Winterbottom: We just want to race!

To align with the format of the Super Street events, the Castrol Townsville 500 - Driven by TAFE Queensland gains an extra 100km of racing in 2014. And Championship leader Mark Winterbottom couldn't be happier.

Praising the new format to 612 ABC Brisbane, Winterbottom is excited about the two 125km races Saturday and the feature 250km run on Sunday, which means more racing time for the V8 Supercars across both days.

Promoting the Castrol Townsville 500 -Driven by TAFE Queensland with V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton today, the Championship leader was enthusiastic about the upcoming event, which he predicts will be a hard-fought battle and one of the key pieces of the Championship puzzle.

"It's actually enjoyable, the format - for us, we want to race as much as we can, so when they put another race on we get excited by that," Winterbottom told 612 ABC Brisbane.

"The good thing is, on Saturday we can race in the morning or during the day, have a bad race and then turn your bad result around and get a result at night. So you get a couple of cracks at the trophy.

"Ideally we want to win every race - hopefully, it's going to make it boring for the fans because FPR is just going to dominate -but it doesn't work like that unfortunately!"

In 10 races run at the hybrid street circuit, we've seen five different winners. Of those victors, three sit in the top five of the 2014 Championship - Jamie Whincup, James Courtney and Winterbottom, who was victorious in 2010.

Last year, Winterbottom's then-teammate Will Davison won on Saturday, with 'Frosty' home second, recording an emphatic 1-2 for the factory Ford team.

That was followed on Sunday by Holden Racing Team's one-two, with Garth Tander crossing the line ahead of Courtney, and Shane van Gisbergen who had driven onto the podium after qualifying 21st.

So2013's results alone show the event is anything but predictable.

"Three races - you'll see potentially three different winners and it's going to be a great battle," Winterbottom said.

"I love the format. Probably makes it a little bit more difficult on the driver, but that's what we like. We want to be pushed to the limits."

The concrete-lined circuit, with notoriously aggressive kerbs, throws up a huge challenge for the 25-car field.

"But it's one of our favourite events," Winterbottom enthused.

"It's one of the things the drivers say and we're not forced to say it, we say it because we mean it.

"It's one all my family come to, they book their flights and come here, so it's ... great to win here, it's a great event."

Warburton emphasised a number of fantastic initiatives "reinventing" the event this time around.

"We've heard the fans... Without our fans, we're racing in front of no one," he said, noting new viewing mounds along the front straight, a redesign of grandstand seating and corporate hospitality, amalgamation of the support categories into the main paddock and a drop-off zone to help with traffic congestion as some of the key improvements for attendees.

Along with the Super Top - housing the Jessica Mauboy and Vanessa Amorosi concert Saturday night, and providing a sheltered area for fans with bars and food stalls by day.

Meanwhile, Winterbottom doesn't head to Townsville -which begins less than a fortnight after the upcoming SKYCITY Triple Crown in Darwin -with the expectation of winning, but knows the importance of bagging maximum points.

"Townsville will be a good one to put some pressure on some guys because it's high risk. If I can force someone into mistakes and get some more points, put pressure on people, that would be good for the Championship.

"I'm not coming here expecting to win, but I think we've got a good chance."

Leading the Championship is something the Pepsi Max driver is happy about - as long as it's something he can maintain.

"I'm rapt that I'm leading but I need to make sure that come December we've still got (the lead) - it doesn't matter if it's one point - and we win this thing!

"It's my 11thseason in this Championship and I've never had that #1 on the door so the desperation's really high...You've got to absolutely give everything to win this thing.Only one guy will be victor at the end of the year and 24 guys will be disappointed...

"We've started this journey at nine years old, that's 20-odd years ago - it's desperation and hunger, passion and years of commitment to try and win."

Tickets are available for the Castrol Townsville 500 -Driven by TAFE Queensland through Ticketek now.

Best views are from the grandstands, and if you purchase before July 2 you could go into the draw to win a hot lap with David Reynolds -click here for more details.

Click here for the full interview with Winterbottom and Warburton on 612 ABC Brisbane.