600 straight: Winterbottom set to break new ground

Mark Winterbottom is set to break new ground in Supercars, with the Team 18 veteran in line to start his 600th race in a row.

Winterbottom, 43, has started 598 consecutive races since Shanghai 2005. Remarkably, if not for a dislodged grate, Winterbottom would be in line to start his 637th consecutive race.

A young Winterbottom, then racing for Mark Larkham's team, sat out the second and third races in China in 2005 after hitting a loose drainage grate.

Winterbottom, who has claimed podiums at the Grand Prix and Darwin this season, became the first driver to start 500 consecutive races at The Bend in 2021, and is now about to add another century.

Shane van Gisbergen started all 511 career races from his 2007 debut to Adelaide last year, before he shifted Stateside to pursue NASCAR. Only Winterbottom and van Gisbergen have started 500 or more races in a row.

Rick Kelly could have reeled off 568 straight, if not for a 2017 crash in Tasmania that ruled the 2006 champion out of the following race. Kelly's streak, which began in Canberra 2002, ended at 457 races.

Will Davison was also a non-starter after crashing into Kelly, with his own streak ending at 360 races. Davison could have started 445 straight races, up until 23Red Racing closed early in 2020.

Fabian Coulthard (431) and Jamie Whincup (423) are next on the list, with Coulthard starting all races from Adelaide 2008 to his final full-time start in 2021.

Whincup, meanwhile, had non-starts in Tasmania (2006) and Hamilton (2008), before he started every race until his full-time retirement at the end of 2021.

Winterbottom is 14th in the championship heading to the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint on August 16-18. Tickets for the event are on sale now.

Live coverage can be found on Foxtel, with live streaming available on Kayo. Highlights will be shown on the Seven Network and 7plus. International viewers can follow all the action on Superview.

Most consecutive starts in ATCC/Supercars history

*Streak ongoing