MARK Winterbottom spent 16 years a Ford Supercars stalwart, journeying with the Blue Oval from a fresh-faced rookie to an accomplished veteran.
But race #606 in the Supercars Championship brought him a new achievement: his first podium and win for General Motors.
‘Frosty’ made a shock switch in 2019 to then Holden-shod Team 18, who have transitioned across to Chevrolet for the Gen3 era.
After years of trying, Winterbottom broke through for Team 18’s maiden victory last month in Darwin.
Winterbottom is the first to admit that delivering for team owner Charlie Schwerkolt means far more to him than for the marque he now represents.
“I won for Charlie, to be honest,” the 42-year-old responded to V8 Sleuth.
“He is very invested in this. He doesn’t have to say anything but he wears his heart on his sleeve so his expressions kind of tell the story of if he’s happy or disappointed or frustrated or whatever.
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“He’s very proud of this team and whether it was Scott (Pye, teammate) or myself getting the win, as a team it has been coming. So to see his reaction, it then flows on through the team.
“From a GM point of view, you kind of get whatever car you are given.
“I have been a very genuine Ford guy for years so for me I’m not thinking about the brand, I’m thinking about Team 18, DeWalt and all those guys, Fuchs. That’s who I’m proud to win for, not so much a (car) brand.”
It didn’t take long for Winterbottom to notice a difference within the camp following the Hidden Valley success: “Our confidence is definitely a lot higher than it was.”
Now the challenge is to back it up.
“You have just got to keep being there week in, week out,” said the #18 DeWalt Camaro driver.
“Guys like Erebus and (Broc) Feeney, he’s so consistent at the moment: a bad result is third, a good result is winning.
“We have just got to get to that spot where we don’t rely on one race, you can have multiple chances and that’s how you get better.
“It was like winning Bathurst for us (in Darwin), the feeling of ‘don’t stuff up, don’t stuff up, don’t stuff up’ because previously it has been 12 months between another chance (to win). We have just got to get better.
“If you have an opportunity every weekend, shit gets easy from then on. It’s not all on one, it’s like ‘if there is a mistake we’ll get them in the next one’.”
Round 6 of the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship, the NTI Townsville 500, kicks off tomorrow.
