‘I’D GIVEN UP HOPE’
JAMIE’S UNBELIEVABLE TITLE:
GOLD Coast Supercars icon Jamie Whincup will treat his shock seventh championship as if it’s his last – but he “100 per cent” will be back next year to have a crack at a record eighth crown.
Whincup pipped DJR Team Penske rival Scott McLaughlin in the most dramatic of finales yesterday in Newcastle.
McLaughlin entered the last race of the season needing to finish 11th or better to seal his maiden title and passed James Moffat for 11th on the penultimate lap – only to collide with Craig Lowndes moments later to earn a decisive penalty. When Whincup crossed the finish line to win the race, he thought he had missed out on the prize.
“I looked at the crew and they were all clapping like we had come second … and then five or 10 seconds later all I heard was screaming down the radio and I’m like this is a good sign,” he told the Bulletin last night.
“I said to the guys, ‘hey if this is some type of joke it’s a bad one’ and then Dutto (team manager Mark Dutton) came over the radio and said you are No.1, which was an unbelievable feeling.”
The 34-year-old had appeared set to miss out on the title for a third straight year after enduring a horror Saturday from which he handed McLaughlin a 78-point lead.
Whincup and teammates Shane van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes received a “bollocking” from boss Roland Dane after all three made costly errors on Saturday. But even after that revup, the No.88 driver still thought his hopes had passed.
“We were pretty shattered,” he said.
“Certainly our attitude at Red Bull Holden Racing Team is never say die but you have got an inkling, you have got a deep down feeling, and my feeling was that this is not going to happen.”
Whincup was grateful for the team effort – including help during the race from van Gisbergen and Lowndes – to overhaul Ford-powered McLaughlin and said he will relish the unexpected success.
“I’m not getting any younger so I will treat this one like it is my last,” he said.