Can Jamie Whincup create history today and wrap up his sixth V8 Supercar championship in seven years? Join The Roar for live blog and commentary of qualifying and races 33 and 34 in the championship from 11:40am (AEDT).
With enough points today Whincup can wrap up the 2014 V8 Supercars title and create history in the Australia Touring Car Championship.
In the history of the ATCC/V8SC championship, only Jamie Whincup, Ian Geoghegan, Dick Johnson, and Mark Skaife have won five titles in the category.
Whincup can become the first driver to secure his sixth title in the category. It would also be his fourth straight title in the category and his sixth title in seven years.
Heading into this weekend’s races, Whincup leads the championship by 402 points over Mark Winterbottom.
Only four drivers, including Whincup, are in contention for the title, with Craig Lowndes (478 points) and Shane Van Gisbergen (504 points) still alive. With only 600 points left to be won in the season, time is running out for the rest of the field.
The two races today see 150 points on offer, with 75 points to be awarded to the winner of each race.
If Whincup leads by 451 points at the end of today’s racing, he wins the title. This means that if Whincup gains 49 points more than Winterbottom he wins the title if Van Gisbergen and Lowndes don’t gain a point on him.
For Winterbottom to keep the championship alive he needs to score a minimum of 103 points – that equates to a fifth and a sixth place in the two races.
For Lowndes and Van Gisbergen to remain alive they need to win both races today and for Whincup to score less than 122 points (Van Gisbergen) or 96 points (Lowndes).
Red Bull Racing was the quickest in practice yesterday. In the final practice of the day Lowndes and Whincup were the quickest by almost four-tenths to the rest of the field.
Lowndes was quickest with a 1:30.6899, with Whincup in second with a time of 1:30.7437.
Scott McLaughlin (Volvo) was third, with Shane Van Gisbergen and Fabian Coulthard in the top five. Mark Winterbottom was 11th and almost six-tenths behind the Red Bull duo in the session.
Recent history at the Island suggests it is a weekend between Ford Performance Racing, the Holden Racing Team, and Red Bull Racing.
In the last nine races at the Island, including four 500 kilometres endurance races, Red Bull, HRT, and FPR have won all the events. Red Bull has won four races, HRT have won three and FPR have won two.
Today sees two 100-kilometre races, with a 200-kilometre race tomorrow.
This weekend also sees teams use the hard compound tyre. Each car has been given 24 tyres for the weekend, how the teams handle the sets of tyres will be interesting.
It promises to be a big weekend of racing as the V8 Supercars hit the Island. Join the Roar for all the action today and tomorrow.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
That is all from me today. History has been made. Jamie Whincup is a 6 time champion of V8 Supercars. I'll be back tomorrow for Race 35. Until then it is bye for now.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
POINTS OVERALL THIS WEEKEND - TOP 5 1. Jamie Whincup 139 2. Craig Lowndes 138 3. Scott McLaughlin 126 4. Garth Tander 120 5. Michael Caruso 103 CURRENT POINTS STANDINGS Jamie Whincup – 2974 Mark Winterbottom – 2513 (461) Craig Lowndes – 2469 (505) Shane Van Gisbergen – 2397 (577)
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Race 34 results - 1. Jamie Whincup - Red Bull Racing - Holden 2. Craig Lowndes - Red Bull Racing - Holden 3. Mark Winterbottom - Ford Performance Racing - Ford 4. Garth Tander - Holden Racing Team - Holden 5. Todd Kelly - Jack Daniel's Racing - Nissan 6. Scott McLaughlin - Valvoline GRM - Volvo 7. Michael Caruso - Norton Hornet - Nissan 8. Rick Kelly - Jack Daniel's Racing - Nissan 9. Chaz Mostert - Ford Performance Racing - Ford 10. Nick Percat - Walkinshaw Racing - Holden 11. James Moffat - Norton Hornet - Nissan 12. David Reynolds - Bottle O Racing - Ford 13. James Courtney - Holden Racing Team - Holden 14. Will Davison - Erebus Racing - Mercedes 15. Scott Pye - Dick Johnson Racing - Ford 16. Fabian Coulthard - Lockwood Racing - Holden 17. Jason Bright - Team BOC - Holden 18. Shane Van Gisbergen - Tekno Autosport - Holden 19. Russell Ingall - Lucas Dumbrell Racing - Holden 20. David Wall - Dick Johnson Racing - Ford 21. Lee Holdsworth - Erebus Racing - Mercedes 22. Dale Wood - Brad Jones Racing - Holden 23. Robert Dahlgren - Valvoline GRM - Volvo 24. Jack Perkins - Team JELDWEN - Ford 25. Tim Slade - Supercheap Auto Racing - Holden
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Craig Lowndes finished 2nd with Mark Winterbottom in third. Garth Tander and Todd Kelly rounded out the top 5. Whincup leads by 461 points after today. Only 450 points remain to be won in the season. Whincup can't be caught this year. Unbelievable effort from him and the team.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Jamie Whincup wins Race 34 of the championship. He also wins the V8 Supercar Championship. His 6th title in his career and his 4th title in a row. He is a freak and a superstar. What an achievement.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Final Lap: Whincup is one lap away from the championship. McLaughlin is trying to overtake T. Kelly for 5th.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
22/23 Two laps to go. Winterbottom has maintained the gap at 1.1 seconds between him and Tander..
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
21/23 Three laps to go. Whincup is three laps away from the championship title.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
19/23 Tander is 1.1 seconds away from Winterbottom.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
18/23 Van Gisbergen locks the rears into turn 10 and almost loses a position to Bright. Bright then loses spots to Pye and Coulthard. He goes from 16th to 18th.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
17/23 Tander is closing on Winterbottom for third. He is 1.8 seconds from the FPR driver.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
16/23 Lowndes has reduced the gap to 1.3 seconds.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
14/23 Van Gisbergen is still 15th. Coulthard has moved from 25th to 18th in the race.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
13/23 Whincup leads by 1.6 seconds over Lowndes.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
11/23 Slade pits with those steering problems. ORDER - Whincup, Lowndes, Winterbottom, Tander, T. Kelly.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
9/23 Tander overtakes T. Kelly for fourth into turn 4. He is now 4th.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
9/23 Tim Slade and Lee Holdsworth have gone off at turn 10. Slade went too deep into the turn and took both drivers off the circuit. He has suffered some steering damage to the Supercheap Auto Racing car.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
7/23 Tander goes off at turn 1 and gives the spot back to T. Kelly. He is now 5th.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
7/23 Whincup leads by 1.5 seconds over Lowndes. Shane Van Gisbergen is 15th after starting from 24th. He has had a good race so far.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
6/23 Tander passes T. Kelly for fourth. Watch out for him. He had plenty of pace in the last race. He is 2.5 seconds away from Winterbottom in third.