Motorsport: V8 hopes high with untried venue

Jamie Whincup is more than 100 points clear of the next driver in the field going into the Townsville round. Photo / Getty Images

The big taxis that make up the field for Australian V8 Supercars head north to Townsville this weekend for the sixth round of the series and Jamie Whincup is still the man to beat.

At this stage of the season, he's well ahead and the rest will have to lift their game if they're to stop him running away with another title.

The northern Queensland venue hosts its first race and most teams agree the new venue will allow for a level playing field. Some of the drivers have compared the circuit to the Australian Grand Prix track in Melbourne.

Mark Winterbottom is cautiously happy heading to Townsville, as so far this season his FPR team's cars have adapted quickly to new circuits. "You're in the middle of a city but you could be racing on a standard track.

"It's going to be a tough one to survive because it is a track that could catch you out," he said.

All the teams will be starting fairly equal, as no data on the new track are available to any of them.

Kiwi driver Jason Richards, who sits just outside the top 10 in the points, has had a bit of an up and down season so far, but hopes to build on his first pole at the last round in Darwin.

"It's always exciting to head to a new track for the first time. The new Townsville layout and the facilities look fantastic.

"The Team BOC Commodore had plenty of speed up in Darwin and our result up there has given the team a huge lift. We're expecting to be on the pace come first practice".

The leading Kiwi driver, Shane van Gisbergen, sitting in ninth, is hoping for big things in his new car. Early in the month he was able to blow the cobwebs out of his new Stone Brothers Racing FG Falcon while Jason Bright will take over his old car.

Though the basic spec remains the same, van Gisbergen says ongoing development means the new car is "a little bit different, a little bit more refined" thanks to lessons learned building and running the first FG.

"Getting to know the circuit's obviously the key thing, then it's just going to be a matter of who can get the most out of it and the car quickest to qualify well," said Van Gisbergen. "As we've seen at the other rounds this year, you've got to be on top of things both days because there are so many variables now; the car, the track, the temperatures, the new sprint tyre, everything."

V8 Supercar stalwart Greg Murphy is not having the best of it this year. Being used as a punching bag in a number of rounds hasn't helped the Sprint Gas Racing team. One thing that counts in his favour though, is he's been around a while and knows motor racing can be a hard mistress. Murphy will hang in there, and racing at a new circuit could just be the jump-start he needs to move up the table from 22nd.

The new rules introduced at Hidden Valley are set to remain for the rest of the season. The cars must still receive 100 litres of fuel during both races over the two compulsory stops. But from now on the stops cannot be made until the lead car has completed five laps, and if a safety car is introduced before the first five laps have be finished, drivers will have to wait another five laps before they can pull in.

STANDINGS

1. Jamie Whincup 1272
2. Will Davison 1128
3. Garth Tander 954
4. Craig Lowndes 906
5. Lee Holdsworth 897
6. Steven Johnson 873
7. Rick Kelly 807
8. Mark Winterbottom 765
9. Shane Van Gisbergen 729
10. Russell Ingall 728