Jamie Whincup was this morning delivered the first blow of 2015 Championship – but it wasn’t from one of his V8 Supercar competitors.

The six-time champ shrugged off being bitten by a snake during a media activity, where drivers had the chance to get up close and personal with the wildlife of the Taronga Zoo.

Whincup announced re-signing with Triple Eight (Red Bull Racing Australia) until 2018 earlier today, and was posing for photos with the non-venomous black-headed python and the Championship trophy when the snake lashed out.

The 31-year old remained calm and was treated by medical staff at the zoo.

“Bucket list stuff, being bitten by a snake – they tell me it’s not venomous. Good start to the year!” Whincup told the media.

“A little bit of swelling, it’ll go down in a few hours and I’ll be all good for the test.”

It seemed posing for snaps was just too much for the snake.

“We pushed the friendship a little bit – we were posing with the championship trophy, we moved around a few times, he just wanted to get out of there.

“If it had arms, it probably would’ve taken a swing, but he used his only defense possible, had a bite.”

Whincup admitted it was quite painful when the snake latched on.

“I thought it would have released a little bit earlier when it realised I wasn’t a rat … but I live to fight another day.

“I feel a little bit sorry for the zoo. We come out here to show how cool these reptiles are and this is unbelievably rare.

“I don’t think they’ve ever had anyone ever get bitten and now, with all the TV cameras here, I get bitten in front of everyone.”

Whincup will jump in his newly-coloured Red Bull Holden Commodore for the first time for 2015 this weekend at thesydney.com SuperTest, which is free for fans to attend across Saturday and Sunday.

The test will be broadcast live on Fox Sports from 9am-4pm, and a highlights package will be aired on Channel Ten from 4pm-5pm.