Time to end Bathurst drought, says Mark 'Frostie' Winterbottom

MARK Winterbottom has done just about everything in Australian motor racing, but he's never won Bathurst.

MARK Winterbottom has done just about everything in Australian motor racing, but he's never won Bathurst.

Heading into the 50th anniversary Mount Panorama endurance classic on Sunday, he would love nothing better than to break his drought at the famous circuit.

While Winterbottom -- know to motor racing fans as Frostie -- has had a great year behind the wheel of the Orrcon Steel Ford Falcon, he is still far from a happy camper.

Three wins, three poles and 15 podium finishes has the Ford Performance Racing team driver sitting second, 38 points behind series leader Jamie Whincup in the Triple Eight-engineered Vodafone Holden.

Winterbottom, desperate to break his Bathurst drought, made his debut at Mount Panorama 10 years ago. His best result is fourth (twice).

And both times were with Steve Richards, his long-time co-driver whose father, Jim, won the race seven times, two short of the late Peter Brock's all-time mark.

But Team Vodafone and the Holden Racing Team have dominated the mountain since 2001, sharing nine of the 11 wins in the October classic.

To add even more spice to a delicious scenario, Vodafone and Winterbottom's FPR team find themselves in a two-up drag race for the manufacturers' championship in this year's golden jubilee race in what will be the last time Ford and Holden will go head-to-head before Nissan and Mercedes-Benz enter the competition with the running of the Clipsal 500 in South Australia next season.

An incident in the Sandown 500 in Melbourne last month between Winterbottom and Whincup led to the pair trading barbs after Winterbottom nudged the rear of his closest rival's car.

"He didn't like it, but in finishing second I cut Whincup's lead by 20, which in the overall scheme of things could well help win the championship," Winterbottom told The Australian yesterday.

"With a further 300 points up for grabs this Sunday, I don't want a poor result which could well see my whole season go down the drain."

Winterbottom will again team up with the reliable Richards for this year's event.

"Everything has gone fantastically well for the team all year," Winterbottom said.

"We've been running in the top three pack for much of the season. But you need to get good reliability and have a fast car coming into Bathurst. And, just as importantly, you need good team morale within the pit crew.

"Everything looks good, and if we have everything right on the day, everything goes perfect and we do everything right, and have luck on our side, I believe we'll be at the pointy end of the race at the end.

"Bathurst is already a massive race on it's own, and the fact that it's the 50th anniversary adds an extra element to the occasion this Sunday."

It is also the 35th anniversary of the famous 1-2 finish of Allan Moffat and Colin Bond.

"We've modified our existing livery to pay homage," Winterbottom said.

"That's why to win on Sunday would mean something pretty special to everyone in our team."

Organisers are tipping the crowd record of 192,647, set in 2006, will be broken after all the camp sites were sold out in a record 33 minutes in July.

Additional temporary stands have been added at three locations: Murray's Corner, The Museum and The Chase.