Scott McLaughlin's Ford Falcon FG-X could find a seventh gear at this weekend's Auckland Supersprint - in the form of a roaring home crowd.
The Hamilton-born DJR Team Penske driver has travelled back across the ditch for the penultimate Supercars event of 2017 knowing a maiden title is on the line.
First for large stretches of this year's Championship, the 24-year-old suffered engine failure at last month's Bathurst 1000, pushing him down to third.
He cemented that position in the Gold Coast 600 two weeks ago with 12th-place and first-place finishes in the meet's two races.
But with the benefit of a partisan Kiwi crowd in Pukekohe, McLaughlin hoped to inch back into the lead ahead of Jamie Whincup and compatriot Fabian Coulthard.
He sits just 27 points behind the first-placed Whincup.
"I'm a big advocate for having another race here (in New Zealand) because it's just awesome, we get a real special step-up - myself, Shane van Gisbergen, Fabian, we always find another gear," McLaughlin said on Wednesday.
Now based in Melbourne, McLaughlin has plenty of happy memories in Pukekohe, where he won his first Supercars race back in 2013.
He fully intended to go on the attack this weekend, and admitted anything other than an eventual Championship win would be a disappointment.
He'd already exceeded his own expectations for his maiden campaign in the DJR Team Penske team, having switched over from Garry Rogers Motorsport.
"Yeah, I'll just get on with it and have a crack - there's nothing to lose now, everything to gain," McLaughlin said.
"We're all coming to win the title, that's certainly what we're trying to do.
"I feel better attacking than I do defending a lead or points. I don't worry about it now, the points, I just try to focus on winning races - and we're going to be at the pointy end of the Championship anyway."
