Mark Winterbottom hopes to continue his Perth love affair and get rid of his ‘hated’ stat

No driver on the current V8 Supercars grid has stood on the top step at Wanneroo more than Mark Winterbottom, but the champion driver says that will mean little come lights out this weekend. With seven wins to his name, Winterbottom could move past the legendary Mark Skaife to sit outright second for all-time Perth wins if he can take both features this weekend. But the Dewalt Racing team driver said the Wanneroo circuit is one that can very easily bite you. “It’s about the records your trying to make no the ones you’ve made,” he told The West Australian. “In 2008 I won all three races in a row here and 12 months later it was one of the toughest weekends I’ve ever had. “It’s a really weird place, it’s one that rewards a fast car but also ones that last the distance and it’s very hard to have both. “Sometimes you come here super confident and you get smacked around and other times you come here with an open mind and you can be dominant.” Winterbottom sits 14th in the Championship as it stands, but with less than 100 points separating himself from 4th, he knows this could be the weekend to make his move. “I think it’s an open weekend, the form guide doesn’t mean much around here,” he said. “The races we have coming up I think we can be really strong at and this weekend is always a danger round for people in the championship. “And for us, we’re not in the window to go for a championship title but we’re going for race wins and this weekend is a big opportunity.” At 42, Winterbottom has shown no signs of slowing down having overtaken more cars this season than any other driver on the grid. However, the veteran says it’s a stat he’s not proud of as it reflects his struggles in qualifying where he’s starting an average of 17th on the grid. “It’s a great stat passing cars but I hate it, because I’d rather pass zero and win the race, but it proves we have pace,” he said. “I know what I’m struggling with to go fast but we’ve just got to fix it. “Sometimes when you’re struggling you don’t know how to go faster but I know exactly where the pace is and if we can tidy that up, our race pace is really good.” On a short track where qualifying is crucial it remains to be seen if the Dewalt team can challenge the dominance of Red Bull who have won six of eight races but Winterbottom is confident they can find weakness in their armour. “You’ve just got to put pressure on them, at the moment they’re racing each other,” he said. “They’ve got a very clear advantage at the moment which is quite rare for the sport. “But you’ve got to put dominant teams under pressure and if we can get them back in the pack I think it won’t be quite so easy for them.”