Seven-time Supercars champion Jamie Whincup has lifted the lid on the gigantic spray he copped from Supercars legend Larry Perkins as a youngster, in his new autobiography, Jamie Whincup: Drive of a Lifetime.
After two disastrous crashes at Bathurst, Whincup’s career was in ruins before it had even begun.
Thrown a lifeline by his good mate Paul Dumbrell, Whincup was able to arrange a test run with Perkins Motorsport at Winton Motor Raceway.
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Whincup intended to complete his trial in the team’s third endurance car, however after a problem was discovered with it, Perkins instructed Whincup to take the No.1 car out for a few laps.
“It was one of the best cars on the grid and I knew I had to take this opportunity, so I decided to let it rip,” Whincup wrote in his book.
“There was no use dawdling in such a powerful machine; I had to show them how I could drive fast and clean.
“I managed to do the first bit but the second bit not so well, as on turn four I spun the car through the apex and backed it into the gravel trap.
“As I sat in the gravel trap I couldn’t believe what I’d done, what type of an idiot I was.”
As the recovery vehicle came around, Whincup spotted Perkins sitting in the passenger seat. Making a beeline straight for the car, Whincup could tell that Perkins was upset with him.
“He was on a mission to get to the driver door as quickly as possible,” Whincup said.
“I’m not sure if I was so bogged that the driver door wouldn’t open, or that he chose not to open it, but he started – and didn’t stop until he was finished – telling me I was the most useless human being in the country right then, through the little hole that’s cut in the perspex window.
“I couldn’t actually see his face – I was still strapped in with my helmet on and window net up – but I didn’t need to to get the gist of his anger, with the words and spit spray coming into the cabin”.
“Remarkably” after the incident, Perkins was still keen for Whincup to drive in the endurance events at Sandown and Bathurst.
Combining with Alex Davidson in Perkins Motorsport’s third car, the duo finished tenth at Mount Panorama. However, the “sensational” feat wasn’t enough to convince Perkins to give Whincup a seat.
Whincup then moved to Tasman Motorsport for the 2005 season after a lacklustre reference from Perkins.
After this weekend, Whincup will put the brakes on his full-time Supercars career, but not before pursuing a record-breaking fourth Bathurst 1000 title alongside Craig Lowndes.
Jamie Whincup’s autobiography Drive of a Lifetime is available through Penguin Random House from Tuesday November 30.
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