Whincup plans final Supercars title push

It’s the golden rule of motorsport – don’t crash into your teammate.

And Jamie Whincup has vowed not to break it again as he plans a last gasp crack at an unprecedented seventh Supercars championship at this weekend’s Sydney 500.

Whincup admitted he wouldn’t feel he “deserved” title No.7 if any contact ended his teammate and series leader Shane van Gisbergen’s championship hopes on the Homebush street circuit.

Whincup had to apologise to title favourite van Gisbergen after he spun the Kiwi around while dicing for second at the last round in Auckland.

Van Gisbergen recovered to finish third while Whincup was second last in the Auckland race after receiving a drive through penalty over the incident.

It all but gifted van Gisbergen his maiden Supercars title.

He holds a 191-point series leader over Whincup.

Only 300 points are on offer over the two race weekend.

Whincup hasn’t given up on championship glory but has ruled out taking any risky moves around his teammate in Sydney in order to achieve it.

“Definitely not. It’s not war, it’s sport,” Whincup told Fox Sports TV.

“If you were to take the trophy away at the end of the year, you want to have deserved it.”

The Auckland incident would be enough to create tension between teammates as a championship goes on the line.

But van Gisbergen insisted there were no dramas ahead of the Sydney 500

“That’s one of the best things about our team we really work together,” he told Sky Sports Radio.

“It’s one thing I haven’t experienced before.

“I have been in some big teams but we haven’t really worked together.”

Asked about any team orders ahead of the Sydney 500, van Gisbergen said: “Not really, just don’t hit each other.

“We race as hard as we can but the No.1 rule is don’t take your teammate out.”

So relations are better than Formula One’s Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes?

“I don’t think that is very hard,” van Gisbergen laughed.

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