Mark Winterbottom: ”It’s awesome to be part of V8 Supercars history”
After finishing second once and third five times, Mark Winterbottom finally claimed his maiden V8 Supercars title at the 2015 season finale in Sydney.
”I’ve been trying for so many years and I’ve stayed at the one team for such a long time as well. To do it and see the crew’s reaction when you come in, it’s years of work to do it and it makes you respect people like Jamie (Whincup) more to win six, the week and the drama it crazy and to win one is fantastic. It’s awesome to be part of V8 Supercars history,” said Winterbottom.
The Prodrive Racing Australia driver had a strong first part and mid-point of the 2015 season with nine victories and 16 podium finishes, fighting off the challenge of Craig Lowndes after three tough weekends following Bathurst.
”It’s nice to be rewarded for the year that the team’s had. It’s (the final race) probably the first time in three months that you’ve actually been able to enjoy racing again without mathematically trying to do the best scenario and stuff so it’s cool,” said Winterbottom.
The title comes on the final year of Ford in V8 Supercars, as the manufacturer announced its withdrawal after the end of 2015 earlier this year, and also marks the first drivers’ title for Prodrive Racing Australia.
“At the moment it’s just a huge sense of relief. It’s been 10 years in the making and a lot of hard work, a lot of tears, a lot of highs and lows and to finally get it done is just a huge sense of relief. I don’t think I took a breath for the last 30 minutes of that race. It’s unbelievable, I’m just so proud of everybody. It’s been a lot of hard work by a lot of people. People have been asking what our advantage was this year; well our advantage was the 60-odd people that work for us,” said Tim Edwards, team principal.
