Enduro Countdown
The countdown is on with less than a month to go for the L&H 500 and with no racing since July, excitement is reaching fever-pitch. Like the other V8 Supercar drivers, Jamie Whincup can’t wait to jump back in his TeamVodafone Commodore. “I haven’t been in the car since Townsville,” he said. TeamVodafone will hold a full-blown test day next week for the drivers to get back into the swing of things along with a rookie day where, of course, J-Dub will not be doing any miles at. “It’s funny, Mark Skaife (his teammate Craig Lowndes’ enduro co-driver) is coming on to our rookie day. How Mark Skaife’s a rookie, I don’t know,” he laughed.
The reigning V8 champ, who releases a book after Phillip Island, has Steve Owen on board as his co-driver for the L&H 500 and while he’s in it to win it, his focus will be on racking up the points. “I’m not thinking about winning; I go into every race wanting to win,” J-Dub explained. “I see the Championship as broken into three parts. There’s the start of the year, then the next three races which are dual driver enduros and then you’ve got the three races at the end. “I don’t see it as massively important to go to Phillip Island to win. I’m going to achieve as much as I can with my new teammate Steve Owen.” If other drivers who are in the Championship hunt take a similar conservative approach to the L&H 500, we may just well witness a surprise win.
Pic: Wishing Murphy a speedy recovery.
One driver who probably won’t get the chance is Greg Murphy. Murph will probably miss the 500-kay enduro after he had surgery to fix a bulged disc in his lower back. “I would like to think it’s a 50/50 chance – that would be very good odds – but it’s just too early to tell whether I’m going to make or not,” he said. All of us here at XXXX Gold wish you a speedy recovery, Murph, and hope you make it to the grid in your Castrol Edge Commodore.
Tickets for the L&H 500, which takes place from September 10-12, can be bought via ticketek.com If you’re just twiddling your thumbs waiting for the next installment of the V8 Supercars action, why not fill in some time filling out the XXXX Gold Ultimate V8 Supercar Fan Survey at http://www.xxxxgoldv8supercars.com.au/v8X-ultimate-fan-survey/ or check out the competition to win big by creating your own XXXX Gold Retreat.
