Newly-minted Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen is already preparing himself for a Jamie Whincup onslaught next season.
The Holden gun rubber stamped his title win on Sunday with victory in the final race of the season and on the streets of Sydney Olympic Park.
The championship was already wrapped up but he fought hard to beat out Holden rivals Garth Tander and David Reynolds.
Tander started on pole position and was on track for a fairytale end to his time at Holden Racing Team and the outfit's last with factory backing.
But van Gisbergen passed him on lap 20, survived three safety car interventions and contact in pitlane to hold on for the win.
He celebrated with a tyre-shredding burnout in front of his Red Bull Racing team - something he's waited three years to do.
"I hooked into it - it was a pretty awesome feeling," van Gisbergen said.
The win confirmed his place on top of the drivers' standings, ahead of Whincup.
Scott McLaughlin secured third in the championship for Volvo, denying Red Bull a historic trifecta with Craig Lowndes slipping down to fourth.
It's the second year in a row Whincup has missed out on the Supercars crown, after collecting a record six since 2008.
And van Gisbergen knows he will be hurting.
"Oh yeah, he doesn't like losing," he said.
"He's a very motivated guy and I think he'll come back stronger than ever next year.
"I'm really looking forward to the battle. It's been awesome this year, we've got along really well on and off the track so I think it's going to be good next year."
Van Gisbergen finishes the season with eight wins and 18 podiums - 10 of them in the last 10 races.
His consistency has been key, with Whincup showing the speed.
"It's a pretty cool moment to win it on consistency but Jamie was really fast in a lot of races this year, so I need to pick up my game.
"Now that I've found that consistency, I've got to search for speed again."
Sydney's concrete-lined circuit has claimed plenty of victims since it was added to the calendar in 2009 and again caused some carnage.
Nissan's Dale Wood and Holden driver Tim Blanchard were early casualties, followed later by the Fords of Fabian Coulthard and Cam Waters, and Jason Bright in his last outing for Brad Jones Racing.
Newcastle will host the season finale from 2017, with the coastline track to be revealed this week.
