PODCAST: Frosty opens up on Whincup rivalry

Mark Winterbottom has lifted the lid on one of Supercars’ fiercest rivalries, telling Race for the Championship’s Mark Fogarty that his long-running battle with Jamie Whincup went far beyond the race track.

Speaking at the launch of his autobiography Frosty, Winterbottom said the rivalry began in their karting days at just 11 years old and carried through Formula Ford and into Supercars, where the pair became the central figures in the Ford Performance Racing versus Triple Eight Holden wars of the 2000s and 2010s.

“It was genuine,” he said in a special Jax Tyres & Auto Race for the Championship episode which also includes an interview with youngster Alice Buckley.

“We battled in karts, then Formula Ford, then Supercars, and you never forget the moments where you get crashed into or done over. You want to get one back. For years, we genuinely wanted to beat each other pretty badly.”

The rivalry was inflamed by the teams they represented, with Triple Eight and Ford Performance Racing locked in their own battle for supremacy. Winterbottom admitted that, at the height of the contest, he simply didn’t like Whincup.

“You can’t be friends with someone you’re trying to beat,” he said.

“In my mind, I had to dislike him. You look for their weaknesses, their bad traits, and you use it. But he was very good, and he was the one I most enjoyed beating.”

Despite the animosity, Winterbottom said there was always respect. Today, their relationship remains civil but distant.

“We say hello and that’s about it,” he said.

“We’re not having Christmas dinners.”

Winterbottom also revealed a sliding doors moment in 2005 when he almost signed with Triple Eight, while Whincup was close to joining Ford Performance Racing.

“A couple of phone calls and it all flipped,” he said.

“He went to Triple Eight, I went to Ford, and we spent the next 13 years fighting each other from opposite garages.”

Now 44, Winterbottom is semi-retired from full-time driving but will contest the endurance season alongside Cam Waters. He also mentors Tickford Racing’s Super2 line-up, saying the role has reignited his passion for the sport.

As for Bathurst, the 2015 Series champion believes he and Waters can contend.

“If I can hand the car to Cam in a good spot, I’ll enjoy watching him go to work,” Winterbottom said.

“He won’t let anyone past easy, and if he needs to pass, he’ll have a crack.”

Winterbottom’s autobiography Frosty is out now, promising fans a candid look at the highs, lows and rivalries of a career that has spanned more than three decades.