Jamie Whincup during race 18 at the Sydney SuperSprint. Photo / Getty Images
It won't secure this year's Supercars championship but Holden star Jamie Whincup says forecast wet weather could end a title dream for him or his rivals on Saturday on the Gold Coast.
Up to 20mm is forecast to fall on the Surfers Paradise street circuit, turning every painted line, manhole
cover or kerb into a potentially championship- defining obstacle.
With five drivers pushing for this year's crown, six-time champion Whincup knows any mistake in Saturday's 300km race might prove crucial.
"You certainly can't win it here this weekend but you can possibly lose it with only two rounds to go," Whincup said.
"Scoring points, having a clean run, is certainly critical."
Whincup made the most of dry conditions on Friday to clock a practice lap record of one minute and 09.9179 seconds in the day's third and final session.
One of those drivers also pushing for the title, Ford's Chaz Mostert, clocked the day's second-fastest lap with a 1:10.1037.
Bathurst 1000 champion David Reynolds, fresh from his upset win at Mount Panorama, continued his fine form with a 1:10.3301 to be the third-fastest driver.
Other championship contenders Scott McLaughlin, Shane Van Gisbergen and championship leader Fabian Coulthard rounded out the top six to suggest all five title contenders were on the pace heading into the weekend.
Not that Whincup, a seven-time race winner on the Gold Coast, believes past performance will play a role on Saturday.
"It's just going to be a battle of survival," he said.
"But it's the same for everyone and, if you don't want to do it, you can always go and be a milkman."
Holden's James Moffat left his team with plenty of work to do to even make the grid for Saturday's race. He binned his Garry Rogers Motorsport Commodore into the wall on Friday with just over six minutes to go in the session.
Reynolds is expecting similar incidents on Saturday given his experience in the wet at Surfers.
"This is the scariest track in the wet - it's horrendously bad," said Reynolds, who raced at the venue in 2005 in wet conditions.
Saturday's action begins with qualifying at 2pm before the 300km race later in the afternoon.
