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Greatness beckons Jamie Whincup at Sunday’s Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama.
But it seems the Holden champion is not listening.
The stage is set for Whincup to officially enter the pantheon of V8 Supercars legends with a fifth Bathurst crown this weekend after finally scratching an itch on Saturday – claiming his first pole position on the mountain.
However, defending champion Whincup claimed he had no interest in records despite adding another entry to his stellar resume on Saturday.
“It’s not something that motivates me,” Whincup said.
“I am not big on stats or anything like that.
“I can die now knowing I have achieved a pole position at Bathurst but pay day is tomorrow.”
However, it seems Whincup will be considered among the V8 greats whether he likes it or not if he backs up his stirring qualifying effort with yet another Bathurst triumph on Sunday.
Only something special was going to dampen Blue Oval fans’ spirits on Saturday after Ford confirmed it would re-commit to V8 Supercars next year just minutes before top 10 qualifying.
It lifted a dark cloud that had loomed over Ford after the manufacturer announced in May it would cease operating in Australia by 2016 and retire the Falcon name.
And Ford gun Mark Winterbottom kept the Blue Oval fans cheering when he clocked two minutes, 8.07 seconds to top the timesheets with just Whincup to come in the shootout.
But Whincup showed why many believe he will be known as a V8 great by topping the timesheets with a scintillating 2:07:88.
It marked the four-time V8 champion’s 50th career pole, becoming the only active driver to boast the honour.
Third fastest was Holden veteran Jason Bright (2:08.27) who just pipped flying Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen (2:08.28).
Holden’s five-time Bathurst champion Craig Lowndes – set to contest his 20th Bathurst and 500th Australian touring car/V8 start on Sunday – was sixth fastest for the 161-lap epic.
Whincup later dropped his guard when he surprisingly revealed co-driver Paul Dumbrell would start Sunday’s enduro.
“I shouldn’t have given that away should I?” Whincup laughed.
“But I find it challenging jumping into the car after the race has started so I did not want to put that pressure on Paul at all.
“So with me being a regular driver and knowing the car well I can jump into the second stint – well that’s the plan anyway.
“We are really lucky that Paul’s times are as quick as mine, so we don’t need to concentrate on Paul doing the minimal amount of laps.
“He’ll probably do half the race if not more tomorrow, so we’re not restricted.”
Asked of his winning chances on Sunday, Whincup kept to this low key approach ahead of the great race.
“I think we’re as good a chance as any,” he smiled.
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