*Is McLaughlin the Championship Favorite?

*原標(biāo)題：麥克勞格文會(huì)是新的冠軍候選么？

**譯文版權(quán)up所有，原文及圖片摘自Indycar官網(wǎng)，有刪減

Certainly, that’s a bold prediction to make of McLaughlin with 16 races remaining on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule. But recent trends suggest it’s not as crazy as one might think.

沒錯(cuò)，現(xiàn)在這么預(yù)測(cè)可能為時(shí)過早，尤其是賽季還有16站比賽沒跑呢。但話說回來，就近年來的奪冠走勢(shì)來說，這么想似乎又沒那么不著邊際。

For the last three seasons, the winner of the season-opening race has gone on to win the Astor Challenge Cup. Josef Newgarden did it in 2019, Scott Dixon in 2020 and Palou in 2021.

在過去的三個(gè)賽季中，揭幕戰(zhàn)冠軍最終都笑到了最后，2019年的紐加頓，2020的迪克森，還有去年的帕勞都是如此。

Several factors play in as to how and why that happens. Above all though, consistency might be the most vital part.

誠(chéng)然，很多因素會(huì)左右冠軍的歸屬，而重中之重，恰恰是穩(wěn)定性。

In Newgarden’s title run three years ago, he had just one finish outside the top 10 after the sixth race of the year, a 15th place on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. As did Dixon in 2020, who finished 12th at Road America-2. Same story goes for Palou last year: he finished 17th at St. Petersburg, the second race of the year.

三個(gè)賽季前，紐加頓的奪冠賽季中，美國(guó)人在第六站印第安納內(nèi)場(chǎng)賽中位列第15，但這也是他唯一一次跌出比賽前十。同樣的，迪克森只在2020賽季美國(guó)之路的第二回合中掉到過第12。歷史在上賽季再次重演，帕勞在第二站的圣彼得斯堡街道上上位列17，僅此而已。

McLaughlin needs to continue to perform strong like he did Sunday in the No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet, but he also needs to minimize risks and take what he can get. This, he knows.

麥克勞格文需要繼續(xù)同他的雪佛蘭賽車一起，拿出賽季首個(gè)周末的強(qiáng)勢(shì)表現(xiàn)。與此同時(shí)，新西蘭車手也要留個(gè)心眼，切忌冒進(jìn)，穩(wěn)步向前。當(dāng)然啦，他心知肚明。

“What won the championship last year was a 7.1 average race result,” he said. “For me it’s just that I want to finish top 10, top eight every race, and if I can do that, I know I’m going to be there. When we’ve got a fourth-place car, we take a fourth place. When we’ve got a 10th place car, we take 10th. When we can win a race, we capitalize. That’s the plan this year.”

“去年I的奪冠成績(jī)，也就是平均每站7.1名，”新西蘭人說道，“對(duì)我來說，就是要爭(zhēng)取每場(chǎng)比賽都能前十，前八完賽。如果真能做到這點(diǎn)，那一切自然水到渠成。如果我們的賽車只能拿到第四，我們就拿第四；如果只能拿第十，那就拿第十；要是可以爭(zhēng)分站冠軍，那就去爭(zhēng)。這就是今年的計(jì)劃?！?/p>

It’s too early to say for certain McLaughlin is the championship favorite, and we should have a clearer image of his chances after the sixth race this season, the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 29.

要現(xiàn)在就斷言麥克勞格文是今年的奪冠熱門或許過早，不過，我們也許可以在賽季第六場(chǎng)比賽，也就是第106屆印地500大賽后窺知一二。

But stay on your toes. After all, it was just last season that a driver opened his second full-time season with his first career win and parlayed it into a championship.

車迷們大可繼續(xù)安心欣賞比賽，畢竟，上賽季才剛有一個(gè)二年級(jí)生，在揭幕站拿下生涯首冠，并最終拿下總冠軍。

原文地址：

https://www.indycar.com/news/2022/02/02-28-fifthgear-stpete