Dutton: Big Danger Component at Phillip Island

Red Bull Racing Australia's Mark Dutton knows all too well how quickly things can turn pear-shaped at Phillip Island.

Race engineer for Jamie Whincup – who sits second in the Championship, six points behind RBRA teammate Craig Lowndes – Dutton is wary of car 1 getting caught up in incidents, as it did at Phillip Island last year, when Whincup got together with Will Davison.

“Phillip Island is going to be an interesting one,” Dutton said.

“J-Dub and Lowndesy are strong there, Frosty has had his moments and then there are guys like Courtney and Reynolds.

“They can’t win the Championship but they want more than anything to finish the season off on a high and will do almost anything for a win. And that adds a big danger component.

“Guys like that have the win-at-all costs mentality, which I completely understand and totally makes sense – if you can’t go for the Championship you 100 per cent want to go for the race win.

“They have nothing to lose. They will take extra risks and you just hope that you’re not left in the aftermath of a silly move from a non-championship contender.”

Dutton has won four Championship titles with Whincup, as well as three Bathurst 1000s. And while he asks for respect from those not tied up in the nail-biting battle – just 121 points separate the top four, made up of both RBRA drivers and Pepsi Max Crew FPR’s Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison – he knows just how competitive the V8 Supercars field is.

“By the same token, they’re there to race and not to be spectators and let cars fly on past as they battle for the Championship.

“I just hope they’re respectful of the Championship contenders.

“They don’t have to let any of us past but they should show respect to the people fighting it out. They should still try and win, and they will, but if there’s a chance, even a 50/50 chance, that they could take one of the contenders out I think they should think twice.”

Part of what makes the four driver battle so intriguing is the challenge against teammates – in both garages.

“Last year Jamie wrapped up the Championship early so the last few races there were no internal team battles – it was all about Craig finishing second, which he did,” Dutton said.

“This year, it’s Jamie v Craig and Frosty v Davo and all of us against each other.

“On my side of the garage we want the #1 car to win and on the other side of the garage they want the #888 car to win. But overall, we want a Red Bull car to win. You don’t want to be fighting each other.

“Then you throw the Car of the Future into the mix at a track they haven’t been before, that’s just been resurfaced and who knows? There are a lot more variables than normal. It’s going to be good fun!”

The Sargent Security Phillip Island 360 runs from November 22-24 – will the Championship be decided next weekend? Tickets are available now.

Read more from Dutton and the team at the Red Bull Racing Australia website.