Motorsport: Title Whincup's to lose after rival crashes out

Will Davison’s title hopes have been crushed after crashing out at the Barbagallo Raceway yesterday. Photo / Getty Images

PERTH - All Ford's Jamie Whincup has to do is turn up in Sydney in a fortnight, and the V8 Supercar championship will be his.

Whincup all but clinched back-to-back titles after his nearest rival for the title Will Davison crashed out at Barbagallo Raceway on Sunday.

Holden driver Davison admitted he was "shattered" by a freak incident in which his car skidded on oil near pit lane from an earlier accident, hitting a tyre wall and damaged the steering.

His failure to finish and Whincup's fourth place gives the Team Vodafone driver a 281-point championship lead over Davison with two races remaining this season.

With 300 points on offer at the final round in Sydney, just finishing one of those races - even at the rear of the field - will be enough for Whincup to claim successive championships.

"It's not over yet, but it's pretty good - I'm that close it's ridiculous," Whincup said.

"But I'll be working as hard as I have in the past month over the next two weeks to make sure I put in my best performance in Sydney.

"We're looking very good. To win two (championships), if it does happen, will mean a lot more than just a single victory."

As Whincup put a mortgage on the championship with his fourth place finish behind winner and teammate Craig Lowndes, Davison was left wondering what might have been.

The Holden Racing Team driver believed he should have received warning from his team of the fluid left near pit lane when Holden duo Lee Holdsworth and Todd Kelly collided on the previous lap.

"It's just disappointing circumstances because I wanted to run the championship all the way down to the wire," Davison said.

"It's such an anti-climax. You come into the pits, the whole pit lane is soaked in oil and you've got no warning about it - I didn't have a chance to make it through.

"To hand it to him on a plate is disappointing. It's shattering really."

Lowndes was able to win Sunday's race helped by having a near-new set of sprint tyres.

Whincup had used his sprint tyres - which allow drivers to go much quicker than normal tyres but wear more easily - to win Saturday's race.

Lowndes went on to beat Ford's Steven Johnson and Holden's Garth Tander on Sunday.

Meanwhile Tander's wife Leanne, Australia's leading female racing driver, was taken to hospital after a nasty crash in the Mini Challenge support race earlier in the day.

Her car clipped a wall heavily, leaving her with neck soreness. She was released from hospital late on Sunday.

- AAP