Prodrive A-team locked in
Prodrive Racing Australia's A-team is set to remain for at least another three years after Chaz Mostert's new deal, announced with the team yesterday.
The young gun, who is the dominant qualifier of the season, locked himself in with current Championship leader Mark Winterbottom, who has won a whopping eight races so far this season.
Experienced Winterbottom and raw Mostert have shown the field how it's done this year with their FG X Falcons, and after yesterday's racing at the Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint are split only by V8 Supercars legend Craig Lowndes in the Championship hunt this season.
Mostert moved up to third on the points table after earning fifth and third yesterday, while Winterbottom extended his lead over Lowndes to 265 points, almost a full round clear of the Red Bull superstar as he looks to nab his first V8 Supercars Championship after finishing in the top five every years since 2006.
Winterbottom celebrates 10 years with Prodrive (formerly Ford Performance Racing) this year and it has been revealed that his deal extends to 2018, meaning at least anotherthree seasons withthe team.
He was pleased to see Mostert commit to the future, and believes the pair is a force to be reckoned with.
"It's a good setup - we work well together, we're showing we can race well together and go forward, so it works really good," Winterbottom said.
"We're going alright, if we qualify well [for today's race] we'll be a good chance. The wheels haven't fallen off.
"I'll be here for a long time anyway - three more years."
Both have won the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in the past two years, and while some think the relationship between Winterbottom and Mostert may change as the younger driver pushes his teammate, Winterbottom was only positive when he spoke to v8supercars.com.au about it in depth on Thursday.
"I hope our relationship stays as it is, it's a good relationship and if he wins and I come second, that's a good result," he said, emphasising how the Fords must band together if one of them is to win the Championship. Stablemate David Reynolds is also in the mix in fourth, just two points behind Mostert.
Winning both races yesterday - and once again beating Mostert off the line on the way to his win - meant Winterbottom earned four consecutive race wins for the first time in his career, a feat last achieved by Jamie Whincup in 2013 from Austin andPerth.
However the second race was one Winterbottom described as intense, as he held off one of the Championship's best in Lowndes for the 20 laps around Queensland Raceway, after passing him at turn two on the opening lap.
Lowndes declared that Red Bull had the car to run with the Fords, and Winterbottom agreed the champion team could match them.
"He was quick," Winterbottom said of Lowndes.
"They've proved they can get pole position with their car, so I think the parity is pretty equal.
"What I respect about Triple Eight is they don't whinge, they go and prove they can bounce back, so he can definitely run with us. Even when he was struggling they were still competitive. They're definitely a big concern."
Despite increasing pressure from Red Bull, as Jamie Whincup finds form that has seen him finish in the top five in two of the past three races, Winterbottom says he's not yet feeling Championship pressure, with plenty of points still to be won and lost across the 2015 season.
"Not really [feeling the pressure]. No, it's pretty straight forward [and] there's a long way to go.
"You've got to try and win races, maximise the car and not DNF.
"But we're not home and hosed - there's 300 points Sandown, 300 points Bathurst, 300 points Gold Coast - 150 today.
"That's probably diverting the pressure a little bit but in the scheme of it we made, what, 20 points [yesterday]. We had a dominant day in results, and we've made 20 points - you're not racing away with it, you're slowly edging out. You just have to keep at it."
Yesterday marked Winterbottom's first win at Queensland Raceway since 2008 - and he'll want to repeat that result today in the 200km race.
