fairly dominant fashion when the (Commodore) ZB first rolled out.

"It would be a mistake to think that a collaboration between Ford Australia, Ford Performance, Shell V Power Racing Team and Tickford wouldn't produce a car capable of being competitive."

McLaughlin appeared to say on the team radio that his victory would silence the haters - those questioning the legitimacy of Ford's early season success.

Story said it had been "an interesting start to the season" for those involved in the Shell V Power team, and there may have been an element of luck in their continued dominance, but he praised their engineers for working through the night.

Fabian Coulthard finished second in his Mustang GT and Shane van Gisbergen was third in the Commodore ZB, despite having issues passing wildcard driver Jack Smith who attracted a blue flag.

Winterbottom did not hold back in his criticism of having a car in the race that was not a part of the drivers championship.

"I caught the wildcard guy but he didn't move out of the way," he said.

"You can't control that sort of stuff, it's frustrating."