JAMIE WHINCUP
Age: 31
Sport: V8 Supercars
What are your goals for 2014?
To be a better athlete than I was in 2013, with the focus on improving my weaknesses.
You’ve won five of the past seven V8 Supercars seasons; the other two times you placed second. With all that success behind you, and having come first the past three years, what is your motivation this year?
It’s always harder to lead than follow in my sport. The carrot is a powerful thing, so when it’s not there, motivation and commitment needs to come from within.
Do you love winning, hate losing, or is it a combo of both?
I absolutely hate losing but I’m cool getting beaten. If someone steps up and puts in a great performance and beats me, no stress; if I don’t put in my best performance and I lose, then it riles me.
Are you competitive with everything? If so, has your competitive streak ever gotten out of hand?
I wish I could relax more during backyard cricket! I got on a roll playing beer pong last Australia Day and messed a few of my mates up. It was the second-best thing I have ever done, behind a speccy I took playing footy at school.
Briefly talk us through your weekly training schedule.
The crazy thing with our sport is that we only get six days a year to actually test the car outside of our 14 race meetings, so everyone always asks, “How the hell do you perfect your craft?” We use video from previous race meetings and some simulator stuff. The rest is fitness training and keeping my health up with a balanced diet – and Red Bull, to keep the energy going. I also get fit swimming; ploughing down the pool like a speed boat before it starts aquaplaning!
A recent article in The Atlantic magazine about Olympians stated: “Successful athletes were repeatedly described as being intrinsically motivated and ‘loving’ their practice, not just their competitions.” How true is that?
How can I not love my job? Blasting a car around a track at full-tilt? The best bit is, when it’s out of fuel, tyres, and brakes I just hand it back and it gets fixed for free.
Do you ever dream of sitting on the couch, watching TV all day, and just getting fat?
Don’t worry, I love being a slob, but then I get over it after three days and want to go do something with my life.
If you had a fragrance named after you, would it contain, among other things, the smell of burnt rubber?
There aren’t many worse smells than burnt gearbox oil, so everyone go easy on your gearboxes, as you don’t what that thing burning up on you.
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