Whincup's dark horse

Five-time and defending V8 Supercars Champion Jamie Whincup has made a prediction about who will step up and surprise competitors in the second half of the season.

We saw the same battle continue on from last year in the results at the Perth 400. Pepsi Max Crew, Red Bull Racing Australia and Brad Jones Racing filled the top six, with five of those teams' drivers the leaders in the Championship points and last race winner Chaz Mostert keen to crack the top five in the points.

And while the consistent contenders pose the biggest threat of taking valuable Championship points away from Whincup - who is 213 points behind leader Mark Winterbottom - he couldn't rule anyone in the strong 25-car field out.

"With our pace not being as strong as we like, I'm looking at everyone (as a threat) to be honest!" Whincup told v8supercars.com.au with a chuckle.

"Everyone's a threat to us come race day."

But, Whincup mentioned a different name when asked who may emergeand surprise in the second part of the season.

"Who is going to be a bit of a dark horse and sneak up at the end of the year? That's a really hard one to predict in general - but I think Dave Reynolds," he said.

"He's had a bit of a quiet start to the season. I see him really kicking on and coming on strong, come the end of the season. So if I was going to pick, it'd be car 55, I think he'll be the one to step up."

Reynolds broke through for his maiden V8 Supercars victory with Dean Canto at the Gold Coast event last year.

The Bottle-O racer is the first to admit he has had a slow and unlucky start to 2014, but with more consistency he has crept into the top 10 in the points, sitting ninth in the Championship after 16 races.

Heading to the SKYCITY Triple Crown in Darwin next, Reynolds is confident the Hidden Valley circuit will suit him, after nabbing two of three ARMOR ALL Pole Positions there last year and being on-track for a podium in Saturday's race, when he tangled with teammate Mark Winterbottom.

Reynolds was rapt to be considered the field's dark horse by his competitor, and even seemed abit shocked.

"That's awesome!" he told v8supercars.com.au.

"From the five-time champ - that's awesome.

"It's pretty cool to have the respect of him as a driver, he's probably one of the best drivers the category has ever seen. So for him to say that is awesome, it means a lot to me."

Having had a positive test day at Winton Raceway since the last round, Reynolds is confident his Ford Performance Racing team has found improvements and as the V8 Supercars head to his favourite places on the calendar, is looking to capitalise in the coming races.

"I think the team's in a better position - our cars are quite fast, we had a really good test day the other day, we tried a lot of new things.

"Some of them worked, some didn't, but we have a pretty good package overall," Reynolds said.

"Darwin is my favourite part of the season because you go to the cool tracks... Darwin, Townsville, Gold Coast, Bathurst, Sandown, Phillip Island - the fun tracks, I suppose!"

Reynolds sits ninth in the Championship coming into the SKYCITY Triple Crown in Darwin this weekend. Can he take that win that eluded him last year? Be there to find out - tickets are available now through Ticketek.