It appears a formality for Shane van Gisbergen to seal back-to-back Supercars championships at the penultimate leg of the season, with the New Zealand driver needing just 33 points to wrap up the title.
Van Gisbergen's dominant, record-breaking 2022 begins its next chapter on the Gold Coast over the weekend, an event he has already won four times in his storied career.
But after setting a calendar record of 19 race wins with victory at Bathurst in early October, and with Cam Waters his only remaining challenger, van Gisbergen requires a finish of 24th or higher to seal the title should Waters win Saturday's first 250km race.
The Kiwi's championship margin is enormous. There are 600 points available over the final two events in Gold Coast and Adelaide, and he currently holds a 567-point championship lead over second-placed Waters.
He needs only to lead by 300 points by the end of the weekend to become the 11th driver to seal consecutive crowns.
The drivers championship is not the only accolade van Gisbergen and his Red Bull Ampol Racing team are chasing however, with the constructor's title also up for grabs.
His Holden outfit have a 671-point lead over second-placed Shell V-Power Racing and are primed to extend their record teams' championship tally to 11 this weekend.
There are 576 available points remaining for each team this season and Shell V-Power require 96 points on the leaders to keep the chase going into the final round.
Racing in his first Gold Coast 500, Red Bull Ampol rookie driver Broc Feeney is looking forward to participating in his home event.
The last time Supercars hit the streets of the Gold Coast, Feeney was a high school student in the city and he has spent this year under van Gisbergen's tutelage.
"He's at the peak of his powers at the moment," Feeney said. "It's great having him as a teammate, especially my rookie year.
"A lot of people probably looked at it as a downside because you've got a guy that's winning all the time and maybe (that puts) expectations there for me.
"But I'm learning off this guy that's smashing everyone in the series at the moment.
"For me to be able to pick his brain and see what he's doing inside the car is only going to help me."
