Congratulations to Mark Winterbottom and Prodrive Racing Australia for winning the 2015 V8 Supercar Championship!
This year we were introduced to a new car, the FG X, which saw fast speeds that resulted in Frosty not only winning the Championship but also Chaz Mostert taking home the Armour All Pole award.
Saturday
Mark Winterbottom has won his maiden V8 Supercars title after a stellar 2015 season. Mark wrapped the weekend up with one race remaining for the season with a 220 point lead over second placed Craig Lowndes.
Frosty's winning day started with pole position in race 34 and a visit from teammate and Armour All Pole Award winner Chaz Mostert. An excellent start over Shane van Gisbergen saw him lead into turn one but eventually finish fifth after problems with the rear of the car.
His result in race 34 was enough to push his lead over Craig Lowndes to out to 204 points with only 225 left to earn. After starting in fourth place for race 35, Mark's stellar start saw him advance to 3rd where he stayed for the remainder of the race, a position that won him the 2015 V8 Supercars Championship.
Mark's endurance series co-driver Steve Owen was thrilled to be a part of his championship, but had an unlucky day on track himself. Owen ran a clean race to advance three spots to 20th in the first ever race at Sydney Olympic Park not to feature a safety car, but an engine sensor failure early in the race saw him sidelined for the remainder.
DRIVERS VIEW
#5 – Mark Winterbottom
Race 34 Qualifying: 1st
Race 34 Result: 5th
Race 35 Qualifying: 4th
Race 35 Result: 3rd
"I'm speechless to be honest, it hasn't really sunk in. Everything that you've ever raced to get here has been an achievement whether it was karting to get into the category, and then the DVS (championship) and then Bathurst as well. To win this, I've been trying for so many years and I've stayed at the one team for such a long time as well. To do it and see the crew's reaction when you come in, it's years of work to do it and it makes you respect people like Jamie (Whincup) more to win six, the week and the drama is crazy and to win one is fantastic. It's awesome to be part of V8 Supercars history. It's nice to be rewarded for the year that the team's had."
#6 – Steve Owen
Race 34 Qualifying: 20th
Race 34 Result: 20th
Race 35 Qualifying: 23rd
Race 35 Result: DNF
"The car broke a crank angle sensor in that last race so no real damage but the car was better before that than it had been all day. The most important thing is that we got the job done championship wise. Tomorrow we should be able to hopefully have a good run and the team's championship is pretty close so hopefully we can bring it home. Frosty and I had a really good endurance season, obviously it's nice to get those runs on the board and I'll be with these guys again next year and continuity is a big key to success but it's just so good to see him win it."
Tim Edwards - Team Principal
"At the moment it's just a huge sense of relief. It's been 10 years in the making and a lot of hard work, a lot of tears, a lot of highs and lows and to finally get it done is just a huge sense of relief. I don't think I took a breath for the last 30 minutes of that race. It's unbelievable, I'm just so proud of everybody. It's been a lot of hard work by a lot of people. People have been asking what our advantage was this year, well our advantage was the 60-odd people that work for us."
Sunday
Prodrive Racing Australia officially claimed the V8 Supercars Championship today as the 2015 season drew to a close in Sydney with newly-crowned champion Mark Winterbottom cruising to fourth in the season finale while young team-mate Cameron Waters claimed his and the team’s first Dunlop Series title.
Winterbottom started and finished fourth in an issue-free race free of the stresses of championship contention, though stand-in team-mate Steve Owen had a troubled day with electrical gremlins which put him out of contention.
DRIVERS VIEW
#5 – Mark Winterbottom
Qualifying: 3rd
Top 10 Shootout: 4th
Race 36: 4th
"I drove as hard as I could today. I walk away proud and I still feel confident. I'm super happy with the team. We had a lot of issues this weekend and to repair it and get the engine in and put it on pole it's not that bad. Finishing fourth is not as good as we expect from the team after this year but when you're not quick enough you have to do what you can do. I tried to hold on for third but he (Whincup) had a go and being seven tenths a lap slower I was just trying to hold on. We had a go and finished fourth."
#6 – Steve Owen
Qualifying: 25th
Race 36: DNF
"Today was a bit of a tough day in the office for me. We carried over some electrical issues from yesterday which became evident early in the race and having a little run in with Alex Davison didn't help the situation. The guys did an awesome job throughout the race to try and fix the issue and they did but unfortunately it just didn't go our way in the end. But this weekend has really been about Frosty and his win so it's great to be able to be a part of that."
Tim Edwards - Team Principal
"What a year. It really was a team effort to get that championship. Everyone at track and back at the workshop did an amazing job all year to get us to this point. It was great to finish in a good position as well in the final race. We really couldn't be happier. Cam also did a fantastic job to take home the Dunlop Series championship. It must be something about car five this year with both of them taking the trophy home. It's great, it's really great."
COATES HIRE SYDNEY 500 REVIEW RESULTS – SUNDAY RACE 36
1) Shane van Gisbergen - Tekno
2) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight
3) Rick Kelly – Kelly Racing
4) Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive Racing
DNF) Steve Owen – Prodrive Racing
DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS – FINAL
1) Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive Racing: 3246
2) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight: 3008
3) David Reynolds – The Bottle-O Racing Team: 2910
11) Chaz Mostert – Prodrive Racing: 2017
29) Steve Owen – Prodrive Racing: 706
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Triple Eight: 5690
2) Pepsi Max Crew: 5554
3) HRT: 5191