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His final margin of victory is growing by the race but Jamie Whincup’s sixth V8 Supercars championship has been anything but straightforward.
Between the March meet at Tasmania’s Symmons Plains and the trip to Hidden Valley near Darwin in June, Whincup went without a podium finish.
After five rounds, Whincup slumped to sixth place in the standings as title rival Mark Winterbottom surged.
His two race wins in the Northern Territory would lay the groundwork for a remarkable recovery.
In the 18 races since that turning point, Whincup finished on the podium 13 times, winning nine.
Celebrating his title success on Saturday at Phillip Island, Whincup said it was this comeback that made his latest championship all the sweeter.
“No disrespect to the other championships, they were all solid dog-fights right to the end,” he said.
“But this year’s thrown massive challenges in front of us.
“We were well and truly off the boil.”
Whincup leads the standings by 461 points with four races and a maximum 450 points remaining.
If he keeps his focus, that margin will surely lift, such is the dominance of the Red Bull Racing car No.1.
In recent meets as Whincup roared away, his rivals simply blew apart.
Since the weekend in the Top End that reversed Whincup’s fortunes, Winterbottom has claimed just two podiums, while his Red Bull teammate Craig Lowndes is without a win.
A string of strong results to Shane van Gisbergen catapulted him close to Whincup too but when it mattered on Phillip Island, the Kiwi finished well down the order after a qualifying crash of his doing.
And the bad news for Whincup’s competition is that he has no plans to go anywhere.
The 31-year-old said another championship had not diminished his enjoyment of the sport.
“I was happy with one (title), then three was out of control and the rest has been a bit of a bonus,” he said.
“Over the years the motivation comes and goes but it’s never been as high as it is right now.
“I can’t see myself moving anywhere else.”
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