New Winterbottom Ford uncovered

Mark Winterbottom has revealed the ‘mean, green machine’ with which he aims to reclaim Supercars' #1 plate in 2017.

After a disappointing year as reigning champion that saw him slump to sixth in the standings, Winterbottom reverts to the #5 that he campaigned from 2006-2015.

The 35-year-old has a new car and a new engineer for this season, shaking down the fresh chassis at Winton yesterday.

A revised The Bottle-O livery features striking green wheels, replacing the black used last year.

"You won't be able to miss me out there this year,” said Winterbottom.

"The car looks great with the green wheels in particular. It really is a mean, green machine this year. "I'm definitely hungry to go out there and put wins on the board.

“I certainly didn't meet my expectations last year and that's something that needs to change in 2017.

“We need to be at the top of our game if we want to be able to challenge the guys at the front and I think we have the potential, we just need to work that little bit harder. 

"The guys and girls back at the workshop want it too.

“The changes they've all been working on at the workshop over the break look really positive so I'm looking forward to giving this new tyre a try and seeing how things go at the test day. "I'm proud to be representing so many great brands again this year, particularly long-term supporters in The Bottle-O.

“We got a couple of wins for them last year but a few more this year would be good."

Although only a 60km shakedown, yesterday provided Winterbottom his first chance to work trackside with engineer Brendan Hogan, who ran Cameron Waters’ car in 2016.

"It's great to be working with Brendan,” said Winterbottom.

“He's an engineer that I've rated highly over the years and have a lot of respect for so I'm excited to start working with him this year. "He's had a lot of experience with a range of teams and drivers so I think that we'll be able to work together well to achieve the right setups that we need and make us competitive.”