McLaughlin reunited with Peter Brock Trophy in Detroit

Scott McLaughlin has been reunited with the Peter Brock Trophy, which has made its longest ever journey.

The coveted trophy has travelled over 15,600km to Detroit in the United States as part of the build-up to the Repco Bathurst 1000, with this year’s event the 60th anniversary of Australia’s Great Race.

McLaughlin, now an IndyCar star for Team Penske, won the Bathurst 1000 — and the Brock Trophy — for the first time in 2019.

It was also the first Bathurst win for co-driver Alex Premat, the first for Roger Penske, and the first for Dick Johnson since 1994.

The three-time Supercars champion posted photos holding the famous trophy from today’s Detroit Grand Prix before he finished seventh in the street race.

The trophy is on loan from the Triple Eight workshop in Queensland, where it has been on display since Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander won the 2022 Repco Bathurst 1000.

'It's obviously a special moment in my career'

The trophy travelled to the US direct from the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint, where fans were able to get up close to it during the pre-event signing session in Launceston.

It will return to Australia and be on display for fans at next week’s pre-event signing session at Darwin’s famous Waterfront, where current championship drivers will join the autograph session from 5:00pm to 6:30pm local time.

The Bathurst win was a key performance that sold McLaughlin to Penske as a future IndyCar winner.

The New Zealander has since won four races in America’s top open wheel series, and finished fourth overall last year.

McLaughlin’s 2019 win came in his eighth Great Race start, and was his record-extending 18th win of the season.’

The Kiwi added 13 more wins in 2020 to secure a third Supercars title before departing for IndyCar.

McLaughlin before the 2020 race

Van Gisbergen, his former sparring mate and the driver that shadowed him home in 2019, has won two of the last three Bathursts.

Winners are presented with a mini version of the trophy to keep, but the winning team takes ownership of the real trophy for a year.

The last time McLaughlin held the trophy was ahead of the 2020 Bathurst 1000, when he handed it over before the race start.

The betr Darwin Triple Crown runs 16-18 June at Hidden Valley Raceway and is this year’s Indigenous Round for Supercars.

Every practice, qualifying and race session will be live and ad free on Foxtel and Kayo.

The Seven Network will broadcast qualifying and races live on Saturday and Sunday.