Fresh from their first V8 Supercar podium finish in the recent Sandown 500 in Melbourne, Dodo Racing drivers Jason Richards and Jamie Whincup will aim to carry their momentum into the second endurance raꦉce of the season at Bathurst this w൩eekend.

As the biggest event on the calendar, the 1000-kilometre classic has been the focal point for the Melbourne-based Holden squad all season, wi🌸th ongoing improvements and developments in their Commodores have pushed them up the order and well and truly in contention for a strong finish at Bathurst.

Richards certainly isn't getting carried away with the Sandown result but says it has lifted moral around the workshop and helped inspire both he and Whincup for their assault on🦂 Mount Panorama.

"When you've worked for something for so long and then you actually achieve it, it's a very special feelin♓g," he said. "There's been plenty of times this year where we've put ourselves in a strong position but for one reason or another the result hasn't come to fruition.

"Bathurst is an inspiring place by itself so to head there with the confidence 🌱of a podium at Sandown is more💧 motivation to add to the fact we're going to such an inspiring circuit."

Whincup has a different focus for Bathurst this year. Last year he drove an older model car and was simpl൩y under instruction to drive conservatively and finish. This year he will be very much in 'race' mode.

"It's a very long day though and you have to make sure you don't slip up," he said. "I know that's a line that has been w﷽heeled out many times in the past but history shows it's absolutely true. We will just focus on pushing the car hard all day and running competitively. It's essential💙 to not do anything silly.

"From the discussions we've had around the team at the workshop, the boys have had a good car up there in the past. Now with some extra power from our in-house engiﷺne program through Ron Harrop and Neill Burns, I'm pretty confident we can fire up and down the Mountain at a good pace.

"Sandown and China were fantastic but they don't ch🎉ange our focus. There's no expectations or pressure on us externally, it's all in the levels w💜e place on ourselves.

"Our approach to Sandown was the same and we had a gꦦood result so there's no need to change that now."

Fabian Coulthard and Tony D'Alberto were non-finishers at Sandown after a late-race accident but both showed good turns of pace that tಌhey can carry to Bathurst.

"The team has🍎n't tested since Sandown but I did a day in my own HPDC Series car last week at Winton," said D'Alberto, who is one of four Bathurst 1000 rookies in this year's race. "I'm looking forward to getting up there to Bathurst and having a crack at it. I'd really love to finish it. As much as it would have been nice to see the chequered flag at Sandown, it would mean so much more to have a finish at Bathurst if I were able to choose between the two.

"That's our first goal an♈d we'll set ourselves further ones as the weekend unfolds."

ꦜCoulthard will again race his Porsche in the Carrera Cup in addition to driving the te൩am's #23 Dodo Commodore in the main race.

"The progression we've made within the team and working with Rob -Palermo, e💛ngineer on car #23] has helped us build a stronger bond than we had before Sandown," he said. "My schedule for Carrera Cup is a lot better spaced out than at Sandown where there were times I'd have to race from the Commodore to the Porsche which was waiting for me on the dummy grid.

"We have a schedule in place which pretty much divides up the time in the Dodo car on a 50/50 basis. Tony will qualify the car and star♔t it, so I'll step in at the first pitstop and take it from there."