Motorsport: Crash forces Whincup to the back of the grid

Jamie Whincup. Photo / EDGE Photographics

V8 Supercars championship leader Jamie Whincup will start tomorrow's Bathurst 1000 from the back of the grid after crashing out during qualifying.

The Red Bull Racing star slid into a concrete barrier at Mt Panorama with 20 minutes left in yesterday's afternoon session.

The incident caused significant damage to his Holden Commodore, ending his chances of a place in the Top 10 shootout.

His lap time before the crash has him in 25th place on the grid, only ahead of Ford Performance Racing's David Reynolds who was also bitten hard by the mountain.

"My error," Whincup told the Seven Network.

"I was a little bit weak in that sector and I just tried to find a bit more time but it obviously wasn't there.

"I got in a bit deep, locked the rears and into the fence.

"It's done quite a bit of damage. Hopefully it hasn't hit the chassis. If the chassis' not good, I'm sure we'll be able to fix it.

"But time will tell. We've got the best crew in the world here."

Whincup had been the clear favourite to win Australia's Great Race following his Sandown 500 victory with co-driver Paul Dumbrell last month.

His campaign didn't get off to a great start, finishing 17th in practice on Thursday in a car his engineer labelled "almost undriveable".

But he bounced back in the final practice session before qualifying yesterday, clocking the third fastest time of the day.

Whincup has conquered the Mountain four times and is aiming for a record sixth V8 Supercars title this year.

Mark Winterbottom set a new practice record in the final session before qualifying.

He became the first to lap Australia's most famous track in less than two minutes, six seconds. Volvo sensation Scott McLaughlin was second quickest in the session with a 2:06.1491.

- AAP