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... next weekend. Last year, he only had to finish to win the title, but twice ran into walls and limped home. This year some of the walls have been moved back and the kerbs lowered on several corners.
"We didn't prepare very much at all last year," admitted the TeamVodafone Commodore driver who this year is 53 points adrift of Dick Johnson Racing driver James Courtney.
"Last year was more of a media focus for me than a race performance focus," Whincup said. "It will be different this year.
"I can't guarantee I won't hit any walls, but I definitely should go a bit quicker.
"I think there are some circuit changes that will also help." V8 Supercars Australia spokesman Cole Hitchcock said the "teething problems" from the first year at Homebush were sorted out with feedback from drivers.
"Changes to a new track are quite normal," he said. "(Mark) Skaife has spent a fair bit of time working on it as chief consultant. He also played a major role in developing the tracks at Townsville, Hamilton and the Gold Coast."
Courtney has been studying the track changes and believes it will be "nicer" to drive. "The kerb profiles are a bit lower so it should be a bit smoother," the Ford driver said.
"It will be nicer to drive, less aggressive on the car and allow the car to flow a bit better around the track."
Courtney won the Sunday race last year and declares he is "quietly confident" of winning the event and the championship next weekend. "We had really good speed (last year) and should have been a podium on Saturday as well but the door latch broke and we had to pit for that," he said.
"We've since changed the way the door latch works to stop it happening again, so I'm quietly confident."
Courtney said the final event would be a "fairytale" end to the championship. "You couldn't ask for a better ending with Ford versus Holden, the championship going down to the wire and Homebush with Guns and Roses and Tony Hawk. It will be a massive weekend."
Whincup says the close title race would draw a bigger crowd than last year. "The huge crowds are right on the side of the track and we can hear them as we go by," he said.
"You can't help but feel that you're in a special place with the big stadium and big hotels around you." Whincup says that apart from the mental strain of the close leader points it is also one of the physically toughest events on the calendar.
"At 250km it's equally the longest race we do with a single driver and we have to back it up again on the Sunday so it's as long as Adelaide," he said. "It's also compulsory for teams to run a cool suit if it gets over 30 degrees which you can almost guarantee for Sydney in December."
Whincup says he is not thinking about equalling Skaife's three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002 nor his 10th placing in the top 50 touring car drivers.
"I don't know how I feel about that. Those things while you are still competing don't mean a huge amount but I know that in 20 years time when l'm old, fat and retired they will mean everything to me," he said.
"When you are a warrior in battle you don't think about your last fight, you think about the one you are having now."
