Waters, Winterbottom deliver verdicts on 'favourite' tag

Cam Waters and Mark Winterbottom are expected to be one of the strongest pairings on the grid, yet neither are interested in the “favourites” tag.

Waters and Winterbottom will share the former’s Tickford Racing Mustang at the two Ryco Enduro Cup events, the AirTouch 500 at The Bend and Repco Bathurst 1000.

Winterbottom is a Bathurst winner and Supercars champion, with Waters chasing both titles. With ‘Frosty’ in his corner, Waters is arguably armed with his best shot at both in 2025.

In a Supercars.com fan poll, the Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup pairing was voted the best, ahead of Waters/Winterbottom.

When asked if he’s feeling the ‘favourite’ tag, Waters wasn’t too interested.

"I'm not really feeling that. I'm just worrying about having a fast car and making sure we execute and doing all the things we need to do,” the three-time Bathurst podium-finisher said.

“And if we can do that, then yeah, aim is to go get some wins. But yeah, not really buying into the tag that they've given us.”

Winterbottom, who last won in a Ford in 2016, was adamant he hasn’t got anything to prove in his Ford return.

"Favourite's a big word, but we'll be a chance, and on our day, we're good enough obviously to do the job," the 2015 series champion said.

“But there's some good drivers, good teams. It's gonna be tough, no doubt. I back Cam all the way, he's one of my good mates and I know he's very talented.

"And if I can do my job properly and the team gives us a good car, we're definitely a chance. I don’t know about favourites, but we're a good chance.

"I haven't got anything to prove, but I do want to win a race again. It's been a while. Fire in the belly's bigger than ever.”

Waters believes Winterbottom, who has 645 starts to his name, will be a safe set of hands. Winterbottom replaces James Moffat, who joined Waters between 2021 and 2024, and is now alongside Thomas Randle.

“It's awesome to have Frosty for the enduros,” Waters said.

“Obviously stepped into the main game and he was the main guy then and learned a lot from him. So it's cool to be teaming up with him and the experience that he brings the team is awesome as well.

"Frosty's role is super important. To have him in the car, he can start the race, he's done more starts than me.

“We'll definitely be relying on him to do the start. I hate doing the starts and hopefully get us in a good position through the race.”

The Ryco Enduro Cup begins at the AirTouch 500 at The Bend, with track commencing on Friday.