Despite having their car blessed at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral on Monday, TeamVodafone drivers Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes insist they are not religious men.
With four race victories on the trot, Whincup is the biggest name in Australian motorsport and, judging by his start to the 2010 V8 Supercars Championship, he doesn’t need any help from the big man upstairs.
“We’re very thankful that in the City of Churches we’ve been able to [bless the car] and if it can help us on the track then why not?”
Whincup has won the opening four races of the season in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain and, having experienced great success on Adelaide’s street circuit in the past, he’s looking to win a third Adelaide 500 in as many seasons.
“We’ve had a fantastic start to the year but Adelaide’s a huge one,” he said.
“It’s the biggest event of the year without doubt, it’s the one I’ve had a lot of success with in the past and I’ve experienced the most joy here on the streets of Adelaide.”
Whincup said he hoped to make a “mockery” of this year’s V8 Supercar series and in doing so become the first driver since Mark Skaif in 2000-02 to win three-straight championships.
“My goal is – in any race meeting – is to go in and try and win the event. It’s been a perfect start, four from four – if I can make a mockery of it I certainly will.
“But I doubt that will happen. The competition out there is unbelievable – there are probably six or seven cars capable of winning this weekend.”
Besides the competition from other teams, the reigning champion was quick to point out the differences from the virgin surfaces TeamVodafone raced on in the Middle East to the worn, unforgiving roads of Adelaide.
“The Middle East have brand new tracks – really, really smooth. We go to the complete other end of the scale here this weekend; tight, twisty, bumpy street tracks. So it’s definitely a new list of challenges and hopefully our engineers can come up with the right setting on the car so I can get round the track nice and quick.”
On track for his third Supercar Championship in a row, Whincup is also on a hat trick of Adelaide wins. He said the first race on Australian soil is, and has always been, a great indication of how the car and driver will fare for the season.
“We’ve always said whoever won the first round has generally gone on to win the Championship. This still feels like the first round because it is the first round in our country.
“It’s massively important to get momentum here – if the car handles the bumpy streets of Adelaide well, it generally handles well all year. So massively important to get off to a good start.”
Whincup is by no means flying solo in 2010. While he has stolen much of the limelight this season, his team mate Craig Lowndes is a superstar in his own right. A three-time V8 Supercar champion (1996, 98, 99), Lowndes is also experiencing a tremendous start to this season.
He achieved podium finishes in both Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, and is looking forward to the tricky Adelaide circuit.
“The Clipsal 500 is one of the toughest events of the year although having already completed four races we will go there better prepared than we ever have.
“This has been one of my best starts to a season in the past couple of years and I am looking forward to keeping the momentum rolling on.
“Clipsal has always been the circuit we have pegged as really knowing what our true speed will be as it is the first track we will race on this year that we all know. It is traditionally a bumpy circuit with lots of kerbs and 78 laps each day makes it a gruelling event.”
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