Supercars great Mark Skaife says Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes will be the pair to beat at Mount Panorama
Scott McLaughlin has taken all before him in a commanding Supercars season to date, but his is not the driver pairing Mark Skaife considers the one to beat at Mount Panorama this week.
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Supercars great Mark Skaife has declared Triple Eight's driver combinations as the strongest in this year's Bathurst 1000 field and nominated Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes as the pair to beat.
While Ford's Scott McLaughlin will be aiming to continue his dominant year with a maiden Bathurst crown, Skaife said the experience of the pairings in the Red Bull Holden Racing Team's garage were the biggest threats.
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Whincup and seven-time winner Lowndes will be reunited as a combination in the Great Race, 10 years after they last raced together.
They won a hat-trick of Bathurst crowns between 2006-08.
Holden's leading driver in the championship, Shane van Gisbergen, will be paired with three-time winner Garth Tander this weekend.
Both Lowndes and Tander only finished as full-time Supercars drivers at the end of last year.
Skaife said it was for that reason and the Bathurst credentials of Lowndes and Tander that made the Triple Eight pairings so strong.
“For me the standout combinations are the two Red Bull Holden Racing Team combinations,” The Fox Sports commentator said.
“It sort of harks back to the days of being able to put your two number one drivers together.
“They are the strongest driver combinations. If you were going through and rating them whether they were a A+ or and A, they are certainly the two A+ combos.
“When I think Lowndes and Tander, I don't think co-drivers … I think that's the way you've got to perceive it. Lowndes was the winner last year and Tander has always been good at Bathurst.
“My money would be on Whincup and Lowndes, I just think the strength of the combination is so powerful that they'll take a lot of beating.”
While the factory Holden team has had its struggles this year, with just the four victories, Skaife believed they were now hitting form at the right time of the year.
“If you think a bit more about what's the form line been like, to be brutal, they haven't had a great season the Red Bull Holden Racing Team,” Skaife said.
“There has been lots of times when they weren't the fastest Commodore … but they look like they are making their way forward and the recent aero adjustment to the Commodore for New Zealand definitely paid dividends.
“So they are sort of peaking at the right time, coming good when you need to.”
After securing a record-breaking 17th win for the season in the last round in Auckland, McLaughlin takes a whopping 598-point lead into the opening race of the endurance season at Mount Panorama.
McLaughlin has taken all before him in a commanding season in his Mustang this year, but conquering Mount Panorama next month remains his biggest goal.
Skaife said the championship lead would allow the DJR Team Penske star, who will again be paired with Frenchman Alex Premat, to throw everything at his bid for a first Bathurst victory.
“To have almost two rounds clear of the field leading into Bathurst is extraordinary,” Skaife said.
“When you've only got 50 points lead you have to think about the championship as well as winning Bathurst, but when you've got (a lead) bordering on 600 points you go 'Let's get into this'.
“I actually think that lets him off the chain a bit. It's a career bucket list for him that he hasn't been able to achieve so far and given the championship position I reckon he'll be all guns blazing.”
Originally published as Supercars great Mark Skaife says Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes will be the pair to beat at Mount Panorama
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