Frosty’s face off
Mark Winterbottom is proud to be facing off against Craig Lowndes for his first V8 Supercars title at the Coates Hire Sydney 500.
Paying compliments to the field of drivers, as well as his Holden competitor, Winterbottom expressed just how much it would mean to topple what has been the best team in the category across the last decade.
Lowndes is a three-time champion, six-time Bathurst winner, has won over 100 races in the sport and is the most recognised name in V8 Supercars.
“He has been a legend in the sport and has had his best year in the last decade for sure – he’s well on top of his game,” Winterbottom told v8supercars.com.au.
“I know his engineer [Grant McPherson] who is very talented as well, I know he’s got good people working with him – their team doesn’t need any mention of credibility, they’ve been the best for the last decade.
“I’ve always been loyal to my boys and girls at work, I’ve always thought our team has been good enough to get it done.
“To beat them, you know you’ve worked hard because they are a very good team and they never get anything handed to them.”
Leading by 179 points, with 300 on offer at this weekend’s Coates Hire Sydney 500, ‘Frosty’ is in the box seat for his first title after 10 years in the category.
And while winning over Lowndes would make victory even sweeter, Winterbottom acknowledged the level of talent on the grid, including six-time champ Jamie Whincup, who has been a long-time rival but is out of the running.
“The whole field has won something – there’s no guy in the field who’s not deserving, they’re all bloody good,” Winterbottom said.
Running all of his main game career with Prodrive (formerly FPR), Frosty has finished in the top five every year since 2006 and won his first Bathurst in 2013 with Steven Richards.
At the end of that season, Richards left Prodrive to race enduros with Lowndes, and at the end of last year McPherson left Winterbottom’s car to engineer #888.
That car won the trophy at Mount Panorama – but Winterbottom is hopeful he can trump the Holdens for the big prize.
“It’s a dream you’ve had since being a young kid, it’s the pinnacle of our sport, I’d put it above Bathurst – always have and always will,” Winterbottom said of winning the Championship.
“Bathurst is massive, but for me the championship is the one I’ve always thought, ‘if you could get number one on your door, it would be the biggest thing’.
“So it’s hard not to get carried away. It’s like Christmas – Santa says we are going to buy you this but you’ve go to wait!”
Winterbottom had a laugh when reminded of the post-race press conference at the 2013 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 – after he held off Whincup by 0.47 seconds on the last lap – slamming the trophy down in front of his rival. What would he do if he won the Championship trophy?
“You put a trophy on a desk, you’re not slamming it down to say ‘hey’, you’re just slamming it going 'far out' – it’s that feeling.
“Who knows what you’d do but it's just an outburst of years of hard work that go into those small things that sometimes look completely different to what goes on. We’ve got to get it first.”
The numbers are in Winterbottom’s favour heading to the Coates Hire Sydney 500, though he has a mixed record at the track and on street circuits. While he won in Townsville mid-season, the Gold Coast was his worst round of 2015 because of varying factors.
“I think we’re going to have a pretty good car there but we’re going to need it because the easier the car is to drive the less mistakes you make,” he said.
“There’s massive flow on, so hopefully it’s going to make the job a hell of a lot easier to have a good car and not be battling with it – that creates other issues.
“We’re working hard – my engineer and the team are really putting in the hours – it’s not a last ditch effort but they’re putting the hours in … they’re giving it every crack they can and that’s what you need to do to win it.”
Head to Centenary Square in Parramatta today from 12pm to 1pm to meet Frosty and former champion James Courtney ahead of the weekend's championship deciding Coates Hire Sydney 500.
