Young Guns

Fasten your seat belts, we're about to hit the track with two of the fastest men on wheels.

And two of the fiercest rivals.

They're the supermen of the super V8s, the champ Garth Tander and the challenger, Jamie Whincup.

This week they line up for the biggest race of them all, Bathurst, and the King of the Mountain crown.

It all sounds a bit parochial and blokey, doesn't it?

Well it's not. The V8 races are now beamed into 850 million homes around the world.

Millions of viewers, millions of fans.

And, as Ben Fordham discovered, these days the most dedicated are women.

Full transcript:

BEN FORDHAM: Jamie Whincup is a sex symbol. A daredevil and worth millions. At 25, he's the rising star of the V8 Supercars.

JAMIE WHINCUP: It's a rush, there's no doubt it's a rush. You know there's risks there - you know its going to hurt if you make a mistake.

BEN FORDHAM: How do you actually feel when you're behind the wheel going those extraordinary speeds?

JAMIE WHINCUP: How can I go faster? I feel like we're a bit of a partnership - me and my car, we we form a partnership on a race day and we work together. We even talk to each other at times.

BEN FORDHAM: You talk to the car?

JAMIE WHINCUP: No we're, we're good friends and we're getting along alright together at the moment.

BEN FORDHAM: What do you say?

JAMIE WHINCUP: Look after me.

BEN FORDHAM: And the sport has looked after Jamie well. This is his bachelor pad at Hope Island - an exclusive gated community on the Gold Coast.

BEN FORDHAM: It looks like he's got it all but what he really wants is the V8 Supercar Championship. The man standing in his way is Garth Tander.

GARTH TANDER: I've never once been scared of the speed in anything I've driven.

BEN FORDHAM: What are you afraid of?

GARTH TANDER: Failure.

BEN FORDHAM: Failure is something Garth hasn't experienced for a while. He's the reigning champion of the V8 Supercars.

GARTH TANDER: You know what it's like at school, you get asked, "What do you want to be?" Everyone said, "fireman, policeman", all that sort of stuff and I said "racing car driver".

BEN FORDHAM: Garth and Jamie are the latest contenders in the legendary war between Ford and Holden, that's made this sport an institution. In the 80s, it was Peter Brock verses Dick Johnson. Then Mark Skaiffe and Russell Ingall took rivalry out of the car and onto the track. Now it's the battle of the young guns - Garth in the Holden Jamie in the Ford.

GARTH TANDER: When he's on the track it's not quite war but it's competition.

BEN FORDHAM: Do you enjoy beating him?

JAMIE WHINCUP: Oh, for sure. If I have beaten him, I know I have performed at a really high level, so it's satisfying.

BEN FORDHAM: Do you think Garth is as fair as you on the track?

JAMIE WHINCUP: Not as fair as me, no.

BEN FORDHAM: Jamie Whincup tells us that you're a fair driver, just not as fair as him.

GARTH TANDER: I'm pretty sure I could say the same thing, Jamie's no saint on the racetrack.

BEN FORDHAM: Last year, their battle for the trophy was as epic as the good old days. The title was decided in the final seconds of the final race.

GARTH TANDER: If you wrote a script for the championship in 2007 and said, "This is how it is going to play out. "And at the end of the year. it's going to be two points, "it's going to come down to the last four laps of the race." No-one would have believed it.

BEN FORDHAM: And this year is shaping up to be just as close. With a few rounds remaining, Garth's leading and Jamie is right behind him. And for Jamie's parents - it's a mixture of nerves and excitement. What's it like being here and seeing all this attention and Jamie being right in the middle?

DAVID WHINCUP: I love it, it's like a birthday party.

BEN FORDHAM: Jamie's success is largely due to his parent's dedication. Dad David, an old revhead, was the one who gave him his first set of wheels. Jamie's been a winner since he first jumped on a go-kart. And as he rose through the ranks of junior motorsport, he won every trophy on offer.

SANDRA WHINCUP: We had them lined in the our house, all in his bedroom, in the lounge room, the kitchen, they were in every room of the house - he has so many of them.

BEN FORDHAM: But as all those awards piled-up, so too did the bills. The family printing business almost went broke as David and Sandra spent a staggering $70,000 a year to keep their son on the track. That is a massive sacrifice?

DAVID WHINCUP: It was a massive sacrifice but, I mean, we had no choice. It was either stop or do that.

BEN FORDHAM: Keep backing him?

DAVID WHINCUP: Keep backing him, yep.

BEN FORDHAM: Is it true that getting you to where you are today, almost sent your parents broke?

JAMIE WHINCUP: Oh, without a doubt, yeah. You know, the couch at home had the wood showing through and mum wanted a new oven at one stage because it was broken. But they decided to put a new set of go-kart tyres on my kart every race meeting.

BEN FORDHAM: So, is mum going to get the new oven?

JAMIE WHINCUP: Mum's got a new oven. Mum's got a new oven. There's a new couch at home and I've even brought them a new LCD screen, so they're rapt.

BEN FORDHAM: Over at 'Team Tander' on a bitterly cold Melbourne morning, Garth is putting in the hard yards with wife Leanne pushing him all the way.

GARTH TANDER: If the bloke that you're competing with is 20% fitter than you, then he has a 20% better chance of doing the right things at the right times, making the right decisions and getting the results.

BEN FORDHAM: The big question is - when you guys are just driving to the shops, who drives?

LEANNE TANDER: I actually let him drive. I don't like driving on the road, there's too many idiots out there. I'm just happy to let him go because he's also a really bad back-seat driver.

BEN FORDHAM: Leanne is certainly used to sitting in the driver's seat. She's also a champion on the track - currently leading the F3 category. Her goal is to create history by stepping up to the V8s. Then you can beat your husband.

LEANNE TANDER: Yeah, that would be good one day.

BEN FORDHAM: Garth, are you afraid of that happening?

GARTH TANDER: Oh look, I'd love nothing more than for Leanne to get into the main series and I can show her that blokes are better than girls.

BEN FORDHAM: Is there room for a family sometime?

GARTH TANDER: A lot of people say to us, "Gee, if you guys have a kid, "it will be some sort of super baby, "that will be able to drive out of this world." But, I think we've got plenty of time for that.

BEN FORDHAM: In recent years, the blokey image of V8 racing has undergone a bit of facelift and it looks like it's working. 40% of fans are now women. All these women around you mate!

GARTH TANDER: It's good isn't it. Keep an eye on things and make sure my wife doesn't come by.

BEN FORDHAM: When you see Garth signing a girl on the upper chest, which seems to happen around here - does he get in trouble when he gets home?

LEANNE TANDER: No, only if he enjoys it a little bit too much.

BEN FORDHAM: Is it tough being a sex symbol?

GARTH TANDER: I wouldn't know. you'll have to ask one.

BEN FORDHAM: Is it tough being a sex symbol?

GARTH TANDER: Why is she laughing? Why is she laughing at that?

BEN FORDHAM: Leanne. maybe you can help me with this - does Garth find it tough being a sex symbol?

LEANNE TANDER: I don't think he finds it tough to be surrounded by female fans.

BEN FORDHAM: But it seems that a lot of that female attention is reserved for one particular driver who just happens to be single - Jamie Whincup. As one of the poster boys of the sport that adds a bit of pressure, doesn't it?

JAMIE WHINCUP: I think I'm the only single bloke out there, which is quite weird. So yeah, bit of pressure on me but I can handle it.

BEN FORDHAM: It is a bit weird having all these females lining up for you,

JAMIE WHINCUP: Oh no, there's no girls out there lining up, there's fans of the sport and they love the job I do and they're very passionate.

BEN FORDHAM: So you're saying it's all about the motorsport, it's nothing to do with the man?

JAMIE WHINCUP: It's all about the motorsport, that's right.

BEN FORDHAM: This weekend more than 100,000 fans head to Bathurst for the biggest race on the V8 calendar. More than 160 laps, at speeds of up to 300km/h. And it's not until you take a ride, you realise how hard these guys work to earn the perks and the pay packets. So already, we're going at a speed that's highly uncomfortable. It's not the speed that is the most intense thing - it's this, the braking. The feeling is a little bit like a pinball in a pinball machine, Watch this,.. when he hits those corners, it's like the breath is being ripped out of your body. I think if I did any more of this - I'd be in a bit of trouble. God! Wow, that was just unbelievable. So I'm shaking to buggery - show me yours. No problem.

JAMIE WHINCUP: No problem at all.

BEN FORDHAM: Jamie has five races left, including Bathurst, to get in front of Garth and take out the V8 Supercar Championship. And after all those years of sacrifice you get the feeling the whole family is counting on it. Have you actually pictured the day when he's the champion?

DAVID WHINCUP: Champion. That'll be a tough day but I'll sort of love to...

BEN FORDHAM: David, I don't know whether you are going to hold it together on the day.

DAVID WHINCUP: No, I won't. Definitely not - It'll be real difficult.

JAMIE WHINCUP: You know, a lot of people lie in bed and dream about something or other people get out of bed and actually achieve it. So when I'm dreaming about something I quickly eliminate it and get out there and try and make it happen.