Motorsport: Whincup in the driving seat

Jamie Whincup. Photo / Photosport

Jamie Whincup has no problem being the dream taker.

Over the past two years at the Hamilton 400, Whincup has won every race - and both rounds - to dash any hopes of long-awaited local success.

Back for his fourth attempt next week, the 28-year-old insists there is absolutely no room for sentiment out on the track.

"I know it is important for the New Zealand drivers to go well at home but it is dog eat dog out there," he told the Herald on Sunday. "I don't think those guys would want us to lay down either - I'm sure they want us to go as hard as we can and then if they can beat us it will be of more value to them."

Whincup struggles to identify reasons for his success in New Zealand.

"I've got no idea - really," he says. "We have been able to do a good job when we go there, it is all about working as a team. I've had some great victories but of course I wrote the car off in the first year there (2008) so there are sweet and sour memories of the place."

Nevertheless Whincup, who is the current championship leader after two rounds, is a big fan of the tricky 3.4km circuit.

"I love the track - I like street tracks and Hamilton is certainly a traditional street circuit," says Whincup. "My favourite part is the last part of the lap through the industrial estate. As a circuit, it has got a bit of everything and it is a massive challenge for the driver to extract the most out of the track."

Whincup has long been noted for his technical abilities, and enjoys the special test that Hamilton provides.

"It is very hard to get the car handling well on the big crowned roads," he points out. "There is also the changing grip levels throughout the race. The new part of the track is a very high grip area and then there is a very low grip area in the second part. It's a real challenge to get the car handling well in all conditions."

Over the past few years Whincup has been the man to beat in the V8 Supercars. In 2007, after a ding dong battle all season with Garth Tander, he finished second in the championship by an agonising two points (15 points are awarded for finishing 30th in a standard race).

The following year Whincup left nothing to chance, emerging triumphant in Adelaide, Sandown, Bathurst, Surfers Paradise, Bahrain and Launceston to take the title with two rounds to spare. The Ford driver successfully defended his crown in 2009, winning 11 of the 26 races.

Whincup still sounds slightly bitter about the events of 2010, where he swept three of the first four rounds of the season before things slowly unravelled. He eventually finished runner-up behind James Courtney, the margin of 86 points roughly equivalent to what you receive for finishing ninth in a standard race.

"Unfortunately last year we had a fast car but we didn't have a consistent car," reflects Whincup. "We had too many ups and downs and this year we are trying to be more consistent."

After three seasons of being the man with the target on his back, Whincup is deflecting favourite status this year.

"That was the case last year [and] I wouldn't say I enjoy it. This year I am just number 88 and just another car in the pack. There is another bloke with No1 on his car and I guess he has the pressure to perform."

Whincup is certainly performing like a man at ease this year. He sliced through the field to win races in the UAE and Adelaide, as well as a second and third to sit on top of the championship.

If there is a secret to his success, he doesn't seem to know what it is.

"I'm not really sure," he says, "I just go about my business and try to make my car as fast as it possibly can be and as consistent as it possibly can be. I try to minimise my weaknesses and of course keep working on my strengths."

Consistency is the key word. The V8 season started in the second week of February and won't conclude until December, where drivers will clock up thousands of kilometres in 26 races across 15 rounds. Whincup admits it can take its toll.

"When things start to normalise towards the middle section of the year, I really struggle to get the most out of myself," says Whincup. "It can be a mental grind all the way through the middle."

But having achieved everything possible in V8s, Whincup harbours no thoughts of switching to another class or series in the future.

"I am just making the most of now," says Whincup. "I don't really plan the future - never have and probably never will."

Whincup has just returned from a week-long sponsor's promotional tour to Los Angeles, and will arrive in Hamilton on Tuesday. Between preparation, testing, racing and marketing work there is little down time - his favoured leisure activity also involves speed and engines.

"Living on the Gold Coast, I love all my water sports," says Whincup. "Any opportunity I get I am either out on the jetski - or doing my favourite pastime which is wakeboarding.

"It's all engine-related and going fast - so I guess there is a theme there."