Can anyone catch Whincup

After three years and a number of attempts, TeamVodafone has finally achieved a 1-2 round finish with drivers Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes adorning the top two steps of the podium at the Gulf Air Desert 400 in Bahrain last night.
In winning the final two 32-lap V8 Supercar races at the Bahrain International Circuit yesterday, Jamie Whincup also completed his second consecutive clean sweep of a three-race sprint round and his third consecutive round victory.

The 25 year-old adding the maximum 300 points to his championship tally and extending his lead to sit 187 points ahead of Mark Winterbottom.

Acknowledging it was becoming a year of records for his team, Whincup also said there was still a long way to go in the title hunt.

“We have been battling for three years to achieve a TeamVodafone 1-2,” Whincup said. “It feels great.

“The championship is looking good on paper but I can’t stress enough anything can happen and there are still six races to go with 600 points up for grabs.

“Our plan coming into this round was to keep the momentum going and we have certainly achieved our goal. Full credit must go to the team, they gave me an amazing car this weekend and did their jobs to perfection,” he concluded.

Teammate Craig Lowndes continued his consistent run inside the top three, finishing third in both races to give him second overall for the round.

“When you look at where we were in 2007 we really have made a huge leap forward,” Lowndes said.

“It is great to back on the podium for a sprint round, we really got a good handle on the car this weekend.

“My starts let me down a bit and I had to wait for the right time to make my way through the field in Race 3 but I had some great battles and really enjoyed my racing this weekend,” Lowndes admitted.

With the TeamVodafone V8 Supercars to be airlifted back to Australia on Tuesday, the team will now prepare for the penultimate round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship at Tasmania’s Symmons Plains Raceway in a fortnights time.