Having claimed a fourth round win and control of the championship heading into the final V8 Supercar round, Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup has credited his success at Symmons Plains to his team.
A successful Falken Tasmania Challenge has seen Team Vodafone leave with both drivers in championship contention – again in a closely fought battle with the Toll HSV Dealer Team to secure the 2007 V8 Supercar Drivers' title.
After a horror run at Symmons Plains in 2006, Jamie Whincup was ecstatic with his round win a year later, and congratulated the Triple Eight Race Engineering crew on orchestrating a consistent effort across the weekend to lever him into the box seat of the championship.
“It is great to overcome the bad memories of both last years 14 second event and of a fortnight ago at Bahrain,” Whincup said.
“I really want to dedicate this win to the team. The pitstop guys got me back out on the track in the lead every time.”
“Leading the championship puts a lot of pressure on the team heading into the round but I am more than confident that both the team and myself have got what it takes to give it a red hot go – perhaps a bit of luck would also be handy.”
Whincup's team mate, three time champion Craig Lowndes, finished fifth overall after a steady weekend which saw him slip to third in the championship, but still within reach of the trophy.
“Race two was really a battle of brake attrition with the guys who were getting clear air able to advance better than those who were dicing for position. Unfortunately I was dicing quite regularly for position,” said Lowndes.
“Once again the boys did some great pitstops to ensure I remained competitive but this track is so difficult to overtake even though I had good race pace.”
Lowndes' also headed to Phillip Island chasing the title in 2006, before championship rival Rick Kelly tapped the rear of Lowndes' Falcon in the final race of the year, forcing him out of contention.
“It is with a sense of déjà-vu' that the team is going into the final championship round seven points ahead rather than seven points behind,” he added.
“Let's just hope we can achieve a better result than last year and we have a fair and equal fight.”
Team Vodafone will find out if one of their drivers will be showered in red and silver confetti and raise the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship trophy at the Dunlop Grand Finale in a fortnight.
