Jamie Whincup  is well on his way to becoming a modern great of Australian Motorsport. He currently sits 12th on the all time round winners list, and if his current form continues he may jump to 7th by seasons end. If that occurs only the likes of Brock, Skaife, Lowndes and Co. stand in front of him. 

So far in 2009, he has proven to be fast, precise and virtually mistake free. If you trace his results back to Bathurst last year, Whincup has won 14 out of 17 championship races contested, a winning percentage of over 80%.

While domination isn’t exactly a new concept to motorsport, V8 Supercars Australia had invested in a variety of changes to prevent the curse of predictability. 

After the Holden Racing Team’s domination of the mid 90’s, Project Blueprint and a raft of format and championship points changes were implemented. Yet in the face of this, Team Vodafone and Whincup have been in a league of their own. 

Not even his much fancied teammate Craig Lowndes has been able to keep up with the 26year old. In fact Whincup has proven to be the only teammate to consistently outpace Lowndes for over two seasons and with both Team Vodafone drivers out of contract at years end, Lowndes may be the only one feeling any pressure to perform. 

But for Whincup, V8 Supercars may not be his only choice, according to his manager, Matt Cousins, his performances locally have attracted the interest of several Le Mans teams, speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald Cousins said that “Overseas is something he may look at in the future”. 

Apart from his on track success Whincup is also increasingly hot media property, his recent success in the TV reality show “Greatest Athlete Australia”.

Whincup finished seconf in the competition to Rugby League star Billy Slater but ahaead of many other more fancied competitors including AFL footballer Brett Delidio, Olympic Gold Medalist Steve Hooker and Cricketer Andrew Symmons.

One other driver to have a similar monopoly of the V8 Supercar series in recent years was was Marcos Ambrose.

The Tasmanian finished 4th in a NASCAR race in Talladega last weekend and has now set a precedent for Australian and New Zealand drivers. Touring Cars were once regarded as the graveyard for the older gentlemen, now they could be the stepping stone to International success. 

And if the American media like Marcos Ambrose, and they do, they’s just love Whincup.

Of course before we get ahead of ourselves Roland Dane’s cheque book might have something to say about all of that. He is the form driver in the form team, something Whincup is all too aware of, “The more established you get in Australia, the tougher it gets to walk away, so that’s a tough one to balance” he told the Herald.

So while his on-track performances continue to amaze, it’s whats happening off-track for next year that may prove of far more interest.

So far in 2009 no other team has gotten close, taking both round wins at Clipsal and Hamilton Whincup  heads into this weekend’s round at Winton in country Victoria as the red hot favourite.