Fast Facts: WD-40 Phillip Island SuperSprint
16 Nov 2015
1. V8 Supercars Championship leader Mark Winterbottom is in the box seat to win this year’s title. He leads by 239 points heading to Phillip Island and will be the 2015 V8 Supercars Champion if he leaves the round with a 301 point advantage or more – earning 62 points over David Reynolds and Craig Lowndes will do it.
2. Winterbottom’s history at Phillip Island is solid with two wins, seven podium finishes (three in the last four races there) and four pole positions over the course of his V8 Supercar career. He has qualified in the top four for the last eight races in a row at the circuit.
3. The Bottle-O Racing Team’s Reynolds is Winterbottom’s closest challenger for the championship with one point on Lowndes, but has never scored a podium finish in 14 race starts at Phillip Island since 2008 and not finished higher than sixth.
4. Red Bull Racing Australia star Lowndes shares the record of most championship race wins at Phillip Island with Mark Skaife – nine victories.
5. Lowndes is the most experienced Phillip Island driver in the 2015 field with 18 rounds and 38 V8 Supercar races at the circuit. He’s also had five pole positions and 13 podium finishes there (including seven podiums from his last 10 starts).
6. The Holden Racing Team holds the record for most championship race wins at Phillip Island – a whopping 17. However, the factory Holden squad has just one race win there from the last 12 races spanning 2009 to 2014 (Garth Tander on the Saturday in 2013).
7. Eleven of the 25 drivers in the field for the WD-40 Phillip Island SuperSprint have scored V8 Supercars Championship podium finishes at the circuit in their careers. However, one high-profile driver not on the list is the Holden Racing Team’s James Courtney (best finish of fourth in 2009).
8. DJR Team Penske’s Scott Pye will celebrate his 100th V8 Supercars Championship race start in the first Saturday sprint at Phillip Island. The 25-year-old scored his first career podium finish at Pukekohe and the team’s first since becoming DJR Team Penske. However it was DJR’s 150th podium finish and first since July 2013 when Chaz Mostert won at Queensland Raceway.
9. He may be sidelined from injury but Chaz Mostert is still in line to win one of the year’s prestigious prizes, the ARMOR ALL Pole Position Award. He has 10 poles to his name and only Jamie Whincup or Scott McLaughlin could stop him winning, if one sweeps the six remaining poles. Either would win on count back, with both having more second place qualifying results than Mostert.
10. The V8 Supercars Manufacturer’s Award remains in the balance with 16 wins to Ford and 13 to Holden. Ford hasn’t won the award since 2009 and Holden is trying to become the first manufacturer to win it six times in a row.
