V8 Supercars series leader Jamie Whincup will be driving a new car when the race at Sydney Motorsports Park gets underway.
Whincup is attempting to win his seventh title in the series with a new chassis from Red Bull Racing and a total overhaul in the next couple of weeks.
His teammates Shane van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes received new cars at the start of the season, and he has waited patiently for six months to get his new car.
It might give him a boost, although why the leader needs a boost is hard to ascertain, but the series is moving into the endurance portion of the season. In a masterstroke of understatement, Whincup said, “It’s always good to get a new car.”
Whether or not the new car supplies any sort of enhanced performance is not yet certain, so Whincup freely admits that a fresh new car, if nothing else, offers its driver the psychological placebo effect, which to him, might be more than acceptable.
He currently leads his nearest competitor in the series, Red Bull teammate Gisbergen by 109 points and current third place driver and defending champion Mark Winterbottom by 120 points.
Whincup plunged to fifth last season after winning four consecutive titles and is cognizant of the reality that it takes continuous improvements in order to keep pace with advances in racing technology.
