WHINCUP CALLS OUT DANE ON SLUMP

Jamie Whincup has dismissed team boss Roland Dane’s public criticism of him and his side of the Red Bull Holden Racing Team garage as a “cheap shot”.

And Whincup has fired up himself, saying the factory squad has been under-resourced to solve the linear spring set-up issue that has dropped RBHRT behind other Holden teams as well as the all-conquering DJR Team Penske Ford Mustangs.

Whincup has driven for Dane since 2006, winning seven drivers’ titles and four Bathurst 1000s. He is now a co-owner of Triple Eight Race Engineering, the parent of RBHRT.

Lying a mammoth 371 points off the pace and ninth in the Supercars championship heading into this weekend’s Perth SuperNight, Whincup maintained that the mandating of the linear spring was at the core of RBHRT’s pace issue.

Asked how one of the two best-funded teams in pit lane could lack resources, Whincup replied: “That’s one of the better questions. The game keeps evolving, it keeps growing in all different areas and getting bigger.

DJRTP has invested heavily in simulation in recent years under the direction of tech guru Nick Hughes.

Whincup insists he has complete faith in the team to get on top of the linear spring and achieve race-winning pace, but he is less certain an eighth championship will still be in reach this season by the time it happens.

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