Motorsport: Sydney race will celebrate Brabham's achievements

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The oldest surviving Formula One Champion, Australian Sir Jack Brabham, 83, will be honoured this weekend at the inaugural V8 Supercar race on the streets of Sydney, the Telstra 500.

The weekend also celebrates the 50th anniversary of his first world championship in 1959 - he went on to win in 1960 and 1966 - and fans will get to see some of the cars he raced including the Cooper T51, Brabham Speedcar, Brabham BT6, Brabham BT11a, Brabham BT24, and the Brabham BT35.

Defending champion and points leader Jamie Whincup will be keen to put on a good show in front of Australia's most successful international racer, and although he's already got one hand on the trophy, he's not counting his chickens.

"The fat lady's not singing just yet but she's warming up," Whincup told the Weekend Herald, as he was about to walk the new track for the first time. "Clearly it's quite close but it's not over yet. We're just going to go out there and put our best foot forward."

Whincup just needs 20 points to shut the gate on the rest of field even if his nearest rival, Will Davison, has a stellar meeting and picks up all 300 points on offer.

"It's a huge weekend here for us in Sydney and we want to go out with a bang. I'm not cruising around for the points as I don't really know how to do that and we'll be going hard to the end. It's not sport cruising at the back line," said the TeamVodafone driver.

In all likelihood, Whincup will be taking his second consecutive V8 Supercar championship trophy home and he'll be only the second driver to achieve that feat - the other being Marcos Ambrose.

"It's an elite group who's won two championships," said Whincup. "That means a lot more than a single championship."

The Sydney Olympic Park precinct track at Homebush Bay has dips, road cambers and a lot of different road surfaces and will be a challenge for the drivers. However, there are a number of passing places so the fans are sure to be entertained with some fast and furious racing.

Best placed Kiwi driver heading to the last race of the 2009 season, Shane van Gisbergen, could finish the series in the top 10 if he has a good weekend. The Ford pilot lies in 11th place with 1790 points, 81 less than 10th placed Holden driver Russell Ingall.

"I did have a look at the points the other night," van Gisbergen. "And, yes, there's definitely the possibility of getting closer to Russell, particularly if we have another strong run like we did at Phillip Island [van Gisbergen finished the round fourth overall].

"With it being a new venue and only the two races, there's a bit more to this round than some of the others, but yes, if we have a good weekend and he doesn't, the chance is there."

This weekend's event is based on the Clipsal 500 with two 250 lap mini-enduro races without the Dunlop soft tyre option last used in Perth.

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1. Jamie Whincup: 3175

2. Will Davison: 2894

3. Garth Tander: 2766

4. Craig Lowndes: 2544

5. Steven Johnson: 2177