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BATHURST champion Mark Winterbottom has lit the fuse for an explosive Gold Coast 600, labelling V8 Supercars heavweights Triple Eight Racing "arrogant" and declaring he's ready to take the championship lead from arch rival Jamie Whincup.
This weekend's Surfers Paradise endurance round could have major championship implications with Holden gun Whincup leading the standings 114 points ahead of Triple Eight teammate Craig Lowndes with Winterbottom (142 behind) further back.
Riding high on confidence after his breakthrough Mount Panorama win, Winterbottom said his Ford Performance Racing team now had the belief to knock off their dominant Holden rivals who he expected to come out firing after being trumped at Bathurst.
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"From a team point of view, the Triple Eight guys are quite arrogant in how they approach their racing," he said.
"To get beaten by our team, and purely beaten in a straight out battle, that does more for our team than it does for them.
"The (FPR) team's pumped, I'm pumped. Everyone's walking around with a strut and swagger. We've got that confidence that you can't buy.
"We've got an incredible group of people and we've had some really good results but until we won Bathurst it was always people saying 'they've got good results but not the big one. They don't go well under pressure'.
"Now they can say what they want but we've won Bathurst. It credits all our other wins.
"It'll serve us well for the championship. We needed that good result.
"Whether it wins it or not, who knows, but it'll do a lot for our team."
Four-time series champion Whincup was gracious in defeat at Bathurst but said he wasn't worried about Winterbottom closing in on his championship lead.
"Yes (Winterbottom will think he can catch me) but whether it's possible or not is another thing," he said.
"I'm sure he'll come out on cloud nine feeling like he's invincible for the rest of the year.
"Without doubt you feel fairly invincible after Bathurst but good on him. He deserved it. Him and his crew did a good job."
Surfers Paradise has been a happy hunting ground for Winterbottom.
He won races on the Glitter Strip in 2009 and 2011 and will team up with the experienced Steve Richards again after their Bathurst triumph.
"When you look at the year, Gold Coast is one of the best rounds for us. We've always done well there," Winterbottom said.
"If you could pick any round throughout the year where you thought you'd go well at it was always Gold Coast. History shows how strong we've been here.
"A good round there will get us within 100 points of them (Whincup). It's going to be pretty tight towards the end of the year.
"It's massively important for the championship. A lot can go wrong but if you get it right it's going to reward you massively. It's a game-changer."
Practice is Friday with the 300km races to be contested on Saturday and Sunday.
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