From the Daily Telegraph (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/motor/holden-v8-supercar-driver-jamie-whincup-attempts-to-win-his-third-championship-after-struggling-early-in-his-career/story-e6frey5r-1226212926111)
RED, striking and bold – it arrived in my room unexpected.
I didn’t know it back then – I was only seven – but the birthday present from my father would change my life and lead me into a spectacular career that could see me today win my third V8 Supercars championship.
The life-changing gift was a go-kart; a red shiny red rocket lovingly restored by my father. It couldn’t have cost more than $1000.
It was very much out of the blue, because until that moment I had given racing absolutely no thought. None.
I had been to the track a couple of times because dad was into cars and my uncle raced, but I wasn’t interested at all.
I was actually a bit of a fruit loop and wasn’t into anything. I didn’t have an interest and I reckon that is why Dad bought me that go-kart. I needed something to waste all my time on.
But that didn’t stop me from loving it. I would polish and clean it every afternoon and beg dad to take me to the track when he got home from work.
So was I good from the get-go? Hell, no. I was absolutely hopeless. Useless. I couldn’t get the thing over idle for two days.
Dad told me years later that he thought he had made a mistake, I was so slow.
I wouldn’t even get on the throttle. I kept on blowing spark plugs and they had to be replaced every time I came in.
Regardless of my talent, or lack of it, I was hooked. I didn’t care about anything else. And eventually I got better and started to get the hang of it, although it took me a year to win my first trophy. It wasn’t for winning a race, not even for landing a podium, but it was an encouragement award for coming fourth.
Thankfully, dad kept at it and stuck with me. He drove me to the track every week and gave me valuable advice. He would dissect each of my drives and tell me where I could improve.
He only let me race at just the one track until I reached a lap time he had set. I think it was 15 seconds and I eventually got there.
My first real trophy came not too long after that – I came second at Swan Hill in 1992 – and fortunately it was the first of many.
I would go on to race the likes of Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom in heated clashes all over the country. I was lucky to have such good competition, and we really brought the best out in each other. It was a fantastic era.
I slowly moved through the ranks, despite thinking I would race go-karts forever, and in 1999 my dad again surprised me with a new car – a Formula Ford.
Then, out of the blue, my uncle asked me mid-season if I would be interested in driving a V8 Supercar for Gary Rogers.
And of course I was.
Just like my first time in the go-kart, I was hopeless when I jumped behind the wheel for the first time. The thing had so much power and I was just hanging on, aiming for the centre of the road.
Now, I think I have almost got the hang of it. And hopefully I will have another trophy to add to my collection today.
