Motorsport: Whincup chasing history, not points

Triple Eight Racing's Craig Lowndes leading a parade of Fords down Conrod during last year's race. Photo / Getty Images

SYDNEY - With an historic fourth successive Bathurst crown in the offing, V8 Supercars star Jamie Whincup says his championship battle with Holden's Will Davison is off the agenda this week.

The reigning V8 Supercar champion could only watch last month as Davison's teammate Garth Tander stole victory for the Holden Racing Team on the last lap at the Phillip Island 500, with Craig Lowndes nursing an ailing Team Vodafone Falcon home in second place.

That win for HRT means the gap between Whincup and Davison in the championship standings is just 171 points going into Sunday's Bathurst 1000, not that the Ford driver was worried about anything other than claiming another title at Mount Panorama with Lowndes.

"Until you mentioned it then, I'd forgotten about the championship. It's all about one race," Whincup said yesterday.

"If it was a 50/50 call, I'd think twice about it, knowing the championship's there, but it's pretty much all in, we want to win Bathurst."

And winning would prove to be an historic moment for the Triple Eight Racing team, eclipsing the efforts of legends such as Peter Brock, Jim Richards and Larry Perkins, to become the only drivers to win four races on the trot at Bathurst.

But Whincup urged caution about those who may think achieving the milestone was already in the bag.

"The four in a row, it's something that's never been done, we've got an opportunity to create history," Whincup said.

"For me, standing here right now I can't be thinking of that, all I've got to be thinking of is how can I do the best job this weekend?"

Lowndes, who has claimed four Bathurst titles overall in his career, has already said he is drawing inspiration from Geelong's AFL premiership victory going into Sunday's race.

The 35-year-old said the big race was V8 Supercars' equivalent of a grand final.

"In my eyes Bathurst is always like a grand final," he said.

"We are heading there as the reigning champions and we are hoping to re-write history.

"It's unbelievable to have the chance, and for us to have put ourselves in this position is incredible.

"In the modern era to be able to do what we've done already is sensational, but we've only equalled history, we haven't been able to create it."

Whincup will draw on a different football code for his inspiration, having cheered on the Melbourne Storm and their star Billy Slater in the NRL grand final last Sunday after spending time with Slater during a made-for-television Australia's Greatest Athlete competition last summer.

"I was going for the Melbourne Storm because I did AGA with Billy and I'm just massively respectful of his skills," Whincup said.

"You feel the emotion more than most, because you know what they're going through. You know what it takes and how much of their life they've dedicated for that one single thing.

"Similar to Craig and I, we sacrifice and dedicate so much to achieve our goals."

- AAP