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Ford’s Jamie Whincup fired his biggest V8 Supercar championship shot at Barbagallo Raceway on Saturday, and it may have mortally wounded the hopes of nearest rival Will Davison.
Whincup gave his chances of back-to-back titles a massive boost with a race win which extended his championship lead to 161 points over Holden Racing Team’s Davison with just three races remaining this season.
It was a brave all-or-nothing tyre strategy which won the race for Whincup, as Davison missed the podium to finish fifth.
Whincup’s Team Vodafone chose to spend their entire set of soft sprint tyres — which help cars go much faster than on normal tyres — in the first half of Saturday’s 42-lap race.
Once the tyres were worn, Whincup emerged from his pit stop with an unassailable advantage he maintained to beat Holden’s Todd Kelly and Ford’s Mark Winterbottom.
Whincup was understandably thrilled with the result, which came as Davison used his sprint tyres less successfully for just a few laps less.
“We’re racing one car — and he used his tyres five laps less than what I did so we’re both pretty much on a level playing field,” Whincup said.
“We’ll go out and race him tomorrow and try to beat him.
“We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see whether (using the tyres) was a good idea or not, but the position we’re in, we have to get as many points as we can now.”
With the title a two-horse race, Whincup just needs to keep finishing within sight of Davison to make safe a second consecutive title.
Whincup has bounced back from a nightmarish round at the Gold Coast in October which threatened his title hopes to win the past three races.
He has now won 11 of the 23 races held this year, and the victory was also Team Vodafone’s first win at Barbagallo Raceway
It mirrors Whincup’s late season rally in 2008 which helped net him a maiden title.
“I’m just driving at my potential I would say – I think I peaked at the end of last year and I feel like I’m back there after the Super GP (Gold Coast),” Whincup said.
Whincup’s teammate Craig Lowndes, who started from pole position, finished sixth using a different tyre strategy.
Sunday’s race at Barbagallo is an 84-lap event, with the final two races of the season in Sydney next month.
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