Whincup hoping for dry Coast run

JAMIE Whincup’s car was the first victim of the torrential rain and wild storms that forced the second race of last year’s Gold Coast 600 to be abandoned and he is hoping to avoid the same carnage on the street circuit this weekend.

The Hope Island resident has reflected on the fierce storms that firstly ended the Triple Eight Team’s race when co-driver Paul Dumbrell crashed into the wall before officials suspended the cancelled the event when others followed.

“Some of the fans don’t mind a little bit of rain and in team land we don’t mind a little bit of rain but that torrential rain we had is not great to drive in,” Whincup said of conditions that had drivers struggling to see out their windscreens while navigating tight corners at high speed.

“They cancelled the race so we would have lost a heap of points that day but thankfully it worked in our favour and we didn’t lose any points margin because no one got any.”

The man who has won a record seven Supercars Championship titles enters the second Enduro Cup race and third-last event of the series in fifth following a difficult season that has included just one race win, at the Ipswich 500.

At 36 he still believes he has at least a couple of years of racing still in him and while an eighth title may be out of reach in 2019, Whincup still believes he can win it again.

“We are not where we would like to be,” Whincup said. “Fifth isn’t quite good enough and it’s been a challenging year. This year it may be a little far-fetched to try and win but never say never. We will restart next year and do what we can.

“We have some of the biggest races of the year coming up still plenty of opportunity to prove ourselves.”