Motorsport: V8s sprint after Sydney points

Shane van Gisbergen is one of three Kiwis in the top 10 and will be hoping to pick up some precious points in Sydney. Photo / Edge Photographics

Whincup has the edge as Supercar rivals look to gain buffer in title race ahead of three endurance rounds

This weekend's round of the V8 Supercars at the Sydney Motorsport Park is the last sprint round before the three endurance rounds kick in starting with Sandown on September 12-14, and every driver will be after maximum points as a buffer.

Championship momentum appears to have shifted from Ford Performance Racing, who with Mark Winterbottom were making all the running, to defending champions Red Bull Racing and in particular Jamie Whincup.

After a stuttering start to the season, Whincup finally got his nose in front in the title race at Queensland Raceway to now lead Winterbottom and Craig Lowndes. Whincup has come on strong in recent rounds after his team knuckled down and gave him a car he can use winning six races from the last nine.

The weekend doesn't bode well for the chasing pack, even though teams haven't raced the new car in anger on the Sydney track. The last time the category was there in 2012 Whincup and Lowndes won the two races. Lowndes likes the place having three winner's trophies on his mantelpiece.

The track is unique as it was designed for motorcycle racing and has a number of different characteristics. There are fast, flowing sections punctuated with changes of direction, slow corners, hairpins and long straights to test straight-line speed.

The three Kiwis in the field are all still inside the top 10 with Fabian Coulthard fifth, Shane van Gisbergen sixth and Scot McLaughlin seventh. They will all want to grab a bundle of points to stop the top three from pulling away from the chasing pack.

"We haven't raced here for a couple of years now, but it's a pretty good track for us, it's one of the best ones we go to," said van Gisbergen.

"It's nice and flowing and the layout is great - it's a bit like Phillip Island. We're just doing our own thing and we're pretty happy overall. The round at Perth was a shocker, but since then we've had three rounds and we've been in the top 10 every single race.

"That's what we're focusing on is keeping that consistency. We're doing all right now and we just have to hit that sweet spot and we'll be back on the podium, and maybe even challenging for a win."

It's at least one win Coulthard will be after if he wants to halt his gentle slide down the table. For most of the season Coulthard has been challenging for the championship lead, but a bad round in Queensland has dented his points tally.

"Getting through a full programme [only two days] is going to be pretty tough on teams so we're going to have to try and get the most out of it [car] as quick as we can," said Coulthard. "It's a track that's pretty hard on tyres so it's going to be pretty tough in that aspect of the race. Turn one is pretty cool, obviously it's fast, high speed and rewards a little bit of bravery."

Gary Rogers Motorsport, and in particular McLaughlin, are returning to the track that saw the first official appearance on track of the Volvo S60 Polestar V8 Supercar in February.

The team have arrived with their tail feathers up after a successful test day at Winton just over a week ago.

"The test day has been really good for us. We know where we can start from and I am really looking forward to it," said McLaughlin. "I can't wait to get back in the car, especially around here, it's a pretty cool joint. It'll suit us as it's a high-speed track and our cars are good on those types of circuits.

"It'll be all about looking after our tyres and getting some turn in from our car and the race pace. But I think we have got a pretty awesome weekend ahead of us."

Everyone involved today will have to spool up to speed really quickly as the revised schedule has six V8 Supercars sessions today with just two half-hour practice sessions in the morning. Then it's straight into qualifying quickly followed by two sprint races. Tomorrow is a bit calmer with qualifying and the feature race.

V8 Supercars points
1. Jamie Whincup 1790
2. Mark Winterbottom 1775
3. Craig Lowndes 1628
4. James Courtney 1598
5. Fabian Coulthard 1535
6. Shane van Gisbergen 1532
7. Scott McLaughlin 1347
8. Chaz Mostert 1322

Kiwis busy taking on the world s fastest this weekend

It just won't be the Kiwi V8 drivers who'll be having a busy time this weekend. Other New Zealanders are buckling up in various race categories around the world.

• Starting on home soil Richard and Sara Mason will going for five-from-five in the New Zealand Rally Championships on the Coromandel Peninsula.

• Scott Dixon has only two more rounds in the IndyCar series and will need to win both starting in Sonoma if he's to defend his 2013 IRL title.

• Porsche exponent Earl Bamber is very keen to leapfrog Kuba Giermaziak and grab the lead in the Porsche Supercup championship at Spa Francorchamps.

• Mitch Evans is also in action at Spa in the GP2 series. The Aucklander will be looking to get back on the podium and make a push towards getting into the top three in the series.

• The two Kiwis at Spa will be joined by GP3 driver Richie Stanaway who is excelling in his return to single seater racing after two years out. He sits second in the championship and is getting faster each outing.

• Chris van der Drift gets to play again in a McLaren GT car in the Blancpain Endurance series at Slovakiaring, Slovakia, which is part of the Sprint series.