Craig Lowndes had it, so did Mark Skaife, Marcos Ambrose too, and after watching race four of the V8 Supercars from Bahrain this past weekend you can be pretty sure that Jamie Whincup wants it. Domination. Everyone wants it; just ask Max Mosely, but does Whincup have it? After fluffing the start from pole yesterday and falling back as far as 5th, the man who said he wanted to retire from V8′s at the age of 30 sliced his way to the lead in 7 laps, passing Lee Holdsworth, James Courtney, Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom along the way, who are no tortoises in a hare race.
Although they haven’t won the first four races of the last two seasons and then backed that success up with a Championship at the other end. That is something, for now at least, that Whincup has on all of them. Who knows what the upcoming season holds, let alone the next three or four. Who knows, Whincup might go on to win the next two championships, or as far fetched an idea as it may sound right now, he might not win this year.
Imagine that, Whincup racing in 2011 with the number 88 again. Surely not you protest! Burn the witch you might cry at such an absurd declaration. But all the greats fall eventually, some last longer than others, but as sure as a safety car at the Clipsal 500, they always fall. The question is who is going to be there to take the wheel from Whincup.
Much of the talk before the season started focused on Team Vodafone and the Holden Racing Team. Goliath vs Goliath. Will Davison and Garth Tander were considered favourites for the Championship, cashing in on an expected slow starting Team Vodafone who were meant to spend the first few rounds finding their setups in the Commodore. Instead, Whincup clean swept the Middle East and his closest challenger was not the HRT drivers, who he left in the dust of Bahrain some 345 and 453 points behind him respectively, but Mark Winterbottom in a Ford. You know, the car that everyone forgot about after Team Vodafone’s switch from blue camp to red.
So I’m going to stick my neck out, albeit not very far, and predict Mark Winterbottom as the man most likely to deny Jamie Whincup and I think he might just do it this year. Winterbottom has been at the pointy end of the grid since 2006 when he joined FPR and was runner up to Whincup in 2008. For 2009 he had a fast car, but an under developed race car, which saw him struggle to get the results he was expected to get and deserved after such a strong 2008.
2010 has started with the kind of form expected from 2009. The car is clearly competitive, Winterbottom seems as motivated as ever. Most importantly however is that the results are in the bag early on, which has been Whincup’s strength the last two years, and the reason why I expect the HRT boys to struggle. Tander especially will need a flawless 2010 from here on in to have any chance at fighting for the title. I’m not going to write him off just yet, but before him lies a mountain to climb greater than Bathurst, and if Whincup and Winterbottom’s form holds throughout the season, it’s going to be a tough ask of anyone to beat them. On the track that is, not in a secret, dark, Nazi chamber of punishment, thank you Mr Mosely.
Forecast for 2010: Frosty
01 March 2010 19:03 PMCraig Lowndes had it, so did Mark Skaife, Marcos Ambrose too, and after watching race four of the V8 Supercars from Bahrain this past weekend you can be pretty sure that Jamie Whincup wants it. Domination. Everyone wants it; just ask Max Mosely, but does Whincup have it? After fluffing the start from pole yesterday and falling back as far as 5th, the man who said he wanted to retire from V8′s at the age of 30 sliced his way to the lead in 7 laps, passing Lee Holdsworth, James Courtney, Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom along the way, who are no tortoises in a hare race.
Although they haven’t won the first four races of the last two seasons and then backed that success up with a Championship at the other end. That is something, for now at least, that Whincup has on all of them. Who knows what the upcoming season holds, let alone the next three or four. Who knows, Whincup might go on to win the next two championships, or as far fetched an idea as it may sound right now, he might not win this year.
Imagine that, Whincup racing in 2011 with the number 88 again. Surely not you protest! Burn the witch you might cry at such an absurd declaration. But all the greats fall eventually, some last longer than others, but as sure as a safety car at the Clipsal 500, they always fall. The question is who is going to be there to take the wheel from Whincup.
Much of the talk before the season started focused on Team Vodafone and the Holden Racing Team. Goliath vs Goliath. Will Davison and Garth Tander were considered favourites for the Championship, cashing in on an expected slow starting Team Vodafone who were meant to spend the first few rounds finding their setups in the Commodore. Instead, Whincup clean swept the Middle East and his closest challenger was not the HRT drivers, who he left in the dust of Bahrain some 345 and 453 points behind him respectively, but Mark Winterbottom in a Ford. You know, the car that everyone forgot about after Team Vodafone’s switch from blue camp to red.
So I’m going to stick my neck out, albeit not very far, and predict Mark Winterbottom as the man most likely to deny Jamie Whincup and I think he might just do it this year. Winterbottom has been at the pointy end of the grid since 2006 when he joined FPR and was runner up to Whincup in 2008. For 2009 he had a fast car, but an under developed race car, which saw him struggle to get the results he was expected to get and deserved after such a strong 2008.
2010 has started with the kind of form expected from 2009. The car is clearly competitive, Winterbottom seems as motivated as ever. Most importantly however is that the results are in the bag early on, which has been Whincup’s strength the last two years, and the reason why I expect the HRT boys to struggle. Tander especially will need a flawless 2010 from here on in to have any chance at fighting for the title. I’m not going to write him off just yet, but before him lies a mountain to climb greater than Bathurst, and if Whincup and Winterbottom’s form holds throughout the season, it’s going to be a tough ask of anyone to beat them. On the track that is, not in a secret, dark, Nazi chamber of punishment, thank you Mr Mosely.