Motorsport: Whincup well placed for sixth V8 title

Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen will be looking to overtake Mark Winterbottom at Phillip Island. Photo / Mark Horsburgh

V8 Supercars history could be made this weekend in the penultimate round of the 2014 championship at Phillip Island. The three endurance rounds have been done and dusted and the drivers get the cars back to themselves for the regular sprint round format.

Series leader Jamie Whincup has a 402-point safety net over Mark Winterbottom with Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen breathing down the FPR driver's neck 76 points further back.

If the Triple Eight driver can extend his points lead this weekend he'll be in the box seat to become the first driver to win six Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercars championships. In fact, if he can extend his points advantage to 450 or more over these two days he will be crowned champion elect. Of late, Whincup has found scintillating form finishing in the top seven in the last 18 races in a row with eight wins and 12 podium finishes over the same period.

"We had an up and down run [Phillip Island] in 2013. Hopefully we learned a bit there last year to put us in good shape for this time around," Whincup told V8 Supercars.

"It's all systems go for me. I'm not conserving, I'm not really looking for points or anything. I'll just be going out there, going hard and preparing, doing exactly what I've been doing for the last six months and see how far up we can get car number 1."

Bar an unforseen disaster, the series is Whincup's to lose, so most eyes will be on the tussle between van Gisbergen and Winterbottom. The Kiwi had an up-and-down start to the season, mixing wins and podiums with mid-pack finishes. Lately though, he and his Tekno Autosports team have found some consistency and he's been a regular top-seven finisher in the last 10 races.

"It should be an exciting weekend and I hope we can keep our good form going," said van Gisbergen on his way to the track. "We weren't that good at Phillip Island last year but we've really improved our car on tracks like that this year. I'm looking forward to racing here as the car's been good the last few rounds and we want to keep that going and get some more points.

"It's going to be different getting back into the sprint-round format with short practices and short races on Saturday. We'll just have to adjust back into that mode of thinking and racing.

"We're on hards [tyres] this weekend and with the minimum tyre pressure rule it should suit us well. The points are so close we could get into second, or fall a long way behind. It'll be tough though as the Fords are always quick at the Island."

Volvo driver and fellow Kiwi Scott McLaughlin may be out of championship contention, but he's locked in a battle with Whincup for the Armour All Pole Position Award.

The Kiwi is hoping to knock the Red Bull Racing Australia driver of his perch and stop him winning his sixth pole award in seven years.

The two are neck-and-neck with eight apiece, but Phillip Island will favour Whincup as he's notched up four poles there while McLaughlin has raced there only once.

"I'm actually looking forward to the weekend and we should go all right," said McLaughlin.

"I enjoy the track and I think it should suit our car pretty well. Getting the set-up right at Phillip Island will be hard for us in the Volvo as we're new here."

Third Kiwi in the field Fabian Coulthard has been a little quiet lately and is keen to get down to business as Phillip Island has been a happy hunting ground for him in the past. Last year he finished second in the first race, and nabbed pole from teammate Jason Bright.

"The track surface is pretty grippy and our cars normally go good in high-grip situation," Coulthard said.

Obviously we didn't have good enduro rounds but Phillip Island couldn't be more different, so hopefully we can get some good points and cement that top-five position in the championship."

Standings
V8 Supercars points after
12 rounds
1. Jamie Whincup 2835
2. Mark Winterbottom 2433
3. Shane van Gisbergen 2357
4. Craig Lowndes 2331
5. Fabian Coulthard 2192
6. Chaz Mostert 2192
7. James Courtney 2135
8. Scott McLaughlin 2019