Jamie Whincup has more wins than anyone in Darwin but the Supercars veteran admits it will be tough stopping young gun Scott McLaughlin this weekend.
Whincup has the most pole positions (80) in the history of the sport and six wins to his name at the Northern Territory’s Hidden Valley Raceway, but none since 2014.
The 36-year-old endured a tough early part of the season but the seven-time Supercars championship has roared back to life in recent rounds following « massive changes » to his car.
Holden driver Whincup said they’re making strides to close the gap on Ford star McLaughlin, who is leading the championship by a whopping 244 points after 14 races.
« At the moment he’s the one to beat everywhere, » Whincup told AAP.
« We’ve made massive changes to the car setup for the last two events which has put us in contention, before that we certainly weren’t in contention so it’s nice to be back at the front of the field.
« We’re still getting dusted by the Penske cars (McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard) so we’ll just keep working and grinding it out until we’re the quickest cars on the grid again.
Whincup said he wasn’t frustrated with the speed of his car compared to Ford and emphasised half the battle in motorsport happens inside the garage.
« It’s just back in the workshop, they’re bringing a faster car to the track, that’s where all the work is, » Whincup said.
« I feel like we’re doing as good a job as any over the race weekend to get the car in the window but they’re bringing a much quicker car to the circuit, so we’ve just got to keep developing.
« The game of motorsport is drivers and teams get together before the event and try to bring the quickest car they can to the track, it’s all part of the game.
« That’s motorsport – I’ve been on both sides of the coin, I’ve been in the best car and almost the worst car at times. »
http://www.espn.com/v8-supercars/story/_/id/26970192/whincup-wants-record-extending-darwin-win
