'I need my luck to change': Winterbottom

Mark Winterbottom is hoping for a change of luck in Sydney following a challenging opening day at the BP Ultimate Sydney SuperSprint.

The Team 18 driver finished 13th in an incident-packed Race 26, which was won by a dominant Anton De Pasquale.

It comes after the IRWIN Racing driver recorded finishes of 18th, 15th, and 10th at last weekend’s ARMOR ALL Sydney SuperNight.

Last Sunday’s result saw Winterbottom slide to ninth in the points standings, behind Race 26 podium-finisher Will Brown.

Launching from 17th for Saturday’s 32-lap sprint, Winterbottom narrowly avoided a spinning James Courtney after his skirmish with Tim Slade and Scott Pye on the opening lap.

Winterbottom climbed through the field before Team 18 called him in for two new tyres on lap 6.

Displaying strong race pace, Winterbottom moved forward to eighth, before the BP Ultimate Safety Car was called to rescue a stranded Bryce Fullwood on lap 19.

With the field condensed and with some drivers on four fresh tyres, Winterbottom slid down the order but hung on to finish 13th.

The other side of the Team 18 garage had a more fortuitous day at Sydney Motorsport Park, with Pye charging from 13th to sixth.

It follows a top five result for the DEWALT Racing driver in the rain-soaked ARMOR ALL Sydney SuperNight finale. 

“I need a change of luck at the moment,” Winterbottom said.

“We pitted early, put two tyres on, and we were looking at a top seven or eight finish pretty comfortably before the Safety Car.

“Then everyone put tyres on towards the end and came through.

“The kerb strike in qualifying wasn’t ideal but we have a reasonable race car which is encouraging.

“We had a clean race, a couple of bangs and bruises on the car, but we’ve got a strong race car, so we’ll work tonight and go again tomorrow.”

The 40-year-old recorded his 550th Supercars race start in the third race of the Bunnings Trade Sydney SuperNight on October 31.

Winterbottom is ninth in the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship standings, five places ahead of Pye.

Cars will return to the track on Sunday for consecutive qualifying sessions from 11:45am AEDT.

Race 27 will commence at 1:30pm, followed by Race 28 at 4:45pm.