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The Winton Undercard

14 May 2015
John Bowe in a Holden Torana and Dunlop Series 101 - Chad explains what to expect before the V8 Supercars take centre stage in his new column.
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Has the world gone completely mad? Touring Car hero John Bowe in a Holden? It feels weird just saying those words out loud - actually, when I tried telling a mate this news my phone tried autocorrecting Holden back to Ford. That's how unusual this is.

This is just one thing to watch out for in what promises to be a weekend of variety at the NP300 Navara Winton SuperSprint this week.

V8 Supercars Dunlop Series

It's the 101st Dunlop Series event! OK, as far as milestones go that's not as impressive as the one we ticked off in Perth, but still good.

And speaking of impressive - Cameron Waters, wow.

His three-peat at Barbagallo was a performance Jamie Whincup himself would've been proud of -no wonder PRA have got him alongside Chaz Mostert for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 this year.

People were critical of Waters' aggression in 2014 and it's hard to say if that's still a problem in 2015. He only had one car to pass in Perth (Chris Pither) and he hit him. But with no reverse grid races this year I feel like the only thing he'll be hitting at Winton will be clean air out front.

It will be interesting to see if Pither can continue his qualifying speed this weekend and also if Jack Le Brocq can back up his breakthrough podium.

Expect Paul Dumbrell to shake off his lack of speed in WA and use all his experience to close that points gap Waters has opened up.

Touring Car Masters

Few men have remained brand loyal their whole career - even the great Peter Brock danced with the Blue Oval in the '80s. But JB's Ford Mustang is the pick of the TCM class, so why cross the floor?

Well, he's doing it for a friend. The car is a newly built Holden Torana SL/R 5000 and it belongs to his good mate and long time TCM campaigner Gary O'Brien. Bowe will help develop the car now he believes he's out of championship contention after missing the last round in Tasmania.

That championship is shaping up nicely after two rounds. No driver managed to capitalise on Bowe's recent absence - as Steven Johnson took the reigns of Mustang Sally and clean swept the round in a one-off deal - now there's five drivers covered by just 39 points.

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Glenn Seton, Andrew Miedecke, Gavin Bullas and Greg Crick will all be eager to make up for the missed opportunity at Symmons Plains.

Local Spotlight

Also on the bill this weekend are the much-loved Sports Sedans and the Sports Racers. Once a frontier tin top category the thundering Sports Sedans are still as cool as they've ever been.

Eight-time champ and former V8 Supercars driver Tony Ricciardello is still the man to beat in his famous Alfa Romeo. He'll have stiff competition from Jack Perkins in an Audi, he's subbing for Darren Hossack (injured in a speedway crash) and reigning Formula Ford champ Thomas Randle in his family's Richard Childress powered Saab.

The Sports Racers will showcase plenty of variety and give some local drivers some TV coverage, as both categories will have selected races televised.

All Dunlop Series and Touring Car Masters sessions will be LIVE on FOX SPORTS506 from tomorrow.

Chad's Fast Four

- Waters claimed his first ever Dunlop Series race win at Winton last year. If it wasn't for the reverse grid format I believe he would've clean swept the weekend.

- Once again the Dunlop Series is scheduled for three races with only two sets of tyres for the weekend. This made for great racing in Perth with some drivers ripping through the field on good rubber in race two and then feeling the pain in race three.

- I'm backing Cameron Tilley to have a good TCM round, the tight twisty nature of Winton will favour his six cylinder Valiant Pacer.

- Glenn Seton and John Bowe share the record for most V8 Supercars/ATCC race wins at Winton with five each. Jim Richards has the most round wins with four, the first was 30 years ago but we all know Gentleman Jim has still got it.

Stay tuned to FOX SPORTS 506 this weekend for support category coverage, or click here for tickets for the NP300 Navara Winton SuperSprint.

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