KEY POINTS:
MELBOURNE - Championship leader Jamie Whincup admits he is nervous as he goes into the weekend which will decide the V8 Supercar title wearing a huge target on his back.
The 24-year-old Ford driver leads the championship by just seven points from Holden rival Garth Tander ahead of the deciding final round at Victoria's Phillip Island.
Whincup's Triple Eight Racing teammate Craig Lowndes sits third, 21 points behind, and is also in with a chance of winning the championship if Whincup and Tander slip up.
Neither Whincup and Tander have won the V8 title, and the Ford driver admits to a healthy dose of nerves going into practice tomorrow before qualifying and the first of three weekend races on Saturday.
"It's a big deal. There's a lot of people at Triple Eight who've worked hard for three years to get a championship and they haven't been successful yet," Whincup said.
"And there's plenty of supporters out there who want bragging rights for the next 12 months.
"I'm very confident going into the weekend. The car's been very kind to me in the last few rounds.
"This is all pretty new to me being up the front going into the last round of a V8 Supercar championship, so I'm just trying to enjoy the experience and have a bit of fun."
Whincup had earmarked a top-three finish in the championship, and admitted he would be pleased even if he achieved that goal.
Toll HSV Racing's Tander, who is trying to bounce back after crashing out at the previous round in Tasmania to allow Whincup back into the title race, said he had put that experience behind him.
"I made that mistake and it cost me a lot of points, but in a way it's almost released the nerves and made me realise what I've got to do and how to get those points back," Tander said.
- AAP
