MOTORSPORT: Winterbottom claims number one

Proving how quickly the world works these days, new V8 Supercars champion Mark Winterbottom was not only unveiling his number one plate at a press call in Sydney this, but also the 2016 livery of his Prodrive Racing Australia Ford Falcon FG X.

Winterbottom’s first driver’s championship after 12 years of trying wasn’t quite old news by then, but the news cycle had certainly rolled through a few revolutions since he sealed the title with two smart drives on Saturday at Sydney Olympic Park.

On Sunday in the 250km mini-marathon the spotlight had been taken by Tekno Autosports’ Shane van Gisbergen and Red Bull Racing’s outgoing six-time champion Jamie Whincup as the two fought out an intense duel through the mid-part of a sometimes hectic, sometimes processional race on the concrete-lined street circuit.

SvG had track position but Whincup would have retaken the lead with a shorter final refuelling stop … if he hadn’t out-braked himself and given the Kiwi the chance to establish the buffer he needed to get in and out of the pits in front.

Although a late safety car restart brought Whincup back in touch he couldn’t get by the New Zealander, who won the Sunday race at SOP for the third year in a row.

It was a preview of plenty of what we will see in 2016, when the grid’s most outrageous talent teams up with its most analytical and successful driver. How they cope with each other on and off track is a story now and will be throughout next year.

As Winterbottom, who officially receives his championship trophy at tonight’s V8 Supercars Gala Awards ceremony in Sydney, acknowledged himself on Saturday night, this was his chance to win a title that may never come again.

“You are getting older, you are not getting younger and there are young guys coming into the sport. There are lots of things going on,” he said.

There is no doubt Winterbottom deserved his championship. He won more races than anyone else, building up a massive advantage through the mid-part of the season. Then he held on through the electrical dramas of Bathurst, the pit stop shemozzle at the Gold Coast and being punted in New Zealand.

He also lost teammate Chaz Mostert at Bathurst when the young gun crashed and broke his leg and wrist. And while that meant Winterbottom’s biggest championship threat was gone, it also coincided with the end of the Falcon’s winning ways for the season and underlined just how important Mostert’s development input was to the team.

It also gave resurgent Red Bull Racing the opportunity it needed to run down Pepsi-Max Crew (PRA) in the teams’ championship and claim the title for the sixth year in a row.

If Frosty is sensing the march of time then how must Craig Lowndes feel? He entered SOP 179 points behind Winterbottom and the only other driver with even a mathematical shot at the title. But the veteran made a mistake in qualifying for the first 125km sprint and started 25th and last on the grid.

That took all the pressure off Winterbottom, who qualified on pole for just the third time all year. That 10-minute session pretty much crushed the sense of anticipation for the coming battle that had been building over the last few events.

“It was always going to be a tough ask this weekend to be honest,” Lowndes conceded. “We were talking it up and hopeful, but we really needed Frosty to have a DNF and have a bit of luck go our way.

“Even if I won he only had to be in the top 14 -- which we knew they were capable of. So the outcome for me is no surprise.”

It was Lowndes’ sixth runner-up finish in his 11 years at Triple Eight Race Engineering. Add his Bathurst win and it has been a great year for Lowndes. He hasn’t won a championship since 1999 and it's hard to see him doing so now, but he is still competitive, still enjoying it and he’s still far and away the most popular current V8 Supercars driver.

Next year he shifts to a third T8 entry backed by Caltex and only his attitude will decide if it is a farewell tour or not.

With Whincup winning both Saturday races, SvG on top on Sunday and Winterbottom taking the championship, the rest of the field else was pretty much reduced to bit players.

Nissan Altima driver Rick Kelly farewelled sponsor Jack Daniel’s with a fine drive to third on Sunday. In the first sprint on Saturday veteran Jason Bright was third in his Brad Jones Racing Commodore.

Meanwhile, Holden Racing Team’s James Courtney gave the factory team some cheer with pole on Sunday. Unfortunately, he couldn’t deliver a similar race result after being bounced into the fence by a typically forthright Van Gisbergen pass. It was ruled a racing incident, something Courtney chose not to dispute apart from pointing out that Tekno team owner Jon Webb sent him an apologetic text.

The other talking point emerging from the weekend was the venue itself, which may only be used one more time by V8s before shifting to Gosford or Newcastle. A proposal to shorten the circuit to cut costs has been knocked back and that is the potential trigger for the move.

While it makes for good television, the Olympic precinct has from its creation been a controversial venue that swallows money and, as we saw on the weekend and many times in the past, is also a car wrecker.

Full run down of 2015 V8 Supercar Championship points