Supercars veteran Mark Winterbottom has declared podiums need to start coming for Team 18

‘Frosty’ Winterbottom said it was near on embarrassing as Triple Eight duo passed every car up to eighth last weekend. He said the excuses stop there.

MARK ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom is tired of the excuses.

The former Supercars champion and Bathurst 1000 winner still has the skills behind the wheel.

But his struggles with one lap time has forced him to fight it out for the minors this season.

He proved he can drive last weekend when he put in his worst qualifying performance at Reid Park, starting in 21st place both races, but managed to finish 10th and 16th respectively.

But after 16 races in the Supercars championship, Winterbottom is still without a podium finish for Team 18 boss Charlie Schwerkolt.

“We were not good enough last week, there is no excuses,” Winterbottom said.

“I salvaged a reasonable result (on Saturday), but that is our lowest expectation for this weekend.

SUPERCARS DRIVERS PLAY CRICKET AT REID PARK

“We need to qualify in the top 10, race in the top 10 and try and get podiums. That is what Charlie wants as a boss and what we should deliver. We were nowhere near it last week.”

The Irwin Racing Commodore will be pushed to its limits this week with the pressure on Winterbottom’s engineer Manuel Sanchez to deliver a fast car in a short time.

With drivers hitting the track for three qualifying sessions and three races over two days, the Team 18 garage will have little downtime to make adjustments.

“The amount of time you have to debrief is so short, quick sharp answers is what you need,” Winterbottom said. “The engineers need to know what you are saying, get on board and then bang make the change on track.

“But in the end, the fastest car will win.”

At the moment that car belongs to Triple Eight’s Shane van Gisbergen.

He and teammate Jamie Whincup have been light years ahead of the rest of the field, especially on the Townsville street track, but Winterbottom knows they can be beaten.

“They were dominant on the weekend, they lapped up to eighth position. I wouldn’t say it is embarrassing but it is pretty close. We should be racing them, not getting lapped by them,” he said.

“They are having a strong year, and they are the benchmark. But the benchmarks are there to be aimed at and passed.

“We know what they will do and what to expect, we need to lift.”

SUPERCARS DRIVERS HANDED LESSON IN THE FIELD

BRISBANE Heat heavy hitter Grace Harris believes she has plenty to teach the Supercars drivers when it comes to her track.

Harris went toe-to-toe with Melbourne Stars’ express delivery service Billy Stanlake on the hallowed turf of the Reid Park hairpin yesterday.

Armed with a support cast that included competitive Triple Eight Engineering duo Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen, Harris took the win in a friendly game of backyard cricket.

SUPERCARS DRIVERS PLAY CRICKET AT REID PARK

But she admitted there were a few questionable efforts and that the Supercars races should leave their driving to the bitumen.

“Jamie Whincup was quite impressive and Mark Winterbottom was quite up there but not a lot of other drivers can play cricket,” Harris said.

“The main things (they need to work on) are everything. From their release points to their body shapes. Not many of them know how to walk in with the bowler or stand correctly. They are used to sitting down and driving all day. I will give them a few tips later.

“We sure did (win) and I am super pumped about it. There was no way I was going to let the Brisbane Heat lose to the Melbourne Stars again.

“It might be, that and it is a good bit of fun with backyard cricket. I always get competitive when it comes to these games.”

SUPERCARS DRIVERS PLAY CRICKET AT REID PARK

Fox Sports sideline commentator and former Cowboys legend Brent Tate was in the thick of the action umpiring the game.

While the trigger finger was on high alert for any hint of a LBW shout, Tate said the response to his performance was widely positive apart from one player behind the stumps.

“It is pretty tough umpiring,” Tate said. “There was a lot of no balls and a lot of wides, but (the drivers) aren’t too bad in the field. There was no backchat out there today, Grace was the only one who was giving me a bit of lip about my umpiring.”

Jack Le Brocq was the standout of the day, taking two sharp catches in the outfield before smashing his first delivery onto the road to be judged ‘six-and-out’.

Originally published as Supercars veteran Mark Winterbottom has declared podiums need to start coming for Team 18