Motorsport: Whincup's all or nothing Bathurst approach

Jamie Whincup in action during the Winton SuperSprint. Photo / Getty Images

Jamie Whincup's record at Bathurst makes phenomenal reading. The Red Bull Holden Racing driver has collected four wins at Mt Panorama and has been in a position to win as many others.

But for some uncharacteristic errors and bad luck the Supercars all-time wins leader could well be challenging the late great Peter Brock for most wins at the iconic race as well.

The 34-year-old won collected three-straight wins at Bathurst alongside teammate Craig Lowndes from 2006-08. He added a fourth win in 2012 with Paul Dumbrell but has seen wins slip from his grasp the past three years.

He ignored team instructions to back off and conserve fuel while battling Chaz Mostert in the closing stages of the 2014 race and ran out of fuel with a couple of corners to go, dropping to fifth as the car coasted to the finish. In 2015 he again ignored team orders to pit and blazed past a safety car, which saw him handed a drive-through penalty and cost him any chance of winning while in 2016 he made a tiny error in trying to pass Scott McLaughlin for the lead of the race. It started a sequence of events that saw both McLaughlin and Garth Tander crash out of the race. Whincup went on to cross the line first but was handed a time penalty that saw him drop to 11th.

"That is all in the past - I am not thinking about last year or any year," Whincup told The Herald. "I am just focused on this year and trying to get the best result for car 88.

"Everyone has rated my performance here in the past good, bad and indifferent. It isn't up to me to rate my job or what I've done here in the past. I have come here and prepared well and given it my all every year and I have been in contention most years."

The six-time series champion doesn't feel he's made more errors at Bathurst than at other venues or that it is much of a talking point.

"At the end of the day I was just out there racing and they decided to give me a penalty. A safety car had the green lights on - they weren't errors on my part. I have gone as hard as I can, I have represented well, we haven't quite stood on the top step of the podium the last few years but I am still proud of the efforts we have put in.

"For a couple of years there would be 10-12 guys that had hard luck stories. I am just one of those. I have been as close as anyone to standing on that top step but it hasn't happened the last few years.

"At the end of the day I am very proud to have won four of them up here and would love to make it five."

A win this year would see Whincup climb to outright sixth on the all-time win's list and in elite company.

"The numbers don't mean anything to us right now," he said. "I am sure they will one day. They just tick along in the background - it is all about this weekend for me."

And that attitude will see Whincup put his championship scenario to one side as he goes all-out for a race win. He heads to Mt Panorama 84 points behind Kiwi Scott McLaughlin in the championship battle.

"We are in there - unfortunately we lost 80 points at Sandown but we are in contention, which is fantastic this time of year and we would love to go out of this weekend in contention. All in all it is all about Bathurst - it is the biggest race of the year by a longshot. To a lot of people it is the biggest prize of the year.

"It is a very important weekend for us - we want to go well and we would compromise championship if it means getting a good result this weekend."

Predictions
Car to beat: Shane van Gisbergen and Matt Campbell. The Red Bull Holden pairing was right in the running at Sandown despite qualifying poorly. Van Gisbergen has nothing to lose and will be aggressive in pursuit of a Bathurst win.
Don't discount: Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell form a formidable combination and should be in the hunt while series leader Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat loom as obvious contenders.
Dark horse: Garth Tander and James Golding drive for a team that knows how to get the best out of its machinery. Watch for Tander's experience to shine through late.
Pressure on: Mark Winterbottom and Dean Canto have been outshone by their Prodrive stablemates over the past couple of seasons. Frosty needs a result before questions around his future will surely surface.