Whincup wins title in race one

TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup has won the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship in style by winning the first of three races at Oran Park today.
Still with two races to go at the NRMA Motoring + Services Grand Finale at Oran Park, Whincup has clinced the Championship over Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom with a lead of 309 points.

Defending Champion Garth Tander put his Holden Racing Team’s Commodore on pole position but was then judged to have jumped the start, giving him a 10-second penalty, which he elected to serve on top of his compulsory pit stop.

Whincup and Tander swapped the lead in the first few corners with Whincup coming off second best, and he later admitted that he probably shouldn’t have done it “but I can’t help myself”.

The 10-second penalty for his starting infrimgment pushed Tander way down the order, leaving Whincup to lead the second half of the race.

An emotional Whincup said after the race: “I don’t cry, I’m a racing driver and an Aussie bloke. We don’t cry.”

But he said it felt amazing to be crowned a V8 Supercar Champion.

“The feeling is as good as I imagined,” he said, adding that it was a huge relief to have won the title.

“(Over) the last two weeks people were telling me it was going to happen, but to finally get over the line is unbelievable.

“The car was a rocket.

“We just got the position back, great pit stop and… not only did we win the drivers’ Championship, but we wrapped up the teams’ Championship which is a big deal.”

Teammate Craig Lowndes finished second behind the new Champion with the Supercheap Auto Racing’s Commodore of Russell Ingall taking the third spot.

“I saw this other Vodafone car looming up and I thought ‘bloody Lowndes, here we go again’,” Ingall said.

“I tried to put up a bit of a fight but there wasn’t much there.”