Whincup bows out with spot in history

JAMIE Whincup fell agonisingly short of a fairytale sendoff in his final race as a fulltime Supercars driver after just missing a podium finish at the Bathurst 1000 then declaring it was time for the “next generation” to take over.

On a day when Whincup was announced as a Supercars Hall of Famer, the seven-time Supercars champion steered his Commodore to fourthplace with co-driver Craig Lowndes in what marked the end of one of the greatest careers in Australian motorsport.

Whincup (pictured) edged closer to the podium late in the race after the hopes of his Triple Eight teammate and defending

Bathurst 1000 champion Shane van Gisbergen were dashed because of a tyre issue with seven laps to go and when he was in pursuit of leader Chaz Mostert.

The greatest championship driver in Supercars history, Whincup’s hopes took a hit when he dropped to 12th after he was forced to double stack behind van Gisbergen under the safety car with 46 laps to go.

Whincup said he would have loved to get on the podium but could not be disappointed with his finish.

“I felt plenty of emotion the last few laps, I was just pushing hard. You know what, I actually managed to enjoy the last stint because I was counting the laps down,” he said.

“Normally you are trying to get to the end but I would have paid for more laps, I just wanted to keep going.

“I’m not greedy, I think we did a great job, the car was fantastic. The young kids were just pushing a little bit harder at the end there. I knew what I had to do but I didn’t have quite what was required.”

He becomes the 23rd inductee into the Supercars Hall of Fame – and the first since 2018 – and joins the greatest names in the sport including the late Peter Brock, Allan Moffat, Dick Johnson, Mark Skaife and Lowndes.