AFTER 13 years of trying Mark Winterbottom has final won his first V8 Supercar Championship.
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After growing up in Western Sydney, the man better known as 'Frosty' took the title on his home turf, finishing third in Saturday's second race at the Coates Hire Sydney 500 at Sydney Olympic Park.
The third place win gave him a 220-point lead over nearest rival Craig Lowndes with just one race remaining on Sunday.
“It’s awesome boys, I’ve got a few tears under this visor, I’m speechless,” Winterbottom said as he crossed the line. “I’m so proud of the boys … I wish my mum was here.”
Winterbottom lost his mother June to cancer in 2011 and today carried her image on his helmet as his wife Renee and sons Oliver and Austin watched on from the garage.
“That’s awesome. I’m numb, I’ll take it all in tomorrow night I’m sure. Just over the moon. We’ve fought a long time for this, I’ve been at the team a long time. Thanks to the Ford fans that stuck by – we’ve had promise, finally we’ve got the number one on the door.”
Winterbottom has finished in the top five each year since 2006. One second place finish and five thirds has seen him labelled the bridesmaid. Now, he will take the number one into 2016.
The Championship win is Prodrive’s first, and team boss Tim Edwards was proud to finally clinch the major trophy.
“I can breathe now I don’t think I took a breath for the last half hour … unbelievable,” Edwards said. “It’s fantastic, Mark’s been with me just about the whole way through it – it’s great to have achieved it together.”
The V8 Supercars will contest a final 250km race of the season on the Sydney streets on Sunday.
An issue on Saturday with Steve Owen means that Red Bull has snatched the lead for the Teams' Championship with 16 points over Prodrive.
