Jamie Whincup aims to join high fives Driven: Whincup in Austin, Texas. NO ONE is more uncomfortable contemplating what an historic fifth V8 Supercars championship would mean to Jamie Whincup's standing in the sport than the man himself. While it is far from a forgone conclusion, Whincup is tantalisingly close to cementing his place among the all-time V8 greats in this weekend's title-deciding Sydney 500. It is a subject he has tried to avoid as the championship's denouement has drawn closer - without much success. Jamie Whincup is on the verge of glory. It has been a topic of much debate among followers and observers of V8 racing since Whincup regained the title points lead with fighting recovery drives at Phillip Island two weeks ago. Standing between him and a claim to joining the legends of Australian touring car racing are Saturday's and Sunday's 250km races on the brutal Sydney Olympic Park street circuit and his two greatest rivals. Whincup leads the closest championship finish in the modern V8 era by 20 points from his veteran Triple Eight Holden teammate Craig Lowndes, who is 104 ahead of Ford Performance Racing's Bathurst 1000 winner Mark Winterbottom. With 300 points available and danger lurking around every concrete barrier-lined corner of the SOP course, the trio's title showdown is likely to remain in the balance until the last race. The scene will be set by a new-look Saturday twilight race, with glare from the setting sun and fading evening light adding to the potential hazards. In the most closely fought V8 season ever, Whincup has eked out his points lead by offsetting an unusual number of races in which he struggled with 10 wins, double Lowndes' next-best score. While fans, his peers and pundits have been discussing the implications of a record- tying fifth V8 crown to his legacy in the lead-up to the Sydney 500, Whincup is reluctant to tempt fate. "I don't want to get ahead of myself," Whincup said this week. He regards inquiries about what joining V8 legends Dick Johnson, Mark Skaife and the late Ian Geoghegan with five Australian touring car/V8 Supercars championships would mean to him as academic. "Similar questions are asked about [his record-approaching tally of] race wins and pole positions, but while you're in the heat of the battle, the numbers don't mean a huge amount at the time," Whincup said. But I'm sure those numbers will mean everything come the end of my career, which is hopefully a long way away. He did concede, though, that "there's been no closer or tougher year, so it means a lot to be in this position." While Whincup is reticent about the significance of the feat he can achieve, the two living five-time champions have no hesitation in proclaiming that another title would enshrine Whincup as one of the best ever. "He's already an all-time great, no doubt," declared former Holden hero Mark Skaife, a senior figure in V8 racing who maintains a high profile as an expert TV commentator. He's at the peak of his powers. With the form and the team that he has behind him, he is right up there and one of the best drivers we've seen. He has great qualifying speed and he drags out a result when you need to get a result. Even if the car's not good enough to win, you have to finish on the podium or in the top five, and I'd say he's the benchmark guy at doing that. That's the sort of form and almost expectation we have from Jamie Whincup today. So I'm very impressed with him. I think he's a very, very good operator. If he were to win a fifth championship, it'd be an absolutely huge achievement. Ford folk hero Dick Johnson argued, like many V8 insiders, that Whincup's four championships in five years and four Bathurst 1000 victories already entitle him to be regarded as a legend of the sport. "It's certainly not an easy thing to do in this day and age," Johnson said. As he would realise, to win one championship, you have to have everything going for you and to win five, you have to have everything going for you five times. Obviously, it's not any one thing that wins races and/or championships. It's a combination of everything and he obviously has a very good combination with the team, the car and the back-up. The support he gets is the whole 10 yards. It takes an awful lot to win championships and to win five would be something really, really special. He's certainly up there with guys like Skaife and certainly his teammate Lowndes. He's very focused on not only winning races, but winning championships as well. As Whincup is just 30, Johnson believed he was likely to set a record for championship wins in the next decade or so. "He could, absolutely," he said. With the right people behind him, which he has, he could well and truly go on and win more than five. It's not just former record-setting champions who rate Whincup as the standout of his generation. Even arch-enemy Winterbottom, who makes no secret of an animosity going back to their junior racing battles, admitted that another title would just emphasise why Whincup has been the driver to beat in recent years. "It'd be an incredible achievement," said Winterbottom, who is "desperate" to win his first V8 crown. His whole career he's done an amazing job, so whatever you think of him off the track, what he does on the track is pretty special. He's an amazing talent and it's an amazing record if he could get it. We're going to do everything we can to make sure that that doesn't happen. But if he does, you'd be the first one to congratulate him because it would be an incredible achievement. The greatest threat to Whincup's historic title bid is Lowndes, the sport's most popular driver and sentimental favourite to secure his long-awaited fourth championship at the age of 39. Although he will be doing everything possible to stop Whincup completing a championship hat-trick to make it five in six years, Lowndes would not begrudge being beaten by him in a straight street fight this weekend. "It'd be amazing," he said. There's no doubt that Jamie is a huge talent in our sport. He's incredibly good. His qualifying, his dedication, the way he approaches race weekends, are exceptional. Of course he's a deserved champion. Like Sebastian Vettel in F1, you go through eras of racing where you get people that dominate and Jamie's one of those people in this current era of V8 Supercars. Lowndes rates Whincup alongside Skaife as the toughest teammate of his now nearly 20-year career in V8 racing. "He definitely reminds me a lot of Skaife in his attitude and his approach," he said. He analyses all the data methodically and then puts it into practice on the track. Jamie's always tough to beat. He never gives in. It will be a huge battle [between them for the title], there's no doubt about that.