How a metal grate denied Frosty's perfect streak
When he launches in Race 7 at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint, Mark Winterbottom will become the third driver in ATCC/Supercars history to start 600 races.
Winterbottom, the 2015 series champion and 2013 Bathurst winner, will join Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander in the ‘500 club’.
The Team 18 driver has also started a remarkable 560 consecutive races — and a metal grate was responsible for denying Winterbottom from starting 600 straight.
In 2005, Winterbottom was in his second year in the Supercars Championship driving an Orrcon-backed Falcon BA for Mark Larkham’s team.
The then 24-year-old Winterbottom joined his rivals in China for a landmark round in Shanghai, and qualified 24th for the opener.
In a bizarre stroke of misfortune, Winterbottom struck a metal grate, which weighed 20 kilograms and measured 24 by 48 centimetres.
The grate had been dislodged by another car exiting Turn 5 as Winterbottom approached the corner.
'It made a huge thud inside the car' Pic: AN1 Images
An unsighted Winterbottom smashed the grate at approximately 130km/h, causing critical damage to the #20 Orrcon Falcon.
The grate split through the front splitter and hit the engine sump and radiator. It also sliced through the car and clipped Winterbottom’s race seat.
"It made a huge thud inside the car but I didn't feel the brunt of the impact as it lifted my car of the ground," said Winterbottom at the time.
"I knew it had done a fair bit of damage but it wasn't until we got the car back to the garage that I had a look in the back of the car and seen how much damage was done inside the car."
Such was the damage that Winterbottom was ruled out of the final two races of the weekend — and he hasn’t missed a race since.
The veteran recorded his 500th consecutive race start at Tailem Bend in 2021.
Winterbottom’s 560-race run is by far and away the best, with Shane van Gisbergen next on 489 races.
Van Gisbergen has started every race since he made his debut as a teenager for Team Kiwi Racing at Oran Park in 2007.
The #20 DEWALT Camaro required repairs in Melbourne
Rick Kelly, who retired at the end of 2020, started 457 consecutive races from Canberra 2002 to Tasmania 2017, when he was part of the infamous pile-up.
Kelly’s Nissan picked up major damage in the melee, and he was forced out of the Sunday race.
Winterbottom was also on a run of finishes dating back to 2020 before he was forced out with damage at Albert Park earlier this month.
The 38-time race winner retired from Race 5 after colliding with James Golding at Turn 5 on the opening lap at the Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint.
Remarkably, Winterbottom has finished 570 of his 599 career races — a staggering finish rate of 95.15 per cent.
He has also finished all 43 of his starts in Perth, having first raced at the Western Australian venue in 2004. He also has the most wins in Perth by an active driver (seven).
Meanwhile, van Gisbergen — who last retired from a race in Townsville 2020 — extended his finishing streak to 79 races.
The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint on April 28-30.
