Jamie Whincup

Jamie Whincup is an Australian racing ace who definitely can be considered as one of the greatest Australian racers ever. He is a driver with the most championship titles in V8 Supercars Championship history. He won seven times - in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017.

He also achieved four wins at the greatest Australian race, Bathurst 1000. Jamie won at Mount Panorama three times in a row in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and the fourth victory followed in 2012.

Jamie Whincup

7-year old Jamie started with karts

His involvement with motorsports started with go-karts at the age of seven. Between 1991 and 1997, Jamie won numerous titles at the state level. He was crowned KartOz Magazine's Karter of the Year and won the FMK Senior Intercontinental A Karting Series in 1998, as well as the Formula A Series in 1999. As expected, the next step was a single-seater car.

Australian Formula Ford champion in 2002

Whincup moved to Formula Ford series in 2000. In his debut year, Jamie finished 5th in the Victorian championship. He progressed to third place in the Australian championship in 2001, and finally in 2002, he became a Formula Ford champion with Sonic Motorsport. Jamie was spotted by Garry Rogers (retired race car driver and team owner) and he made his V8 Supercar debut at the 2002 Queensland 500 race driving Holden VX Commodore. In 2003, Jamie graduated to a full-time driver position. After 22 races, he finished 27th in the classification.

Jamie Whincup started racing career in Formula Ford, winning Australian championship title in 2002

Three teams in three years

However, Whincup's start in V8 Supercar championship was not easy. During his first two seasons, he did not achieve enough and he found himself in a difficult position when he was dumped at the end of 2003 season. Change of teams in 2004 and in 2005 did help a little, but he was still on the back of the grid. In 2004, Jamie recorded just two races with Castrol Perkins Motorsport Holden, while in 2005, he raced the entire season with Tasman Motorsport's Holden.

He finished 16th in the championship, but showed his potential with some solid results, including a fourth at the one-off Chinese round at the Shanghai International Circuit, a third at the Sandown 500 and most notably, second at the Bathurst 1000 with teammate Jason Richards.

Holden Commodore of Garry Rogers Motorsport in 2003 – Jamie’s first full season

Triple Eight Race Engineering is a winning team

In 2006, he signed with Triple Eight Race Engineering team and changed from Holden VZ Commodore to Ford BF Falcon. The change proved to be good because Jamie took the victories in the two biggest races of the season - Clipsal 500 and Bathurst 10000, the latter as a co-driver to Craig Lowndes. It was a highlight of the season in which Whincup ended in 10th place.

In 2007, he was better than his teammate Lowndes and finished second in the championship, behind Holden's Garth Tander. Duo Whincup - Lowndes repeated the victory at Bathurst 1000.

Jamie Whincup, seven-time V8 Supercars champion

Fantastic winning streak

It was just a beginning of fantastic Jamie's story, because he won six titles in the following seven seasons. In 2008 and 2009, Jamie raced with Ford FG Falcon, winning 15 races in 2008 (including Bathurst 1000) and 11 races in 2009. It was time for another change in 2010. The team remained the same, but Jamie was driving Holden again.

The most successful driver in V8SC history

After second place finish in 2010 season, behind James Courtney, Jamie came back on top in 2011. With a fantastic winning streak of four consecutive V8 Supercars titles, Whincup became the most successful driver in series' history. In 2012, he added fourth win at Bathurst 1000, this time with Paul Dumbrell, his longstanding friend since the karting days. Since 2013, the main naming sponsor of the team has been Red Bull Racing Australia.

Jamie and team are celebrating his 6th title

Dramatic finale for seventh title in 2017

Whincup captured his seventh title in 2017, after a dramatic finale at Newcastle street circuit. He entered the final round of the season as championship leader but crashed out in Saturday's race. His rival Scott McLaughlin won the race and took the lead in the points.

Next day, Whincup scored his fourth win of the season while McLaughlin finished 11th, what was enough for him to take the title. But, McLaughlin received post-race penalty and Whincup became the champion.

Jamie Whincup - Australian Mister Seven

In 2018, he was defending the title in the #1 Red Bull Holden Commodore, scoring five wins over the season and finishing third in the points. He and Paul Dumbrell won Sandown 500 and finished tenth at Bathurst 1000.

In 2019, Whincup returned to the #88 Holden Commodore and finished third in the championship again. He was a race winner five times, including victories in endurance rounds at Surfers Paradise and Sandown, so he and Craig Lowndes won Enduro Cup title. Jamie ended the season with 118 Supercars victories on his account.

Three participations at Race of Champions

Besides an impressive career in V8 Supercars, Jamie did not compete in other series. His most remarkable non-V8SC outing was 2014 Race of Champions at Barbados. Jamie was representing Australia alongside motorcycle ace Mick Doohan. Whincup made it to semifinals and lost against later winner David Coulthard. It was his third ROC participation, previously he competed in 2012 and 2013.

Victory at 2017 Bathurst 12 Hour

In February 2017, Whincup competed for the first time with GT car, joining Maranello Motorsport in the Bathurst 12 Hour race at Mount Panorama Circuit. He was driving the #88 Ferrari 488 GT3, together with his Triple Eight teammate Craig Lowndes and experienced Finnish driver Toni Vilander. After 12 hours of racing, theys sensationaly won the race, so Whincup earned his fifth great win at the Mountain.

Video : The story about Jamie Whincup

Photos: jamiewhincup.com.au,