Jamie Whincup joins world motorsport royalty in a fortnight's time for the Race of Champions in Bangkok in a deserved position having won his fourth V8 Supercar Championship in Sydney today.
Whincup sealed the Championship he effectively won two weeks ago with fifth at today's Sydney Telstra 500 which was won by Will Davison from Craig Lowndes and James Courtney.
In Bangkok he will race alongside Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel, multiple MotoGP Champ Mick Doohan, World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx and Formula one great Michael Schumacher.
He goes as a four-time V8 Supercar Champion joining Allan Moffat, Bob Jane and Jim Richards; and only behind Mark Skaife, Dick Johnson and Ian Geoghegan on the all-time list.
"It has been a phenomenal year for us and an intense battle but on the track its been a lot of fun. There's a lot of burning the midnight oil to repeat what we did last year," Whincup said.
"This one feels like it's the best but I don't want to disrespect the last three but this has been intense. If you knew what was going on behind the scenes you would understand just how intense it really is."
Davison completed the current era of V8 Supercars with a dominant win in today's final race of the 2012 season at the Sydney Telstra 500.
A bold move on the second lap of the race on early leader Garth Tander got Davison in front early - and there he stayed.
He won the 30th race of the year by just over two-seconds and competed the current era of V8 Supercars with a win for Ford - in a year dominated by Holden.
"It might have looked easy but it never is around here. It was a huge battle all year but they have been a bit too good for us. I'm just pumped to round out the year kike this. Finally I got a win at Homebush; I love the circuit but the races haven't been kind.
"It's an impressive battle out there but we are just not quite good enough in some areas. Its' been a huge step up for FPR this year and we have got to keep that continuity going into car of the future and see if we can give it a nudge next year.
"It was also great for Ford to end this great era and also Trading Post."
Craig Lowndes wrangled second place in the championship by finishing second and James Courtney ended his challenging season on a high with third.
"What a way to finish the championship," said Lowndes.
"We had a great battle with Will and James, and to get second in the championship we had to put our best foot forward.
"All in all I'm happy the season's over, I'm sad to say goodbye to Vodafone and I'm looking forward to next year."
Tim Slade ended the year as 'best of the rest' - the first non-TeamVodafone or Ford Performance Racing entered car home in the championship - with fourth today and fifth in the championship.
Pole-sitter Garth Tander finished 16th and a lap down after being forced to pit with a tyre puncture while running in the top three.
Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom recovered from an opening lap incident with James Moffat to drive back through the field, only to suffer a similar puncture, blamed on a bolt in the turn 7 tyre wall. He eventually finished 18th.
It was a disappointing end to Shane van Gisbergen's final race in V8 Supercars for the foreseeable future; the #9 SP Tools Falcon suffering from clutch problems early in the race and posting a DNF.
Earlier a third place finish in the season finale was enough to crown Scott McLaughlin the 2012 Dunlop Series for V8 Supercars champion at Sydney Olympic Park today.
McLaughlin got the jump in his Fujitsu Racing Falcon at the start from Scott Pye, but he conceded without challenge to both Pye and Chaz Mostert on the opening lap and a half.
McLaughlin then kept Dale Wood at bay to take a comfortable third position to become the youngest ever Development series winner.