Whincup keen to wipe Surfers nightmare

It's called Surfers Paradise, but the Gold Coast streets were nothing but hell for
V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup last year.
Racing in a car that had been altered by overseas pair Allan Simonsen and James
Thompson during last year's endurance races, Whincup crashed twice over the weekend
as his championship battle with Holden's Will Davison intensified.
But from that horror weekend Whincup found the focus to retain his driver's title
and now he's confident of returning to the winner's circle in what is his hometown
event.
The first thing in his favour is the co-driver ruling from this season, which has
meant he's stayed in his No.1 Commodore throughout the endurance period. As a
result, there won't be any repeat of the initial tuning problems he suffered last
year.
"I've worked with my mechanics and my engineer," Whincup told AAP on Thursday.
"To be honest we started to go the wrong way at Phillip Island but we certainly got
back on track at Bathurst.
"That issue we had last year is completely eliminated. The other issues that I had
personally, being the weakest link at that round, I've hopefully got that sorted as
well."
Whincup hails from Melbourne originally, but now lives on the Gold Coast and he said
winning at Surfers is something he desperately wants.
"It's a home event for me, I really want to do well," he said.
"For some reason I've got this massive urge to be successful at home, maybe because
the event is such a party atmosphere and it's a young crowd and that's what my
brand's all about, doing well at a place like Surfers Paradise.
"I've had one win here (2008) but apart from that I've had shockers, which really
pisses me off. The year's always a good year when you've done well at the Gold
Coast."
The other factor spurring Whincup on is his championship battle with Ford rival
James Courtney.
The pair are separated by just 125 points going into this weekend's event after
Whincup's second-place finish at Mount Panorama.
"Whatever happens here, it's always a turning point," he said.
"It was definitely a turning point for me last year. I realised how much I wanted
this championship and I went on and got it. There's always some crazy story that
goes on this weekend and I'm sure this year will be no different.
"I've got the experience of last year to really learn from and we've got quick cars
as well. The cars are proving to be competitive when they keep going.
"I'm confident. I'm not in a position I want to be in. I don't want to be 120 points
behind. We're all a bit pissed off with ourselves to be in that position after eight
wins, we shouldn't be behind in the championship but that's the way it is.
"It's another new challenge this weekend and we'll be doing absolutely everything we
can."
The Gold Coast 600 gets underway on Friday with four practice sessions before a
300km race both on Saturday and Sunday.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This email is intended for the use of the addressee only. If you receive this email
in error, please delete it immediately. This email may contain information which is
confidential and/or legally privileged. You must not use or disclose the contents of
this email, or add the sender's email address to any database, list or mailing list
unless you are expressly authorised to do so. The statements or views expressed in
this email are those of the individual sender and are not those of Australian
Associated Press Pty Ltd (AAP). These statements are not binding on AAP, except
where the sender expressly and with authority, states them to be. AAP is unable to
review the contents of all the email on its system. To the extent permitted by law,
AAP disclaims all liability for any loss or damage caused by the contents of this
email. www.aap.com.au