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V8 Supercar racing will offer one of the richest prizes in Australian sport, with a $2 million cash bonus for any driver who can win the newly-created Grand Slam in a single season.
The Grand Slam will take in this weekend’s Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, the Bathurst 1000, the Gold Coast SuperCarnivale and the final event of the year in Sydney.
The $2 million prize will be offered annually – a bounty which ranks favourably with the $3.3 million winners’ cheque for horse racing’s Melbourne Cup and the $2.1 million for Australian Open tennis’ men’s and women’s singles champions.
But the great unknown with the V8 prize is how close any one driver can realistically come to claiming the four big events of the season.
The Sydney street race was only introduced last year, and current series champion Jamie Whincup is the only driver to sweep the other three in recent seasons, winning Adelaide, Bathurst and Gold Coast in 2008.
V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane admitted it would be a difficult task for any driver to complete the Grand Slam, which he said would be an annual prize.
“It is a very, very tough call. They are very difficult, very different events that require a huge amount of fitness and a massive amount of concentration and a huge element of luck,” Cochrane said.
“Then you have to have every thing going right for you with the car as well – it’s a tough call and that is the reason why it is $2 million at the end of it.”
Whincup, currently the dominant driver in the sport, would appear the best chance of taking the prize in its debut year.
The Holden driver goes into this weekend’s Clipsal 500 having won the opening four races of the season, and three of the past four events run at the Adelaide street circuit.
“What a great incentive. I have got close before but wasn’t able to quite do it,” Whincup said.
“(With the prizemoney) if you won the first three and then coming into the last leg it would be playing on your mind that’s for sure.
“It’s a big ask, but it’s not impossible.”
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