Jonathon Webb knows Shane van Gisbergen’s, and his own team’s chances of winning the V8 Supercars Championship are in his hands this weekend.
Heading into the Pirtek Enduro Cup, van Gisbergen is well and truly a Championship contender, sitting fourth in the standings for the 2014 title.
With the VIP Petfoods main driver 247 points adrift of Red Bull Racing’s Jamie Whincup – and 300 points on offer for the Wilson Security Sandown 500 – Webb said a strong finish on Sunday would be necessary for the team to keep its Championship campaign alive.
“We need to make sure we’re in the top five – for all of the enduros, really – to make sure Shane’s right-on for his Championship hopes,” he told v8supercars.com.au after yesterday’s two co-driver practice sessions at Sandown.
“But look, I think if everything goes well then somewhere on the podium [this weekend] would be really nice.
“It’s not going to be easy to win it [on Sunday]. If we’ve got the speed and the luck going our way, as well as strategy and safety cars… there’s a lot to it to win the thing. So for us, a top five would be nice, a podium would be great, so that’s what we’ll aim for.”
With van Gisbergen just 16th fastest in the ‘all drivers’ session yesterday, it was Webb’s impressive performance in the two co-driver sessions that showed the pairing’s true form.
The former full-time driver took the #97 entry to second and third in the respective sessions, just 0.13sec and then 0.03sec short of practice’s quickest co-driver Alex Premat.
This event marks his first taste of a V8 Supercar at a race meeting since Homebush last season in December, where he finished on the podium in second with van Gisbergen right behind in third.
Although happy with yesterday’s form, Webb said his lack of race miles may pose a challenge heading into the 500km haul.
“For me I need to be on the pace and have got to really be able to push on,” he said.
“I was really comfortable in the car, I was quite surprised at the test the other day that I was more on it than I’d thought I’d be, like I didn’t feel as rusty.
“The race is going to be different, but it will be good tomorrow to get the race miles in the co-driver race and get used to running around everyone else again, and hopefully that will put me in good fit for Sunday. I think we showed today that I have reasonable pace, so we’re pretty comfortable.”
Van Gisbergen agreed that Webb’s performance put them in good stead for tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.
“To be up the top in a co-driver session is a good thing and shows that we will be a strong pairing,” he said.
One final practice session for all drivers begins at 10.05am, with a qualifying session and then two races to determine the grid for Sunday’s 500km race.
