Frosty’s defence starts tomorrow

Mark Winterbottom’s title defence begins tomorrow at Winton Motor Raceway, when the Victorian V8 Supercars teams take to the track for the first test day of the year.

The man known as ‘Frosty’ broke through for his maiden title after 12 years of trying, and will roll onto the track with #1 on the windscreen.

But now, it’s all about retaining that prestigious title and getting off to the right start.

There will be challenges for his Prodrive group with speedy teammate Chaz Mostert returning after significant injuries suffered at Bathurst last year. But for Winterbottom, it’s eyes on the prize already – though he will enjoy showing off the number one this season.

“It’s nice to see the number one on the car, it looks real now – I’m just looking forward to it, to be honest,” Winterbottom told v8supercars.com.au of returning to the race track.

“It’s going to be good, it feels like you’ve got a bit of weight off your shoulders and stuff like that.

“It feels like it’s going to be nice to go and just drive the car and get rewarded for all the hard work we’ve done.

“To see the number one on the car and just enjoy it, it’s going to be fun.”

He added: “We’ve got lots to test.”

It has been an unusual off-season for Winterbottom, who underwent surgery on his ankle. He broke the ankle during a family holiday in 2012 and required screws to support the snapped tibia. Towards the end of 2015, it was causing him drama, hampering his driving style and regular training program.

Winterbottom pushed through pain during the season to take the title and while he says it feels better, a test in the car will help calm the nerves with the year’s most grueling race, the Clipsal 500, first on the cards.“It’s good to obviously have the surgery and stuff and then go and train and know that you’re fit and ready to go. I feel really good.

“The off-time was nice just to sit on the couch for a little bit, but you wanted to make sure you were ready because last year was a little bit sore at times.

“I’m looking forward to jumping in the car and seeing how it feels in the car because it feels good running and all those other things but I only know what it felt like pre-surgery.

“It will good to see how it feels in the car and if it’s improved because it feels good every other way so it should feel better in the car as well.”

He and his Prodrive teammates jetted to Thailand for an intensive training camp this last week, which has helped prepare the drivers after a couple of months off.

Mostert didn’t make the trip, of course, but has been using karting as a way to build fitness ahead of his V8 Supercars return.

“It’s hard because you’re not race fit because you had two and a half months off,” he said.

“In Thailand it was 35 degrees and 90 percent humidity, so it was really hot and sweaty. We were training for five hours a day.

“We’ve had the best prep we can to go in. Clipsal is by far the hardest because there’s no race fitness, so on Sunday afternoon you’re definitely glad you put in the effort beforehand because it’s hard to survive if you haven’t put the work in. It should all pay off, hopefully.”

While it would be harsh to call the Clipsal 500 a bogey track for Winterbottom, it is a rare track on the calendar he has not recorded a win in his career. There has been a handful of podiums, but the top spot at the street track has alluded him.

He’s hoping to turn that around this year, but is mindful the Holdens are often very speedy on the circuit, which means riding kerbs and racing centimetres from the walls.

“We’ve had a couple of seconds but it’d be nice to get a win there because we want to do well at every track,” he said.

“It’s been notorious there’s been some quick teams there in the past and if we can improve and the car a little more than we did last year then hopefully we can be more competitive at that track.

“A win would be nice because it is a big event and it’s one that I haven’t been able to win yet.”

The event at the Adelaide street circuit kicks off on March 3 – so tomorrow’s test is critical for the teams to work through an outing that isn’t worth championship points.