The bogey track holding Whincup back
Jamie Whincup has won a record 123 races in Supercars, but the 2021 season’s next venue hasn’t been his happiest hunting ground.
It has been nearly nine years since Whincup last tasted victory at Winton Motor Raceway, his last win at the rural Victorian circuit coming on November 17 in 2012.
So much has happened since then; Whincup himself has won 59 races and clinched the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017 titles.
In fact, Red Bull Ampol Racing has won just one race at Winton since Whincup’s 2012 win, courtesy of Shane van Gisbergen.
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Next weekend’s event marks a crucial opportunity for Whincup and his rivals to peg back van Gisbergen, who enjoys a 190-point series lead.
Of the circuits on the 2021 calendar, Whincup only has a longer winless streak at Mount Panorama, his last Bathurst victory coming in October 2012.
It’s not to say Whincup has a bad Winton record; he won from 20th in 2007 aboard a TeamVodafone Falcon, and added another win in 2008.
He also scored a victory in 2011 before his 2012 win, which came on a weekend he sealed his fourth title.
Winton win for Whincup in 2012
The 2012 race win was Whincup’s 64th career win. He has since added 59 more in 267 starts, but not at Winton in seven visits between 2013 and 2019.
Winton has hosted 18 Supercars races since, won by 12 different drivers: Mark Winterbottom (four), Scott McLaughlin (three), Fabian Coulthard and Tim Slade (two), James Courtney, Lee Holdsworth, Chaz Mostert, Craig Lowndes, James Moffat, Shane van Gisbergen and Rick Kelly.
The 2013 Winton event was perhaps the toughest of the lot for Whincup, who suffered two DNFs in three starts.
He took pole but retired on lap 10 with a driveline failure. He then started Race 2 in 18th, only to be caught up in a first-lap crash that led to another DNF. 13th in the final race was a bitter footnote.
A Saturday podium in 2017
In 2014, Erebus Motorsport broke through for Lee Holdsworth, with Coulthard and Winterbottom also taking wins.
Whincup’s nightmare continued; he qualified 14th, 21st and 13th, and finished ninth, 19th and 10th.
It wasn’t much better in 2015; on a weekend Prodrive Falcons dominated, Whincup was only good enough for finishes of of ninth, sixth and 10th, from eighth, sixth and 22nd on the grid.
After finishing fifth and ninth in 2016 on a weekend Slade finally hit the big time, Whincup arrived in 2017 searching for a first win of the season.
That would have to wait until Townsville, but Whincup did take second place on Saturday to McLaughlin.
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Sunday loomed as Whincup’s day in the sun, before a late Safety Car saw van Gisbergen pounce, leaving the #88 in second.
That result stung Whincup the most, who said after the race: "Personally I’m pretty gutted.
“I gave it everything I could to win the race. All I want to do is win a race and I can’t get there.
“It’s good (to score points), but no one really cares where they are in the championship at the moment.
“It’s great being in contention, without doubt, but it’s all about winning races and the boys beside me have all won a few races… I’m the only loser sitting here without a race win.”
Not the Sunday result Whincup wanted in 2017
After finishes of 17th and eighth in 2018, Whincup scored a podium in the 2019 finale in the afterglow of the Shell Ford Saturday tangle.
"We were aiming for a podium as that was going to be our best result,” he said after the 2019 Winton finale.
"I'm happy to see that we got there in the end."
The Repco Supercars Championship field will return to Victoria for the Winton SuperSprint across May 28-30. Tickets are available here.
The event will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo with highlights on 7 and 7 Plus. Check out the weekend schedule here.
Whincup's results at Winton (since 2012 win)
Sunday 2012, Race 28: 3rdSaturday 2013, Race 25: DNFSunday 2013, Race 26: DNFSunday 2013, Race 27: 13thSaturday 2014, Race 7: 9thSaturday 2014, Race 8: 19thSunday 2014, Race 9: 10thSaturday 2015, Race 10: 9thSaturday 2015, Race 11: 6thSunday 2015, Race 12: 10thSaturday 2016, Race 10: 5thSunday 2016, Race 11: 9thSaturday 2017, Race 9: 2ndSunday 2017, Race 10: 2ndSaturday 2018, Race 13: 17thSunday 2018, Race 14: 8thSaturday 2019, Race 13: 6thSunday 2019, Race 14: 3rd
