LEADING the V8 Supercar Championship at the half-way point is more than Mark Winterbottom expected at the beginning of the season, but his fiercest competition is no surprise.
Ford Performance Racing team-mate Steve Richards, HSV Garth Tander and Team Vodafone Jamie Whincup were top of the 27-year-old’s predictions for 2008 and, leading into round eight at Winton this weekend, it’s those two who are his biggest threats.
“They’re definitely the main contenders,” said the Orrcon Steel Ford Credit FPR Falcon driver.
“You always expect Garth to be up there, but Whincup is hit and miss; if he gets it right he gets a bag of points, but he often gets it wrong.”
Frosty has taken seven victories so far this year, three more than third-place Whincup and two ahead of second-place Tander, despite the early rounds being some of FPR’s weakest.
Now Winterbottom is looking to maintain his record for the remaining seven race meetings and take his inaugural V8 Supercar Championship crown.
“It’s important to be a race winner and my approach isn’t going to change in the second half of the season,” he said.
“You’ve got to finish races consistently though and not take risks.
“I haven’t been taking risks all year and I’m not going to start now.
“I think I drive better under pressure and leading is enjoyable for me.”
The other leading Ford team, Team Vodafone is hoping for a return to form at this weekend at what is predicted to be a wet and cold Winton Motor Raceway.
The team is gunning for three wins on the trot at the rural Victorian circuit and a change in luck and fortune could not come quick enough.
Both Whincup and teammate Craig Lowndes are aiming to return to race-winning form this weekend after a frustrating outing at their home track a fortnight ago.
Lowndes, the round winner in 2006, said Winton presented a variety of challenges to teams.
“This is potentially the coldest track we go to, so getting temperature into the tyres when it’s needed is a big issue,” said Lowndes.
“Passing is another factor - it is a notoriously difficult circuit to pass on so qualifying at the front is imperative.
“The new tyre compound has forced us to alter our approach to practice in order to secure a good grid spot.
“Pit strategy will play a crucial role in the outcome of the weekend so a clever and flexible strategy, like the one which Jamie used to win last year, is needed.”
Round eight follows the season’s regular sprint style format, with three races to be contested across the course of the weekend.
Predicted forecasts suggest another chilly round, with temperatures barely climbing above 12 degrees at a maximum, and passing showers anticipated.
Over the fence in the Holden camp, Toll Holden Racing Team star Mark Skaife has dismissed the “home track advantage” theory ahead of this weekend’s race, suggesting “a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing” when it comes to setting up modern racing cars.
Meanwhile Skaife’s teammate Garth Tander, locked in a battle for the championship lead with Ford’s Mark Winterbottom, said he remained unfazed by the 122-point margin to his rival.
“It’s no drama, speak to me after Bathurst,” he said.
Skaife, a five-time V8 Supercar champion, said recent history showed a Queensland-based team had won the past two trips to Winton in north-east Victoria – where all Victorian-based teams including Toll HRT test – while Victorian teams have triumphed in the past three rounds at Queensland Raceway, where the Queensland teams are based.
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