Jamie Whincup is arguably the best Australian Touring Car driver of his generation.
In his 10 full time seasons in the V8 Supercars series, he has won the championship five times. In the past seven years, he has finished no worse than second in the championship.
From 308 starts, he has 76 victories (24.6%), 145 top three finishes (47%) and 209 top 10 finishes (68%).
In comparison, his teammate Craig Lowndes, the most popular driver in the sport, has won three (3) championships, 95 victories (18.6%), 219 top three results (43%) and 377 top 10 (74%) from 510 starts.
So why is Jamie Whincup the recipient of such intense criticism?
Facebook – Female – Tasmania “Whingecup blow an engine ffs,,,,lowndes stop kissin ass n lettin that toss win, your so much better than him…..GO LOWNDES”
Last weekend, the V8 Supercar season kicked off at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. On Saturday afternoon, Jamie Whincup took his opportunities to win the first race of championship, signalling that he had lost none of his determination to continue his domination.
Meanwhile, social media exploded with comments slamming his success.
As the Saturday evening race unfolded, a pit stop error caused the reigning champion to lose track position, but Whincup was not going to let this setback allow him to write off the race.
He demonstrated why he is the five time champion, driving back through the field to eventually take second place from the young gun Scott McLaughlin in the brand new Volvo with five turns remaining on the final lap.
At that moment a darkness descended over the crowd of 79,200, when they simultaneously erupted in booing, the likes of which have not been heard at a motor racing circuit in this country.
As the champion entered the final turn, he made a rare error and McLaughlin was able to retake second (second) position, the crowd reacted in exaltation befitting the effort of the young driver and his achievement.
Facebook – Female – South Australia “You dirty pri** Whincup, can’t you win unless you bully someone else off the track?”
Facebook – Female – Victoria “whincup is such a dirty driver, so glad mclaughlin took him down, great race!”
Whincup, is not an extravert and does not carry on with overjoyed celebrations following a race, even when he wins, and following Saturday’s race he was measured and controlled when interviewed on Channel 7, which adds fuel to the detractor’s fire.
Facebook – Male – Unknown “Congrats Craig. I must say I feel that Jamie needs to watch the way he acts. After getting his trophy he decided that he would drench the girls on the podium with Champagne. Scott and Craig drenched themselves and then the crowd. The only word I can think of starts with W.”
On Sunday, Whincup’s efforts in the car were affected when the car controller assisted in repairing some damage to the car, which resulted in a penalty for Whincup.
This penalty was immediately disputed by the team and again social media erupted with denigrating comments against Whincup and the team. When the penalty was upheld and he brought the car down pit lane, again the crowd roared with cheers.
Facebook – Male – Queensland “Well spotted by Crompo to nail whincup who probably would have got away with it”
Facebook – Male – New South Wales “Hahahahahahahahahahahahah sucked in you p**f wincup”
Some speculate that these reactions can be attributed to the tall poppy syndrome, a reaction to Whincup’s complete dominance of the sport over the past seven years.
However, it is inconceivable that Bradman, Laver, Charlton, or Lindrum would ever have been treated with the same distain by an Australian Crowd.
Others suggest it is a motor sport-related behaviour as Sebastian Vettel , the four time Formula OneChampion was last year repeatedly booed by spectators while on the winner’s podium.
Craig Lowndes, when asked about the crowd’s reaction to his teammate said, “fans are always passionate, it doesn’t matter where you go or what you do, people are either going to love you or hate you, it’s part of the passion of Motor Sport.”
V8 Supercars would not comment on the crowd’s behaviour towards the five time champion.
Even teammate Lowndes cannot understand why the reaction is so negative, “I work with Jamie a lot, and know he is very focused, very determined about what he wants to do and where he is, whether that comes across as a little bit arrogant, maybe? But he always has time to have a talk and a chat. Hopefully, they will change their opinion of him as time goes on.”
Lowndes believes that the same people booing him today, will in 10 years’ time be the ones that tell of how they saw Jamie Whincup when he was at his peak. “There is no doubt, he’s hugely talented, had great success but it is just par for the course.”
Over the past four years, many sportsmen and women have suffered cyber bullying, and abuse for their thoughtless tweets and posts, and even for their illegal or careless behaviour away from the sporting arena, but in the case of Whincup, the criticism seems to be purely for being too successful in his profession.
Last weekend demonstrated that the respect for a man who is totally focused on his sporting career and has achieved an unprecedented level of success falls well short of the reverence held for sportsmen who dominated their field like Bradman, Laver, Charlton, or Lindrum.
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