Supercars form. Sandown experience. Co-driver continuity.
All reasons why Red Bull Racing Holden duo Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell should be the Supercars team to beat in the Sandown 500 this weekend.
But the six-time series champ says another car should be favourite as the Enduro series begins in Melbourne.
“I definitely have Penske favourites. They’re the ones to beat,” Whincup told AAP.
“They’ve got some different recruits this year that will be absolutely on point.
They’ve got very fast cars and some very good people in there. We’ll just try and make sure we’re up there battling with them.”
Whincup’s comments belie the fact he enters Sandown as the hottest driver on the Supercars circuit.
With the exception of a 20th-placed finish in Ipswich after two pit-lane mishaps, Whincup has finished in the top four in the last 12 races.
And the 35-year-old boasts winning form at Sundown, with three victories – including 2013 and 2014 with Dumbrell.
This is the sixth year the pair have teamed up for Red Bull Racing.
By contrast, the DJR Team Penske cars – led by series leader Scott McLaughlin and third-placed Fabian Coulthard – are re-heating old pairings.
McLaughlin is reuniting with Alex Premat – his 2014 co-driver at Gary Rogers Motorsport.
Coulthard will race with former development series champion Tony D’Alberto, who last raced together as Supercars infants in 2005 at Bathurst.
While Whincup was happy to yield favouritism to the pair, he conceded his long-running pairing with Dumbrell helped.
“It’s a plus, no doubt. Continuity is a good thing,” he said.
“I don’t know whether its a huge advantage but its certainly a plus. And we’ll take whatever we can get.”
Whincup says he’s “not one for looking in the past” but he’s also out to rectify a terrible 2016 result.
Last year, the No.88 Commodore qualified fastest but wore a pit-lane penalty after Dumbrell slipped his seatbelt off seconds early.
“We made some errors last year which we’re not proud of so we’ll do the homework before the race,” Whincup said.
“We didn’t have a good run last year. That was our own fault.
“We’ve prepared well this year and the cars have been fairly pacy the last couple of rounds which brings confidence.
“There’s absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t have a good weekend. We’ll put the head down and go as fast as we can.”