Ford hero Mark Winterbottom is hoping to ignite his V8 Supercars title defence at Albert Park this weekend - just as he lit the fuse of his maiden championship at the Melbourne Grand Prix last year. 
Winterbottom is looking to the four races of the non-title V8 Supercars Challenge - the main supporting act to the Formula One GP - to get his Falcon FG X dialled in to resume the battle to keep his crown.
Just like last year, he struggled in last weekend's Adelaide 500, finishing eighth, 11th and ninth in the season-opener's three races.
Winterbottom signalled his title-winning potential at Albert Park last year, blitzing all four races in a Prodrive Racing Ford sweep ahead of teammate Chaz Mostert.
The man known as "Frosty" admitted his team needed to find extra speed on the soft compound tyres, used for the first time in the Australian Grand Prix exhibition races. "This weekend, we need to get back on track," Winterbottom said. "We had a very good car at Albert Park last year, but it's going to be different here on soft tyres. That's probably our weakness at the moment in terms of race speed. It's a good chance for us to get on top of that."
After the Adelaide 500, including the chaotic Sunday race in which outsider Nick Percat scored an upset win, all the leading contenders except former record six-time champion Jamie Whincup failed to score big points.
Nissan's Michael Caruso is the surprise championship leader thanks to consistent finishes, in front of Whincup - who won a race and finished second in another in his Triple Eight Holden - by 15 points.
Winterbottom is 12th in the standings, 57 points off the lead. "We had a very average event and we're still not that far off," he said. "I think we'll get our speed back - we just need to get on top of the car a little bit more."