TWELVE months ago when Mark Winterbottom arrived at Mount Panorama, it was on the back of a Sandown 500 victory and as leader in the drivers’ championship.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This year things are a little different – he is fifth in the championship after he and co-driver Dean Canto placed 23rd at Sandown.
Trying to defend the drivers’ championship he won for the first time last year will be tough as he trails current leader Shane van Gisbergen by 340 points.
But Winterbottom knows if he can win the Bathurst 1000 it will keep his hopes of retaining the #1 on his car alive.
“The championship lead, I am actually not as far off as I thought we were. I thought I was going to be 400 points off the lead, but we are actually a bit closer than what I thought,” Winterbottom said.
“But we have got to start winning races, every time you have a bad round you fall one round behind type of thing and there is only four rounds to go.
“It’s all going to finish pretty quick, but we can probably make 100 points per round and get back within a 100 points and then it’s on again.
“You’ve just got to try for Bathurst to go all out. With this championship, whether you are first or last, the incentive to win this race is no different. We just go there trying to win that race, that’s the first thing.
“It’s never over and you never give up. You always try and win races, so we’ll see.”
While replicating his 2013 efforts at the Mount would help Winterbottom’s position in the championship, the Bottle-O Racing Ford Falcon driver knows victory would bring other bonuses as well.
This year not only marks the 10th anniversary of the Peter Brock Trophy, which is awarded to the victors of the 1000, but a landmark moment for Ford.
“It’s not that you need any more motivation, but that trophy is a special one. To put your name against someone you idolised as a kid – that’s really cool,” Winterbottom said.
“When you see your name – it’s obviously the Peter Brock Trophy – but then your name’s on it, it’s like you are part of his legacy a little bit.
“It’s really cool and every year you go there – that trophy since day one has been a really special thing.
“Friday is also the closing of the Ford production, the last Ford will roll off the production line the Friday of Bathurst, so it’s kind of like the close of an era as well for the Ford brand in Australia.
“Then the 10 year of Brock – there’s lot of things going on that weekend which are not really motivators, but really iconic moments.
“You don’t need any more motivation to win something, but it does make it more special when it’s like that.”
