Mark Winterbottom says his domination of the V8 Supercars round at the Australian Grand Prix could lay the groundwork for a championship challenge ahead.

But it certainly doesn’t mean Prodrive Racing is there just yet.

Winterbottom and teammate Chaz Mostert smoked the field to chart their third straight one-two finish around the Albert Park street circuit on Saturday.

As a non-championship round, their successes don’t earn any points for the V8 Supercars standings.

What the victories bring is confidence, built largely from the Falcon FG X.

The new Falcon has given the pair the speed to mix it in qualifying – something they were sorely missing in 2014.

Winterbottom said despite the three race wins, he was most pleased with his efforts on Thursday.

“The biggest confidence gain was qualifying,” he said.

“To go a whole year without a pole position when you’re used to getting them … you start to scratch your head a bit.

“That’s a massive confidence boost to know we can do it.

“We’re genuinely quick and it’s good for morale, good for the team.”

Winterbottom warned against the idea that his team would fly up the championship standings with the new speed, saying each track had its challenges.

After fading from the title race last season, it’s clear he’s relishing the prospect of a fair fight.

“It’s nice to know that when you roll out on the track, if someone beats you they’ve just done a better job,” he said.

Mostert too is enjoying the moment of Ford dominance at Albert Park.

“I’m loving the new car, it’s something we’ve needed for a couple of years,” he said.

“Now we’ve got it, we can get behind the wheel and go out and do some good things.”

In Friday’s race, Winterbottom was never headed from the rolling start, while his junior team-mate did it slightly tougher.

The 2013 Bathurst winner was able to set the pace at the start, slowing the field to almost a standstill down the main straight.

When he did burst into life with less than 100 metres to the starting line, Mostert was swamped by Van Gisbergen and championship leader James Courtney.

Mostert was in front of Courtney by the lap’s end and took Van Gisbergen before lap three.

The 22-year-old set his sights on Winterbottom, charting the fastest lap of the race, but opted against an audacious overtaking attempt with little on the line.

Scott McLaughlin’s woes continued with a DNF.

The Kiwi Volvo driver found himself stuck off the track on the second lap, with no communication back to his team.