Motorsport: Whincup's win 'only made him hungrier'

Mark 'Frosty' Winterbottom, fastest in testing this week at Winton, is pushing hard to upset rival Jamie Whincup this season. Photo / Getty Images

SYDNEY - Ford Performance Racing driver Mark Winterbottom says the memory of Jamie Whincup winning the V8 Supercar championship drove him to his best-ever off-season.

Winterbottom, who finished behind long-time rival Whincup in last year's championship standings, admits he has been using the disappointment to push himself harder than ever before during the off-season break.

And those efforts on the treadmill and in the gym appeared to pay off with the 27-year-old posting the fastest time during this week's testing session at Winton.

"I've trained a lot harder this year for the season than what I have in the other years because we've had time to do it and I've been injury free as well," he said.

"Also when you watch someone get the championship trophy that you think could be yours that motivates you ... to give you an extra 5-10 minutes on the treadmill or push an extra couple of weights because you can see his face holding the trophy.

"That's enough motivation to get me going."

Whincup began his title push last year with a whopping 300-point haul at the season opener in Adelaide, immediately meaning Winterbottom was starting the year from a chasing position.

And Winterbottom knew getting off to a good start at next week's Clipsal 500 would be as crucial as ever.

"To get 300 points like he did, and I got 138 because I crashed in race two, you're already 162 points behind the eight-ball," he said of Whincup's success last year.

"It also motivates the team because you've built momentum early.

"We've always had a good race one and either a crash or a letdown in race two so we haven't actually had the maximum points that we should have and you do feel like you're playing catch up a little bit.

"When you're leading you don't take risks but when you're chasing you're probably more aggressive in your approach.

"So Adelaide is important, we need to make sure we start well and take a lot of points from both races."

One thing Winterbottom feels will give him the advantage as teams wrestle with new cars, new regulations and the new 85 per cent ethanol fuel mix is the stability within his own team.

He said that could give him an edge over teams such as Holden Racing Team, where Will Davison has stepped into the seat vacated by Mark Skaife's retirement.

"It's important, especially when you've got new cars and everything like that because you want to just go out and not learn the person as well as the car," he said.

"You do lag a little bit until you find your feet - it's all confidence and it does take time.

"Continuity is a big thing and we've got it but our rivals at Triple Eight have it as well and a couple of other teams."

- AAP