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MOTORSPORT critics think Supercars great Jamie Whincup is a driven, focused control freak. They’re right. The man today admits his staunch personal traits have underpinned his dominance in the sport and flow into most facets of his life away from the track — and he is not about to apologise for it. “Everyone says I am too (expletive) with things,” Whincup says. “I refuse to listen to that.”
SHARPENING the knives.
It’s the sort of one-percenter that has proven the backbone of Jamie Whincup’s formidable Supercars career that arguably stands as the greatest in Australian motorsport history.
Whether it is in sport, business or life, Whincup is driven to win. He puts his success down to executing the tiny, almost unnoticeable, elements to perfection.
The daily knife-sharpening procedure he has brought in at his Loca Cafe site in Hope Island says it all.
“The knives will cut a tomato no problems but if you sharpen them every day, it will cut the tomato better and quicker than what it would otherwise,” Whincup tells the Bulletin ahead of this weekend’s Gold Coast 600.
“Every time I go in there the knives are blunt so I have run a procedure to make sure that they are sharpened every day.
“They (the staff) are like, it doesn’t make any difference; why are we wasting our time with this? But in the long run, you do things right, you do them perfect and you get the reward from it.”
He would know. Whincup this year overtook iconic figure Craig Lowndes on the leaderboard for most Supercars race wins when he took the
GROWING UP, IF THE JOB WAS WORTH DOING, IT’S WORTH DOING PROPERLY. I ABSOLUTELY LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED
CHAMPION DRIVER AND BUSINESSMAN JAMIE WHINCUP
chequered flag at Sydney Motorsport Park in August – marking his 106th victory.
With 428 races now under his belt, he carries a phenomenal 24.8 per cent strike rate into his home event – essentially winning one in every four races.
The Red Bull Holden Racing Team spearhead also holds the record for the most championships won and remains firmly in the hunt to break new ground with a seventh, if he can overhaul a 91-point deficit to fellow Gold Coast-based driver Fabian Coulthard.
With each of his series crowns, perhaps the typical tall poppy syndrome grew more and more. There was a general feeling among fans of “not Whincup again …”.
Think Michael Schumacher during his grip on Formula One.
Like the German legend, winning is a way of life for the 34-year-old.
Asked if perceptions of him being driven, confident – even arrogant – and prepared to do whatever it takes to win were on the money, he replies: “Definitely.”
“I regard myself as a competitor,” Whincup elaborates.
“I’m out there to compete. Love the battle. That’s what keeps me alive and that’s what I love about this sport and it hasn’t changed over the 12 years I have been racing Supercars in particular, there’s still that drive to go out there and drive hard.”
Away from the track and into the business world – he owns Loca Cafe and the adjoining Washed for Cars operation – he sees himself equally the competitor.
“Everyone says I am too anal with things and too much a tion to detail and we’re wor harder and it’s not making difference,” Whincup says. “I refuse to listen to that. “Growing up, if the job worth doing, it’s worth d properly. I absolutely leav stone unturned.
“The funny thing is it is one-per centers. If there is