Lowndes plan to break V8 Supercars title drought

It took Craig Lowndes barely six months to win his first V8 Supercar championship. His fourth, however, has been a painstaking 14 years in the making. "It has been a long time," said Lowndes, on the verge of claiming his first title since 1999 at next weekend's season finale in Sydney.

"Fourteen years is an incredible drought. I had 10 years between Bathurst victories, but since we managed to win a second we've gone on to win a couple more. So who knows? It's definitely the perfect opportunity to win another championship."

"To have such a drought and to then come back, I think after 14 years, will probably be one of the (career) highlights." The popular veteran is just 20 points shy of series leader and Holden team-mate Jamie Whincup, who won all four of his titles in just five years.

Victory in both 250km races at Sydney Olympic Park will deliver the 2013 crown to Lowndes, but he'll have to get past the man on the opposite end of the Red Bull garage first. "We go down to a championship decider on the last round of a championship which - for the modern era - it's the great battle," he said.

"It's probably the battle of all battles." Despite Ford duo Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison each sitting 124 and 223 points back, they are still in the hunt and sure to add to the noise at Homebush when the action begins on Saturday. Lowndes has won at the Sydney 500 twice the past two years while Whincup has never graced the podium.

Yet Lowndes, not one to stir the pot, isn't underestimating the power of his nearest rival and his impressive record on street circuits. "If you look at his results on the Gold Coast and Clipsal, there's no doubt he'll go this year and make it all happen," he said.

"In the last couple of years he's really just needed to go (to Sydney) and finish races and to basically consolidate. But this year, he's going to have to race to try and win the championship. I think whoever it will be standing on the top step as a champion will definitely deserve it."

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERBOARD

SYDNEY 500 CIRCUIT OVERVIEW

TURN 1 Jim Beam Corner You have to move down into second gear and it's one bumpy ride. The track is really uneven because they've had to take out all the median strips and islands that would usually be there. It's easy to damage a tyre when you hit it. An actionpacked part of the track.

TURN 2,3 and 4 Coppers Chicane You have to use a lot of the kerb on the chicane. And once you hit it, the car wants to bounce around and that makes it hard to come out of it cleanly.

TURN 5 Sweep The trees hang all over the track around here, so it feels like you're in a tunnel. This is where 12 of the 15 lead cars went slamming into the wall when it rained in 2011

TURN 6 and 7 This is a double off-camber turn, which means you don't get too close to the kerbs and walls. It's hard to set up your run on to the next straight through here.

TURN 8 Fuso Corner This turn comes up really quickly. A lot of drivers overshoot here. You'll see a lot of cars get swallowed up by the concrete.

TURN 9 There's heaps of undulations when you turn into the left-hand corner and you have to be all over the kerb as well.

TURN 10 Coates Hire Corner The right-hand turn is tight and you want to get close enough to the wall that you're grazing your right mirror.

TURN 11 Sydney Corner You drop down into second gear for this turn and then you stay in second for the entire section before you get on to pit straight.

TURN 12 ARMOR ALL Corner A tight left-hander and you need to get it right because you have to set up your run into the final turn before pit straight.

TURN 13 You turn in second gear, but then you're accelerating and eventually hitting sixth gear down the straight.

PIT STRAIGHT It's a bit tricky when you cross the start/finish line because the straight goes from being really thin and then it opens up really wide.

Circuit length: 3.4 km (2.1 mi) Turns: 10 Lap record: 1:28.3839Craig Lowndes, Triple Eight HoldenVE Commodore, 2011