Love him or hate him, Jamie Whincup is one of V8 Supercars’ greatest ever drivers.

And after his performance on Sunday, there’s no doubting why.

Before all the drama started, the Holden superstar and five-time champion produced a drive to remember at the Bathurst 1000.

Forced to start from 23rd on the grid after crashing out of qualifying on Friday, Whincup jumped his No.1 Commodore off the line quicker than anyone else.

It had the stewards and pundits alike thinking Whincup may have jumped the start and he was investigated for that exact breach before later being cleared.

“The lights went out and I dropped, while everyone else sort of stopped for a while,” he laughed.

“I thought I’ll grab a few spots and just try to work my way through those first couple of laps and stayed out of trouble which is great.”

He gained five places in just one lap.

By lap 10, he was in eighth.

Before lap 20, he was in fourth.

“You’ve just witnessed one of the greatest first stints in the history of this race,” exclaimed commentator and six-time Bathurst winner Mark Skaife.

“That was Brock-esque.

“Unbelievable job, Jamie Whincup.”

But Whincup, in typical fashion, played down his charge through the pack.

“It looked a bit better than it was,” he said.

“I was up against a lot of co-drivers.

“I had to make up some spots after my dismal performance in qualifying.”

On his way to the front, he broke his own race lap record – set in 2007, the year he won with current Red Bull Racing teammate Craig Lowndes.

An issue with the car’s tailshaft threatened to derail his and co-driver Paul Dumbrell’s campaign – an issue too big for the team to fix during the 63-minute mid-race stoppage to repair a damaged section of the Mount Panorama track at turn two.

But with 10 laps to go, Whincup found himself in front.

He pushed his lead out to nearly three seconds.

He had just one-and-a-half laps left to run – but only enough fuel for one.

In the end, there was just not enough juice.

He was passed by Ford rival Chaz Mostert – who went on the win his maiden Bathurst crown in just his second start after starting last on the grid.

Whincup finished fifth.