Holden stars Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes warn rival Ford Performance Racing will bounce back from their disappointing Bathurst 1000.
Whincup looks a strong chance to retain the V8 Supercars championship driver's title after winning Sunday's 1000-kilometre endurance race at Mount Panorama, opening up a lead of 161 points with four events left in the year.
Lowndes's third at Bathurst allowed him to leapfrog FPR's Mark Winterbottom, who finished 11th, to be second on the points table, with Winterbottom's teammate Will Davison now 470 points behind Whincup after his 24th-place finish.
With 300 points as the maximum a driver can earn at one round in the V8, Davison's bid appears finished but Whincup was not ruling him out.
''It's still definitely a four-horse race, without doubt,'' three-time champion Whincup said.
''Don't count out Frosty and Davo. They'll regroup and I'm sure they'll come out crazy strong by Gold Coast.''
Three-time series winner Lowndes was also certain Ford's factory team would improve after Bathurst.
''The championship's far from a forgone conclusion … Will and Frosty will bounce back very strong.''
Winterbottom was positive about his championship chances but Davison said he would need a ''miracle'' at the next round, the Gold Coast 600 from October 19 to 21, if he is to stay in the hunt.
The 2009 championship runner-up will partner with former formula one driver Mika Salo at Surfers Paradise.
''I'll need a miracle now to feature in the title fight but we head to the Gold Coast in a week so we don't have time to be down on ourselves,'' he said.
''Mika and I went well there last year and I know we both want the win.'' AAP
