Reprieve helps put a spurned driver among V8 legends Top of the world: Jamie Whincup has been hailed as one of the all-time greats. As he held the title trophy aloft as he has done in all but one of the past six years, Whincup could have been forgiven for a moment of wry reflection on how unlikely it once seemed that he would join the legends of V8 racing. When he was dropped at the end of the 2003 season by Garry Rogers Motorsport, he had no prospects of employment as a racing driver, much less any chance that he would one day equal the feat of Australian touring car giants Dick Johnson, Mark Skaife and the late Ian Geoghegan in winning five championships. The persistence and determination he employed to get back into V8 racing on a regular basis was an early example of the sheer drive and unrelenting ambition that has taken him to the top in a relatively short time. He did enough with Tasman, including second in the Bathurst 1000, to catch the astute eye of Triple Eight team owner Roland Dane, who decided that Whincup would be a hungry, and cheap, teammate for V8 superstar Craig Lowndes. It proved to be a canny choice, with Whincup winning his first race in the first event of the 2006 season and co-driving Lowndes to an emotional victory in the Bathurst 1000, claiming the inaugural Peter Brock Trophy. Since then, Whincup has thrived at Triple Eight. He has refined his craft to become the most dominant driver in recent years and the one routinely regarded as the best of his generation. As well as collecting five V8 crowns, including the past three in succession, he has won four Bathurst 1000s, scored 74 race victories and started from pole position 51 times. Even Brock's almost mystical Bathurst 1000 record of nine wins is not beyond being beaten by Whincup. The irony of Whincup's ascension from cast-off to all-time great is that the team boss who wrote him off a decade ago, Rogers, is regarded as V8 racing's foremost talent-spotter. Rogers gave several leaving drivers their starts, but the Melbourne-born, Gold Coast-based racer was the one who didn't impress the veteran team owner. He doesn't regret his biggest driver misjudgment, maintaining that Whincup just didn't sparkle in his maiden season in the rough and tumble of V8 racing. The spurned superstar bears no grudge. He polarises fans. But those who worship his achievements and talents are far outnumbered by those who regard him as colourless, arrogant and clinical. While he has noticeably relaxed this year, Whincup still tries too hard to appear humble, often going out of his way to underrate his efforts rather than be seen to be boasting. V8 Championship 1 J Whincup Red Bull (Holden) 3094 pts 2 Craig Lowndes Red Bull (Holden) 2966 3 W Davison Pepsi Max (Ford) 2799 4 M Winterbottom Pepsi Max (Ford) 2793 5 S van Gisbergen TEKNO (Holden) 2508 6 F Coulthard Lockwood (Holden) 2501 7 J Bright BOC (Holden) 2381 8 G Tander Holden RT 2322 9 D Reynolds Bottle-O (Ford) 2058 10 S McLaughlin Fujitsu (Holden) 1934