V8s crown a new leader
The V8 Supercar event at Winton Motor Raceway saw a potential new champion emerge along with some ripper racing on the soft tyres. For the first time Bathurst 2008, TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup is not leading the Championship. Instead, thanks to another two race wins on the soft tyres, Jim Beam Racing’s James Courtney now currently has the honour of leading the Championship.
Whincup’s teammate Craig Lowndes, who won both races at Winton in 2009, was quickest in practice on Friday and although he picked up podiums in both of this year’s races, Courtney was unbeatable. The Jim Beam driver scored pole for the Saturday race and his Shootout lap was the quickest anyone had ever done up to that point at Winton. Courtney went on to win that 120km race and although he started the Sunday 200km race from sixth a good pitstop strategy combined with skillfully working his way through the field landed him on the top spot of the podium again. He earned the title of Soft Tyre Master because he also won both races on the soft tyres at Queensland Raceway earlier this month. Although Whincup finished third in the Saturday race, it was enough for Courtney to close the Championship gap to a mere three points but when Whincup ended up in the kitty litter at turn four the Championship lead was handed to Courtney.
Pic: Whincup getting pushed around and forced into the kitty litter
Credit: Justin Deeley
Toll Holden Racing Team suffered its own dramas at what is its test track, no least when Garth Tander took out his teammate Will Davison in the Saturday race. GT went on to struggle with tyre life on his #2 Commodore in the Sunday race to finish eighth and Davison’s disappointing year continued with him finishing in 18th.
Winton is a tiny town with a very small population but its biggest V8 Supercar fan would have to be 13-year-old Brett. Brett hand makes signs with messages of support for Walkinshaw Racing which he puts up in front of his house which the teams can see as they drive into Winton Raceway. Although his beloved HRT did not go well, he was rapt to help out the team’s tyre manager Joe checking tyre pressures and such and Brett, who has completed four go kart club days, hopes one day to become a V8 Supercar driver. Those not lucky enough to live on the raceway’s doorstep braved the chilly nights to camp alongside the track. Winton is one of the few V8 events where fans can camp and a group which calls themselves Team Chuck Racing had people from the Queensland and Western Australian “chapters” fly down for the event. Now that’s a dedicated V8 Supercar fan for you.
