Four drivers in contention for the 2013 V8 Supercars title

Four drivers and two teams are in contention for the 2013 V8 Supercars title in this weekend’s season finale in Sydney: Championship leader Jamie Whincup and Triple Eight team mate Craig Lowndes, as well as Ford Performance Racing duo Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison.

While team mates are often described as the toughest opponents on the track, Triple Eight insists that the main goal is to score a 1-2, with a common enemy in the form of Mark ”Frosty” Winterbottom.

“Both sides of the garage are 100 per cent for each other. The tension hasn’t escalated or anything like that. It’s healthy competition and I think part of what has us so tight as a team and bringing us closer than anything is having a common enemy in Frosty. He’s been involved in incidents with both sides of the garage this year and more than anything we don’t want to see him win the championship at our expense,” said Triple Eight chief engineer Mark Dutton.

Two races awaits the V8 Supercars field in the final race weekend of 2013, with Winterbottom being 124 points behind Whincup.

”It is good to go into the last event with a chance of winning the title and Saturdays race will play a massive role in how all the contenders approach Sunday. Winning the championship is not impossible and if I can win the first race, which is my sole focus right now, the rest of the stuff has to sort itself out. No doubt it is going to be hard given the deficit but if all things fall our way there is a good chance we can come away with the number one on the car for next year,” said Winterbottom.

Team mate Davison is 223 points behind Whincup but is still within a mathematical shot of clinching the title in Sydney, his last race with the team.

”Sydney is going to be a little bit emotional as it is my final race with FPR so I want to go out on a really positive note to finish what has been a great relationship. That is all I am focussed on and I just want to enjoy myself. I love the track and have always had heaps of speed there. Actually, its possibly my favourite track on the calendar so if we can go out and win some races it will be a nice way to end the year. In terms of the title I cant control other people and their results so anything can happen. Either way it has been a pretty solid year with a lot to be proud of so I just want to finish on a really great note,” said Davison.

20 points separate Whincup and Lowndes. Should Lowndes win both races, with Whincup in second position, Lowndes would be champion by a mere four points. Things are a bit easier for Whincup, should he be ahead of Lowndes in the first race he only needs to be within two places of Lowndes in the second race, given that they are in the top ten and that Winterbottom does not win both races.

While things points in the right direction for Whincup, he has for the past eight races in Sydney never been on the podium while Lowndes has the best record of all drivers in the championship at the circuit.

”I’m feeling good. I’m looking forward to the weekend and looking forward to the challenge. I feel as confident as I ever have. I’m pretty confident we’re definitely going to put on a good show,” said Lowndes to The Age.

Statistics speaking both for and against Whincup, the championship leader is on the verge of clinching a record-breaking fifth V8 Supercars title and is hoping to break the run of poor results at the track this weekend.

”I’ve had good speed here and I’ve been in great positions three or four times over the past four years, but for one reason or another, it’s always gobbled me up. Fingers crossed that this year, year number five, that I can have a clean run and have a few things go my way,” said Whincup.

The V8 Supercars finale starts with four practice sessions on Friday, qualifying and top ten shootout on Saturday. The first race starts 17.10 local time, meaning that it is going to be held in twilight conditions. Sunday features a single qualifying session and the final race of the year, starting at 15.05 local time.