Whincup tops practices in Darwin

For the first time in two years, Jamie Whincup will not start a V8 Supercar round as
series leader.
But if the pressure from Ford upstart James Courtney is getting to him, the two-time
touring car champion hid it well in Darwin on Friday.
Ahead of a Top End weekend round described by experts as "make or break" for
Whincup, the Holden ace waited until the fourth and final practice session to
provide Courtney a not so subtle reminder that the race for the title is far from
over.
Sporting a spanking new Commodore, Whincup gave Courtney a worrying taste of what it
could do when he clocked the fastest lap at 1min 9.8066sec ahead of Ford's Mark
Winterbottom (1:09.8289) and Holden's Todd Kelly - another 0.1923 seconds short of
the defending champion.
Courtney was fifth fastest ahead of qualifying for Saturday's 120km race.
The round is concluded by a 200km event on Sunday.
"I am really happy to be quickest. That was the first practice session with the new
car and to go one from one is nice," Whincup said.
"We made a heap of changes throughout that session and we put very good tyres on at
the end so we expected to be up the front.
"All in all, we are definitely there heading into the weekend."
Previously known more for his deeds on TV show "Dancing with the Stars", Courtney
has carved out a name for himself on the V8 circuit in 2010, claiming the outright
lead for the first time thanks to four straight victories.
The first Dick Johnson Racing driver to lead the series since 1996 has revelled in
the use of soft sprint tyres in the last two rounds to lead Whincup by 114 points.
But the jury is out on how long Courtney can hold out in Darwin where racing reverts
to hard compound tyres.
However, teams will be able to use one set of "sprint" tyres for Sunday's race.
Adding further spice, the Darwin round marks the introduction of identical "control"
engine camshafts for all cars, a move expected to reduce the horsepower of some -
not a good thing on a track that boasts the longest straight of any V8 circuit at
1.1km.
Holden drivers have taken nine of the past 11 pole positions in Darwin - Mark
Winterbottom was the last Ford man to claim the prize in 2008.
And Courtney's Darwin record should also have Whincup breathing easy - the Ford
driver's best result at the Hidden Valley track is sixth way back in 2006.
Then again he had an ordinary record at the V8's last stop at Winton - before
claiming both races at the rural Victorian track recently.
"I've won races on soft and hard-compound tyres so there's no reason why I can't be
competitive on both types of rubber in the Top End," Courtney said.
"It's possible we might clear out and run away from them again, regardless of what
tyres we're on.
"My team has momentum from four wins in a row so the pressure is back on the others
to see what they can do."



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