A "gutted" Jamie Whincup says being four points off the Supercars lead means little to him while his winless run continues.
Whincup's second-placed finish in Sunday's 67-lap race at Winton behind Red Bull Racing teammate Shane Van Gisbergen brought him within touching distance of Ford star Fabian Coulthard.
But despite the shape of the leaderboard, Whincup's drought makes it his worst start to the season for four years.
"No one really cares where they are in the championship at the moment," Whincup said.
"It's great to be in contention without doubt but it's all about winning races."
He said while Red Bull's one-two finish was a great team result, the six-time champion couldn't hide his disappointment at still being without a win at the end of the Winton round.
"(I'm) gutted," Whincup said.
"To put it in perspective, life's good, the sun's out, I've got my health and family so I'm not going to slit my wrists.
"But I'm not here to run second either."
After passing Coulthard's DJR Team Penske teammate before the first turn, Whincup led the race for all but 10 laps.
He lost his lead when he ran wide on the circuit's final turn shortly after Michael Caruso's crash forced the safety car to be called for.
"The safety car cooled the tyres and I think a couple of other cars had to spear off on the last corner the lap before
"There was all dirt all over the circuit.
"With the car being really loose and all the dirt on the circuit and that was just enough to run wide in a couple of spots."
Meanwhile, Coulthard was upbeat after two podium finishes in north-east Victoria allowed him to narrowly hold on to his early championship lead.
"I'm pretty rapt to be in a competitive car," Coulthard said.
"Last year we struggled for consistency at a lot of places.
"But to be able to go to every track now and know that Shell V Power Racing are giving us a good car at every event at this point is pretty satisfying."
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