Winterbottom will do a one-off V8 race in Brazil in March. Source: Tim Hunter / News Corp Australia
AN already hectic start to the V8 season will be even busier for reigning Bathurst winner Mark Winterbottom.
Already committed to four events in the next six weeks, starting with this weekend's Clipsal 500, Ford's leading title hope is squeezing in a fifth — halfway around the world.
Between the Australian Grand Prix and the Tyrepower Tasmania 400, the man they call 'Frosty' will fly to Brazil to co-drive in the local version of V8 Supercars, Stock Car Brasil, at the Interlagos F1 circuit.
So far he is the only full-time V8 Supercars driver to sign on for the race, but he doesn't expect the South American trip will hurt his bid for a maiden championship.
"No, I don't think so," Winterbottom told SPEED. "It's not a money making thing or anything like that, I'm actually using it to get a bit of experience."
Entering his ninth campaign with Ford Performance Racing, he believes that the one-off gig could be the spark he and his team need.
"I think it's actually quite good to go and work with another team. If you can get another run in a different category and learn something it's probably going to benefit you.
"I'm using it as a positive, not a deterrent from winning the championship."
Winterbottom will head to Brazil with the blessing of his team, who could easily have shot down his plans given their title goal.
"I was pretty lucky that they have (let me). Obviously when you sign to a team you're fully focused on trying to win a championship here.
"But I've never raced anything overseas away from our category, and they knew how much I wanted to do it.
"They've been great to let me go."
He admits, though, that the logistics of flying to Brazil and back during a busy time of the season are "not that flash."
"I leave on Tuesday after the Grand Prix and get back on Tuesday before Tasmania.
"We rock up to Tassie on Thursday, so that'll give me two days before practice starts to get back on the timezone.
"As long as you stay awake and sleep when you have to you should come back pretty fresh, but that will be the hardest part."
Winterbottom will swap his Falcon for a Peugeot, getting his first taste of his new ride on simulator software sent to him by the team, but his focus remains on the task at hand.
"I'll concentrate on trying to win Clipsal and the Grand Prix, then on the Monday after I'll sit on the simulator and have a play and try and learn the track.
"The cars are a little bit more technical than what our cars are, but they're still a sedan and a V8. It's a paddle shift but still a sequential gear change, and there are driver changes, so there are a lot of similarities."
The trip will see Winterbottom banging doors with a who's who of Brazil's best racers, headlined by ex-F1 star Rubens Barrichello, in a series that is as close and competitive as our own.
"It's pretty cool that they picked an Australian as their most competitive chance.
"They went looking for international co-drivers with sedan experience and tried to get the best they could.
"The engineer from the team sent an email and put the feeler out and it went from there.
"It's pretty cool to get the call up, especially when you look that guys like Bruno Junquiera, maybe Felipe Massa and Bruno Senna will also be on the grid."
Although the series might be unfamiliar to Australians, Winterbottom said its one of many he keeps an eye on.
"I watch F1 and stuff but it's not as appealing as what these sort of categories are.
"It's really competitive — I think 40 cars were covered by a second in their last race — so it's kind of like NASCAR and V8s."
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