Bathurst drought 'doesn't sit well' with Whincup
Jamie Whincup is winless at Mount Panorama since 2012
Now Hall of Famer missed out several times since, often controversially
Whincup won Sandown 500 with Broc Feeney
Being winless at Mount Panorama for over a decade “doesn’t sit well” with Penrite Oil Sandown 500 winner Jamie Whincup.
Whincup, who won last weekend’s Sandown enduro with Broc Feeney, last won the Great Race in 2012 alongside Paul Dumbrell.
In the 11 years since, Whincup has arrived at Mount Panorama three times as the Sandown victor — 2013, 2014 and 2018 — but came up short each time in Bathurst.
Whincup has also watched his team win the race four times, two for Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards and two for Shane van Gisbergen/Garth Tander, since his 2012 victory.
In fact, Whincup last stood on the Bathurst podium in 2013 when he narrowly lost to Mark WInterbottom, with the Mountain proving a scene of several heartbreaks for the now Triple Eight boss.
Whincup infamously ran out of fuel while leading on the final lap in 2014, while penalties in 2015 (Safety Car infringement) and 2016 (last-race clash) ruined dominant efforts.
An engine failure (2017), loose wheel (2018), crash (2020) and first-lap spin (2022) followed, ensuring Whincup’s drought extended to over 10 years.
Speaking after his Sandown win, Whincup admitted he is irked by his run of outs in the biggest race of the year, and is determined to right the wrongs come October 8.
“It has been a while for sure, it’s been a while between drinks,” Whincup said.
“Over 10 years now, which doesn’t sit well with me. We’ll do what we can in three weeks’ time.”
Standing in Whincup’s way is a resurgent Erebus Motorsport, which has gone toe-to-toe with Triple Eight all season.
Both Chevrolet squads have dominated this season, with Erebus (10 wins) and Triple Eight (nine) combining for 19 of the season’s 23 wins. Erebus (10 poles) and Triple Eight (six) also combine for 16 of 23 poles.
Sandown was again a day fought between both teams, with Brodie Kostecki second ahead of Shane van Gisbergen, with Will Brown fourth. The quartet are the top four in the championship, with Erebus 95 points ahead of Triple Eight.
However, several key rivals suffered at Sandown; notably, the three lead Ford entries of Cam Waters, Chaz Mostert and David Reynolds were taken out of contention early on.
When asked if Bathurst would be a Triple Eight/Erebus shootout, Whincup said: “I certainly hope so, but I reckon the rest of the field would have something to say about that.
“Of course, we’ll go up there and put our best foot forward, so will the [Erebus] guys beside. But everyone will be putting their best foot forward at Bathurst.
"Great to see all cars reliable this weekend, we were smashing the kerbs for 500km and they hung in there and performed very well.
“Gives us a lot of confidence going into a 1000km race, that the product’s going to be a good thing."
