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Jaime Whincup - Source: Photosport -
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Let the mind games begin.
Buoyed by his Bathurst 1000 breakthrough, Holden hope Will Davison
has suggested V8 Supercars leader Jamie Whincup may be psyched out
by the challenge of defending his title at the business end of the
season.
Even fellow Ford driver James Courtney hinted Whincup was
vulnerable after dramatic changes were made to this weekend's Gold
Coast round.
V8 Supercars organisers were forced to double the amount of races
on the tourist strip to fill the void left by the A1GP series'
embarrassing withdrawal.
Instead of two 200km V8 races, there will now be four 150km
events.
"For Jamie Whincup, that (two more races) is two more opportunities
for things to go wrong for him," Courtney said.
"And doing (a total of) 600km makes it our second biggest weekend
of the year.
"It is going to throw strategy into play a bit more, change tyre
plans and brake usage - it changes things completely."
Whincup is looking over his shoulder after Davison cut the Ford
champion's series lead to just 93 points by taking out the Bathurst
1000 with Holden teammate Garth Tander.
And Davison did not waste time pouring on the pressure ahead of the
Gold Coast event, saying there was more pressure on the
championship leaders at the end of the season, which can psyche out
drivers.
"We've seen in the past a lot of mistakes have been made at the end
(of the season)," Davison said.
"So we're just going to try to remain calm and keep doing what
we're doing but certainly attack."
Davison, 27, said he did not want to let slip his golden chance of
winning a championship in his first season with the top Holden
Racing Team.
"It's on for young and old, simple as that," Davison said.
"There's no point finishing behind Jamie. If I've ever got a chance
to have a crack at him I certainly will.
"It takes a lot to get to a strong championship position at this
time of year so now that I'm in this position I'm not going to wait
till next year.
"I'm going to give it everything I've got and see what
happens."
Ford teammate Craig Lowndes said Whincup was not exactly reaching
for the panic button after failing in his quest for four straight
Bathurst victories.
Whincup and Lowndes could only manage fifth at Mount
Panorama.
"Unfortunately didn't get the result we wanted at Bathurst but we
are still in the hunt - and there is still a lot of racing to be
had," Lowndes said.
"The extra length races on the Gold Coast are going to put a bit of
pressure on all of us.
"Not just the drivers, but the team, the pit crew.
"It's going to be a physical weekend. We all have to step up.
"We haven't done this length race at this particular track.
"It is going to be one of those things where we will have to be
flexible (with our race gameplan) as the weekend goes."
