The V8 Supercars season might be just around the corner, but fans, teams and their respective drivers are still faced with the same problem – no one seems to be able to compete with Triple Eight Racing.
Triple Eight have been the picture of dominance over the last decade in the Supercars Championship, with their key drivers Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes dominating everything.
To put it in a numerical value, they have won seven of the last nine drivers championships – that’s an insane figure and among the most dominant runs in any sport.
Whincup has done most of the damage, but there is no questioning, at least early in his run, how much he has benefited from the knowledge of the more senior Lowndes who has been competitive but hasn’t won the championship in Triple Eight’s run of domination.
Shane Van Gisbergen, one of the most aggressive drivers in the field, came into the fold last year and did some of his best work, not only beating everyone else but getting the better of his teammates to snatch an elusive first drivers championship.
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It was little wonder they won the best team award and in the lead-up to the new season, which gets underway with the Clipsal 500 around the streets of Adelaide, very little looks like changing.
Rather than asking which driver is going to win the 2017 championship, it feels like the question on everybody’s lips is ‘which Triple Eight driver is going to win the championship?’
It’s a scary thought to be saying that with the season just around the corner, but it follows a bit of a trend in motorsport at the moment, because it was no different in Formula One last year as Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton drove their Mercedes away from… well, everyone.
The only remaining question is can anyone stand up to Triple Eight and take the championship away from the now Holden Factory team for the first time since 2015 when Mark Winterbottom, driving for Prodrive, secured his first?
‘Frosty’ has to be one of the odds-on favourites to cause an upset. Even though Ford are no longer putting money into the category, his Prodrive team have been there and thereabouts over the last number of years, and the breakthrough in 2015 came as little surprise.
It was a matter of when Winterbottom was going to win the championship, rather than if. The same question is being asked about his second championship as well.
Winterbottom’s biggest challenge for the championship may come from within his own team, though, with Cameron Waters being one of the up-and-comers of the field.
Long marked as the pathway to the V8s, Waters won the Dunlop Series in 2015 before finishing 19th in the drivers championship last year, headlined by a fourth-place finish at Bathurst alongside fellow youngster Jack Le Brocq.
It would be fair to say Waters had very little luck driving in the top category last year, and even though it’s no longer the Ford Factory team, the Prodrive setup is an extremely professional one that has the tools and ability to reward good drivers.
The fact that Waters has been with them for some time means he has always been earmarked as one of the most talented young drivers in the country, and he showed it at Bathurst last year. While it might be a bridge too far to suggest he could actually win the Championship, he will certainly take the fight to the Triple Eight racers.
The other team racing with the blue oval on the front of the car in 2017 will be DJR Team Penske, with Fabian Coulthard always a force to be reckoned with.
The Kiwi, like Van Gisbergen, races aggressively more often than not but is yet to take the next step to become a real contender.
When there is only one other team not racing as Holden, it doesn’t fill anyone with great confidence either. The Nissans, racing with the Kellys at the helm, have struggled since they came into the category. No positive results have come from them and the pressure is on to succeed with Volvo pulling out during the off-season.
As for the rest of the Holden teams, it’s hard to see any competing with Triple Eight now they are the factory team. Walkinshaw Racing, who used to be the factory team, will have a point to prove, with James Courtney staying on, joined by youngster Scott Pye who will have the famous no.2 on the door.
The other team who may be able to cause an upset is Garry Rogers Motorsport. Back in the Holden colours, Garth Tander will be at the helm alongside James Moffatt.
Moffatt has had some impressive results over the last few years, while Tander will have plenty to prove. One of the most experienced drivers in the field, Tander will have a fire burning after he was cut from the Walkinshaw set-up at the end of last season.
The bottom line heading into 2017 is that the Triple Eight racing team, led by Whincup, are the favourites without a doubt and it’s up to the rest to stick it to the man, or else we might as well award the trophy to the boys from the Holden Factory team now.
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