Motorsport: Whincup too slick for rival

Jamie Whincup may have shut down Will Davison's V8 Supercar hopes with his win at Barbagello. Photo / Getty Images

Ford's Jamie Whincup fired his biggest V8 Supercar championship shot at Perth's Barbagallo Raceway yesterday - and it may have mortally wounded the hopes of nearest rival Will Davison.

Whincup gave his chances of back-to-back titles a massive boost with a race win which extended his championship lead to 161 points over Holden Racing Team's Davison, with just three races remaining this season.

It was a brave all-or-nothing tyre strategy which won the race for Whincup, as Davison missed the podium to finish fifth. Whincup's Team Vodafone chose to spend their entire set of soft sprint tyres - which help cars go much faster than on normal tyres - in the first half of yesterday's 42-lap race.

Once the tyres were worn, Whincup emerged from his pit stop with an unassailable advantage he maintained to beat Holden's Todd Kelly and Ford's Mark Winterbottom.

Whincup was thrilled with the result, which came as Davison used his sprint tyres less successfully for just a few laps less.

"We're racing one car - and he used his tyres five laps less than what I did, so we're both pretty much on a level playing field," Whincup said.

With the title a two-horse race, Whincup just needs to keep finishing within sight of Davison to make safe a second consecutive title. Whincup has bounced back from a nightmarish round at the Gold Coast in October which threatened his title hopes, to win the past three races. He has now won 11 of the 23 races held this year.

It mirrors Whincup's late season rally in 2008, which helped net him a maiden title.

"I'm just driving at my potential I would say," Whincup said.

Today's race at Barbagallo is an 84-lap event, with the final two races of the season in Sydney next month.

- AAP