Whincup: Perth's important, but we're not panicking
Five-time Champion Jamie Whincup is not stressing about his title defence, though his Red Bull Racing Australia team has not performed to its usual standard at the last two events in Winton and New Zealand.
The V8 Supercar driver with the #1 believes the team has worked through the issues and is confident of a strong showing this weekend at Barbagallo Raceway for the Perth 400.
"We're not panicking - we're only a few hundred points off the lead," Whincup said.
"We haven't had things going our way this year, either - not making any excuses, but without someone touching the car in Adelaide and a mechanical failure in New Zealand, we could be leading this thing.
"I feel like we're competitive, we're doing well, but we need to find another gear - and that's our plan."
For now, it's a166-point gap to leader and long-time foe Mark Winterbottom - but thistime last year heading into the Perth 400, Whincup was also unusually out of sorts, having won just one of nine Championship races that had unfolded in 2013.
This corresponding weekend in the West, he was second to teammate Craig Lowndes on Saturday and won both races on Sunday. Whincup then went on to dominate the V8 Supercars event in Austin Texas, on the way to regaining the Championship lead and ultimately winning the crown.
"Perth's an important event for us, especially coming off two rounds that weren't favourable for us," Whincup said.
"We'll have the head down, try to make up some lost ground, but as you say we were in a similar position last year.
"We're only 100 or so points off the lead so it's not a long way, we're down - as far as numbers go - we're down in sixth position, but I think that shows how competitive the Championship is."
Both Whincup and Lowndes have had strong results at Barbagallo Raceway in the past, which also helps build confidence.
"We've had some fantastic results here in the past - that doesn't guarantee us anything - but that gives good confidence going in. If we can work off what we did last year I think we can put in a good show.
"We've got really high expectations and we try to deliver high standards, and we don't believe we did that in New Zealand or Winton. We believe we've come up with why we didn't run as well as we should've and we'll roll that out from Perth onwards."
The big drawcard for Red Bull is having technical mastermind Ludo Lacroix out on-track.
"He's the brains behind the whole operation," Whincup said.
"He's going to come to Perth and certainly be more involved in the next three or four rounds. Try to get us back on track."
Lacroix is not often at events, but in the past his appearance has meant a quick turn-around in results. He was at Perth last year to assist customer team Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport, and managed the impressive XBox wildcard at last year's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
Will he prove the magic fix this weekend in Western Australia - will Whincup and Red Bull Racing Australia come out on top? Book your tickets to the Perth 400 at Barbagallo Raceway now to find out.
