Jamie Whincup celebrates winning the 2012 championship with a burnout after the Sydney 500. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup celebrates after taking out the 2012 title. Picture: Brett Costello Source: The Daily Telegraph
Will Davison of tTradingpost FPR Ford celebrates winning race 30 during the Sydney 500 and ensure Holden did not get everything their own way. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
JAMIE Whincup officially joined V8 legends Allan Moffat, Bob Jane and Jim Richards with four Supercar titles with the Holden top-gun surviving a weekend of crashes and carnage on the streets of Sydney to continue his assault on the record books.
In the last head-to-head battle between the two manufacturers after a famed 20-year rivalry, Davison led for nearly the whole 250km race to take the chequered flag.
Starting from second on the grid, Davison held his nerve to beat home Holden pair Craig Lowndes and James Courtney and notch his eighth victory in an impressive season.
The triumph was a relief for Ford fans after Lowndes won Saturday's opening race at the tight 3.42km Sydney Olympic Park street circuit as Holden grabbed six of the seven top spots.
Davison's winning margin was just 2.5831sec over Lowndes, who sealed second spot in the championship behind Holden teammate Jamie Whincup.
Only needing to avoid an unlikely penalty to claim back-to-back crowns, the Whincup finished 5th to end another stunning season of domination as Ford won the final battle against Holden in a dramatic Sydney 500.
Following a brutal street race that claimed four cars, the Team Vodafone star cemented himself as an all-time great and is now just one championship away from equalling the all time record for V8 titles held by Ian Geoghegan, Dick Johnson and Mark Skaife.
The 30 year old Whincup launched into a series of burnouts to celebrate his latest achievement.
"It is an unbelievable feeling,'' Whincup said.
"On the podium, looking down at everyone that has contributed was just amazing. It has been a phenomenal year for us and was such an intense battle. On the track it has been a lot of fun and we will look back on some of the battles and really enjoy for what it was.''
Whincup admitted he had doubts over whether or not he could claim the title when the Ford Performance Racing (FPR) team dominated the series mid-year. Team Vodafone were forced to respond to the challenge and finished the year by blitzing the field in a display of utter domination.
Ending up with 3861 points, Whincup was more than 300 points in front of nearest rival Lowndes, who sealed a one-two for Team Vodafone by out blasting Mark Winterbottom yesterday.
"There was a lot of burning the midnight oil,'' Whincup said.
"So much hard work went into trying to repeat what we did last year. Going one-two again, I remember thinking back in January about how we would do that again. But we were able to do that again which is an incredible achievement.''
With his team boss Roland Dane predicting he will become the greatest driver of all time, Whincup refused to entertain the prospect of overtaking legends Geoghegan, Skaife and Johnson.
Sydney Telstra 500 Race 2 result:
1. Will Davison (Ford) 1hr57mins50.5999sec
2. Craig Lowndes (Holden) 1:57:53.1830
3. James Courtney (Holden) 1:57:55.1879
4. Tim Slade (Ford) 1:57:58.7939
5. Jamie Whincup (Holden) 1:58:15.1295
6. Jonathon Webb (Ford) 1:58:18.8181
7. David Reynolds (Ford) 1:58:28.3027
8. Steve Owen (Holden) 1:58:36.8652
9. Jason Bright (Holden) 1:58:38.3088
10. Steve Johnson (Ford) 1:58:39.2610
11. Rick Kelly (Holden) 1:58:40.6498
12. Lee Holdsworth (Ford) 1:58:42.0781
13. Taz Douglas (Holden) 1:58:46.3043
14. Karl Reindler (Holden) 1:58:46.9772
15. Fabian Coulthard (Holden) 1:59:58.3786
16. Garth Tander (Holden) +1 lap
17. Scott McLaughlin (Ford) +1 lap
18. Mark Winterbottom (Ford) +1 lap
19. Michael Patrizi (Ford) +1 lap
20. Tim Blanchard (Holden) +2 laps
21. Dean Fiore (Ford) +5 laps
22. James Moffat (Ford) +5 laps
23. Michael Caruso (Holden) DNF
24. Russell Ingall (Holden) DNF
25. Tony D Alberto (Ford) DNF
26. David Wall (Holden) DNF
27. Greg Murphy (Holden) DNF
28. Shane Van Gisbergen (Ford) DNF
With AAP
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