Jamie Whincup hopes to bridge the 4.7 seconds standing between him and victory at Symmons Plains
Jame Whincup has two more chances to leave Tasmania with a record 13th victory at Symmons Plains.
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SUPERCARS legend Jamie Whincup has two more chances to win one last time at Symmons Plains on Sunday after finishing second in the opening race of the Tasmanian supercars round on Saturday.
Whincup, 38, has racked up 12 wins in Tasmania over his 19 years and 527 races in the sport.
It is his final event in Tasmania as a full-time driver and he aims to go out with at least one more win at Symmons, after teammate Shane van Gisbergen won the opening race on super Saturday.
“He’s driving unbelievably well – and it’s happy days because we scored a one-two,” Whincup said.
“This could be the last time I’m here as a full-time driver so hopefully I can go out on a high.
“The past doesn’t guarantee anything in the future so I can’t come here just thinking everything is going to go perfect.
“Of course we come to every race meeting confident we can do a good job, but we are never over-confident.”
Rising star Anton De Pasquale was third, his best result since switching to Ford’s Shell V-Power Racing Team.
“After I had a good pit stop I knew I was in contention for a podium,” De Pasquale said.
“Chaz Mostert was coming at me and faded off, and my tire degradation was good and the car was great so it was good to finish strong.”
Whincup targets more Symmons success
TASMANIA has been a happy hunting ground for seven-time supercar champion Jamie Whincup.
And the man who has won more races at Symmons Plains than any other driver is hoping for at least one more in his “farewell tour” before retirement from full-time competition at the end of the year.
The Sultan of Symmons has won 12 times at the 2.61km circuit, so the 38-year-old feels right at home when he arrives at the track, this time for his 243rd round.
“To cross the finish before everyone else on 12 occasions is fantastic – I’m not a greedy person and that’s more than I ever imagined,” Whincup said.
“This could be the last time I’m here full-time so hopefully I can go out on a high.”
Team 18 driver Mark Winterbottom has not won at Symmons Plains since 2010, and the hairpin might have played its part.
“It’s the tightest corner on the calendar so it throws out a lot of challenges,” Winterbottom said.
“You have to brake deep and go from fifth gear back to first. It drops away sharply and has lots of complications to get through there fast.
“It’s tight on your own, and it’s really tight with the field bottle-necking in there after the start.
“It has been good and bad to me over the years – it’s a high-risk corner.”
“Frosty’s” teammate, Dewalt Racing Commodore pilot Scott Pye loves it.
“You can’t see on TV how much the track falls away there – so when you enter the corner you are high and you actually drop down a fair way,” Pye said.
“It’s my favourite part of the track.”
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