Who'll be on top at the Top End?

Following a near-monthlong layoff, the Supercars championship will roar back into action at the Top End of Australia, for the Darwin SuperSprint.

The battle for title supremacy will continue to heat up, both in the literal sense and metaphorical, with scorching conditions set to grace the drivers – as well as fierce competition across the grid.

Championship leaders in DJR Team Penske arrive at the Hidden Valley circuit having never won in Darwin, in all the 20 years that the category has visited the Top End.

Fabian Coulthard sits atop the standings with a mere four-point margin over the winless Jamie Whincup, who has expressed his desperation for a race victory in 2017 – having not stood on the top step of the podium since the 2016 finale in Sydney.

Having felt on this column that the six-time Supercars champion should have eyes on the big prize at the end of the year, Whincup himself has attested to The Daily Telegraph this week that “It is not about consolidating points for me,”

“It is about winning races. The fun bit is going out there and going hard. I want to win.”

With Triple Eight having regained speed at the last round in Winton, there is set to be a close contest between themselves, DJR Team Penske and the Prodrive Fords.

All have also participated in a mandatory test day during the break, at their respective home circuits, with the data accumulated of immense value in each team’s progress through the season.

The top five in the championship are separated by 199 points, with a maximum of 300 on offer across the two races over the weekend.

With the hunt for the title as tight as it is, it is difficult to fathom that high-profile names such as Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom are sitting outside the top five.

(AAP Image/Edge Photographics)

Their deficit however isn’t too dear, with 357 points being spread across the top ten – and drivers like Garth Tander, David Reynolds and Cam Waters edging closer to podiums and wins themselves.

Hidden Valley is known well for surprises, with its 2.9km anticlockwise layout having yielded six different winners in the last eight races, including Nissan’s Michael Caruso who won the Saturday race in 2016.

Despite the lengthy pit-straight and their power deficit to the Ford and Holden teams, Nissan will be targeting strong results in Darwin, across their fleet which will expand to five cars this weekend, to accommodate Super2 wildcard in Jack Le Brocq.

Having been a wildcard at the previous round at Winton, Brad Jones Racing’s Macauley Jones also gets another bout in the main-game, achieving finishes of 20th and 23rd on his debut weekend.

Joining the grid for the next two rounds will be former Supercars stalwart in Cameron McConville, who will drive for the Lucas Dumbrell squad in place of Taz Douglas. LDM’s main driver Alex Rullo upon celebrating his 17th birthday this week, has also attained a full Superlicence – having been provisionally on one until he reached 17.

Both races are set to dish up plenty of action and with the new compound of Dunlop tyres as well in 2017, it will be wise to expect the unexpected.

Sunday’s 70-lap race will sure to be an endurance contest and potentially deliver another twist in this riveting race for the 2017 championship.