Endurance kings Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup are high on confidence but low-key about the prospect of a rare Bathurst 1000 hat-trick this weekend.
The Team Vodafone combination will strive to become the first in 24 years to win the iconic race for three straight years.
If successful they will become the first Ford team to complete the hat-trick in over 40 years.
Whincup and Lowndes, who are running third and sixth respectively in the Driver's Championship, made it seven straight enduro podium finishes with their second placing at Phillip Island last weekend.
"We are very, very confident. The car did really well at Phillip Island and we've won this race (Bathurst) the last two years," Whincup said.
"Craig and I are both on top of our game at the moment, we are peaking at the right time, so there's absolutely no reason why we shouldn't go well."
Lowndes, who has won the famous race three times and finished second on four other occasions, was equally bullish.
"I think we are actually more confident this year than we were last year," Lowndes said.
Boasting one of the best endurance records of the modern era, 34-year-old Lowndes said he thought he was more relaxed about that form of racing.
"I enjoy the atmosphere. Some people get nervous about being at the mountain because it is such a huge event," Lowndes said.
"Peter Brock used to say to me: "Look at the crowd, look at the day, look at the weather, where else would you rather be?" and for me it was just a matter of harnessing that and appreciating Bathurst for what it is."
Both Whincup and Lowndes were focusing on just trying to win the race rather than dwelling on completing their hat-trick.
"We are not focusing on getting the third in a row, we just want another victory," Lowndes said.
Whincup said a third straight win would mean a lot to both of them and the team, their sponsors and fans, but it wasn't at the forefront of their minds.
"That's an opportunity to create some history, but you never worry about that or think about that before it happens," Whincup said.
"We've got the opportunity to make history, we'll just go out there and do the best job we can and have a bit of fun, it's an opportunity to line ourselves up with the greats of the sport, which is an honour."
Whincup is just 80 points behind series leader Garth Tander, but stressed his championship challenge wasn't a major priority this weekend.
"It is important (but) I don't think about the championship at all coming into Bathurst," Whincup said.
"It's pretty much a stand-alone event and we're just focusing on trying to win this holy grail event and then we'll assess the championship after Bathurst."
Lowndes expected strong competition this weekend from the Holding Racing Team partnership of Tander and Mark Skaife, the Ford Performance Racing duo of Mark Winterbottom, who is running second in the series, and Steven Richards and the Sprint Gas Racing combination of Greg Murphy and Jason Richards.
