Go-kart put career on track - From the Daily Telegraph

MARK Winterbottom has revealed that his epic Bathurst 1000 win with Steven Richards yesterday wouldn’t have been possible if not for a go-kart race in 2001.

Raised in a small house in Doonside by his single mother, Winterbottom would have been forced to quit his motorsport career in 2002 because he had no money to rise to Formula Ford.

His mother June, who sold her couch to buy him his first go-kart could not fund his senior career and Winterbottom would have never became a Bathurst immortal had it not been for winning a go-kartcompetition that came with a $100,000 scholarship prize.

“I have been sponsored by Ford from a young age,’’ Winterbottom said.

“I won a go-kart competition in 2001 and I earned a $100,000 scholarship. That got me into Formula Ford, and with-out that I would have never gotten in.

“We had no money, and I would have never raced. I certainly would not have won a Bathurst title without it.’’

Winterbottom claimed the prize had made yesterday’s win even more special with the Ford Performance Racing driver able to give Ford something back for all their support.

“I am a Ford man through and through,’’ Winterbottom said. “And to be able to win a Bathurst for them is something I have wanted to do.

“It is great that I have been able to do that because they have been with me all the way.’’

Winterbottom held off Holden top-gun Jamie Whincup to score Ford’s first win at Mount Panorama since 2008 when Whincup and Lowndes teamed up in a Falcon before defecting to the red team.