KEY POINTS:
What didn't kill Jamie Whincup made him strong enough to finally win the V8 Supercar championship.
So many setbacks and difficult moments over his short career were put to one side as the Ford driver claimed his first title in emphatic style with victory in the opening race
of the final round at Oran Park on Saturday.
The Queensland-based 25-year-old has had more than his share of lows.
His career nearly ended before it began, he watched the championship slip away in 2007 by just two points to Garth Tander, missed an entire round because of an early season crash in New Zealand and made another error which cost him victory at Phillip Island in September.
But Whincup said he had used the setbacks to spur him on.
And the reality of reaching Australian motorsport's pinnacle via the school of hard knocks reduced Whincup to tears as he crossed the line to win race one and ensure he cannot be beaten regardless of results in Sunday's remaining two races of the year.
"Mistakes and setbacks definitely make you better," Whincup said.
"A lot of people said without Hamilton (New Zealand) you'd have won the championship a round ago.
"My belief is without Hamilton we may not have even won the championship.
"It gave us so much motivation. I made a mistake at Phillip Island as well, and I promised myself I would absolutely dedicate everything to making sure it wouldn't happen again."
Whincup has rarely put a foot wrong since, winning 10 of the last 11 races he has contested and six of the 13 rounds decided so far to be a deserved champion.
It was a far cry from being cast aside after just one season driving for Garry Rogers Motorsport in 2003, then spending a year in the V8 wilderness before getting a second chance with privateers Tasman Motorsport en route to Team Vodafone signing him up cheaply as Craig Lowndes' No.2.
The likeable Whincup has surpassed all expectations, beating Lowndes in the championship the past two years and finally securing Team Vodafone the title they have been runners-up in for the previous three seasons.
The only man who could beat Whincup for this year's title, Ford's Mark Winterbottom, saw his slim chance evaporate in the pits early in the race.
The Ford driver made contact with Holden's Mark Skaife as he was trying to exit the pit, damaging his Falcon.
Stewards then hit Winterbottom with a drive-through penalty and a 10-second time penalty for his error, which was believed to have been caused in part by a radio communication fault.
He finished last of the 23 cars to complete the race.
It also ruined any hope of a fairytale finish at Oran Park for the retiring Skaife, who was left with steering damage and failed to finish.
With race one finishing positions becoming grid positions for race two on Sunday, Skaife will have to start from the back row of the grid as he competes in his last two races before quitting fulltime V8 driving.
While pole-sitter Tander also copped a drive-through penalty for jumping the start, Whincup had a virtual pressure-free run once he inherited the lead from his Holden rival.
Lowndes finished second in Saturday's opening race, with Holden's Russell Ingall third.
Earlier on Saturday, Holden driver Steve Owen sealed the second-tier Fujitsu Development V8 championship.
- AAP