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Driver’s Eye View: Townsville

After Townsville it’s clear that team-mates Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen are both proper title contenders. Will that turn them in to the new Lewis and Nico? Tony D’Alberto looks at that and more.

Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden

Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden

Dirk Klynsmith

Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Chaz Mostert, Rod Nash Racing Ford
Chaz Mostert, Rod Nash Racing Ford
Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Kurt Kostecki, Team 18
Kurt Kostecki, Team 18 Holden
Craig Lowndes, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden and Kurt Kostecki, Team 18 Holden
Craig Lowndes, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden and Kurt Kostecki, Team 18 Holden
Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Chaz Mostert, Rod Nash Racing Ford
Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Mark Winterbottom, Prodrive Racing Australia Ford
Mark Winterbottom, Prodrive Racing Australia Ford

Team-mate tension is a bit of a theme in motorsport right now, thanks to the goings on in Formula 1 between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. And with Whincup and van Gisbergen both so consistently at the front during the Townsville weekend – and separated by so few points in the title race – some are wondering if a similar situation could develop here.

Mark Winterbottom even did his best to throw some fuel on the fire, suggesting in the press conference on Sunday evening that things couldn’t stay so rosy between the pair for long.

Frosty would know a little bit about being put under pressure from your team-mate, after Chaz Mostert pushed him so hard for the first two thirds of the 2015 season.

But both Whincup and van Gisbergen are super professional guys. Sure, they’re out there trying to get the best results for themselves, but they’re also working under the watchful eye of Roland Dane. He will be keeping very close tabs on that relationship, you can be sure of that.

This isn’t really a new situation for Jamie, either. He’s been going head-to-head with Craig Lowndes for years, and their relationship is very professional. I don’t know if they’re best mates off the track, but on the track there has always been a clear sense of professionalism between them. They’ve raced each other hard, but it’s always been fair.

And that’s exactly what we’re seeing from Whincup and van Gisbergen at the moment. Sure, if the title comes down to the wire and they need to sort it out on-track it might get a little bit desperate. But we’re yet to see any real strain in the relationship between them.

I think Frosty’s comments were more about him playing the game a little bit, and hoping to stir up some trouble…

Kostecki’s big step

It was always going to be a tough weekend for main series debutant Kurt Kostecki. In terms of fitness, there is no substitute for miles. Kurt went from doing 20-lap Dunlop Series races to doing 200-kilometre, 70-lap main series races.

You have to remember that it’s only his first full year in the Dunlop Series, too. So a race that long, on a circuit that demanding, is a big ask.

Townsville is a tough circuit. You’re constantly grabbing gears, and you really don’t get any kind of rest apart from the main straight. So you can’t blame Kurt for making a couple of little mistakes towards the end of the races.

He would have been concentrating 100 per cent the entire race as well, just trying to be as competitive as possible. He would have been trying to get the most out of himself and the car every time, every lap would have been like a qualifying lap.

The Giz and Chaz Show

That battle between Shane van Gisbergen and Chaz Mostert on Saturday evening was great to watch. That was two drivers who are right on top of their games, in great machinery, putting on an excellent show.

It was a real cat and mouse game, they were playing each other. One would spend his tyre a little bit and get ahead, and then the other would get back past.

What was most impressive is how clean it was. And to have managed tyre life and brake life in a way that meant they could still attack so late in the race was excellent.

That’s the sort of racing that makes Supercars a great spectacle.

 

 

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