In an off-season filled with talk about new manufacturers entering the series, and the Car Of The Future, the 2012 V8 Supercar season seems to have gotten lost amongst the outlook toward the radical changes coming in 2013.

Rest assured, however, 2012 will be one of the most competitive V8 Supercar seasons yet. The best part is, it all comes to a tee this weekend at the Clipsal 500.

Along the way the cars and drivers will go as far as Abu Dhabi, in search of what reigning champion Jamie Whincup has on his door, the #1 sticker.

As has become customary in V8s, the offseason saw a litany of driver changes. The most notable was the defection of Lee Holdsworth from Holden to Ford. The 29-year-old ex-Garry Rogers Motorsport driver signed with Stone Brothers Racing to partner young guns Shane Van Gisbergen and Tim Slade.

In other moves, Fabian Coulthard left Walkinshaw Motorsports to team up with fellow newcomer David Wall—who left Rod Nash Racing—at Brad Jones Racing and was replaced by Russel Ingall.

Dick Johnson Racing has become a four-car operation with Steven Johnson and James Moffat joined by Dean Fiore and Steve Owen. Elsewhere Michael Patrizi joined Jonathan Webb at Tekno Autosports who switched machinery from Ford Falcons to Holden Commodores.

Jason Bargwanna, Paul Dumbrell, Warren Luff and Alex Davison all left the series, however Dumbrell and Luff are signed on as an endurance drivers for Triple Eight Race Engineering and it is likely Bargwanna and Davison will find drives in the endurance races as well.

While the Clipsal 500 title is at the forefront of everyone’s minds, the championship is what they’re all after. Of the 13 years the Clipsal 500 has been run, the winner has gone on to win the championship six times. So while it is a useful springboard and an important race, it isn’t essential the drivers title hopes.

As always, there are only a select number of real contenders for the title. My top 5 championship hopefuls are:

Car #1 Jamie Whincup: Triple Eight Race Engineering

Only one question needs to be asked: How can you go past him?

His statistics are simply staggering. The three-time and eventual 2011 champ won ten of a possible 28 races last year, and had a further nine podium finishes. Since the new points format came into operation in 2009, Whincup has finished third or better in 48 out of a possible 83 races, or in 57% of the races held. Furthermore, Whincup has won 30 of those races, giving him an incredible winning percentage of 36%.

The best way to illustrate this is by pointing out that the next best driver in terms of wins is Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander with just twelve, or a measly 14%.

The numbers tell the story and Whincup, looking to better his teammate Craig Lowndes’ three titles, will be just as hard to beat this year.

Car #888 Craig Lowndes: Triple Eight Race Engineering

This guy just never seems to slow down.

After being the bridesmaid to his teammate in last year’s championship, ‘Lowndesy’ is back and as hungry as ever, having just re-signed with Team Vodafone for three years. Even having not won a championship since his Holden Racing Team days, Lowndes is still the smiling assassin of the field.

Even though it feels like forever ago since a baby-faced Lowndes burst onto the scene at Sandown in 1994 and was dubbed ‘The Kid’, he remains right at the pinnacle of Australian motor sport, and doesn’t look to be dropping off any time soon.

Car #9 Shane Van Gisbergen: Stone Brothers Racing

Last year was a breakout year for ‘The Giz’. Seen by many as just a developing driver who only had a chance of winning if it was raining, the 22 year-old Kiwi blossomed last year into a legitimate championship contender, finishing fourth in the Drivers’ Championship and winning two races along the way.

Working under the mechanical geniuses that are fellow Kiwis Ross and Jim Stone, Van Gisbergen’s star only looks to be rising, and quickly. Universally popular for his exciting, at times no-holds-barred style, the experiences of regularly being at the front of the pack from last year will do him a lot of good.

Look for him to mount a serious challenge, not only for race wins, but the title in 2012.

Car #6 Mark Winterbottom: Ford Performance Racing

Since finishing runner-up to Jamie Whincup in the 2008 championship, Winterbottom—known as ‘Frosty’—has seen his championship aspirations cool off somewhat.

The driver of the #5 FPR Falcon had an indifferent start to his 2011 campaign. He finished third in the first and fourth races of the season, following that with a best finish of ninth in the next six races before bouncing back for a third in the second race at Hidden Valley.

His pattern has been the same in the last few seasons; start out slowly, come home with a bang at the end of the season. If he can start out quickly this season, he could be a big threat.

Car #22 James Courtney: Holden Racing Team

Season 2011 was an immense disappointment for the 2010 series champion. His first season in the HRT Commodore after joining from Dick Johnson Racing, Courtney struggled to adapt to the new car and team. He won the second race of the season at Clipsal and was looking promising, but only recorded one other podium finish for the whole season.

This year, with no excuses and team operations manager Mike Henry entering his first full season on the job, after coming into the role midway through last year, Courtney will see improvement from last year’s tenth place finish.

Joel Peterson is a second-year Bachelor of Journalism (Sport) student at La Trobe University. You can follow him on Twitter: @joelbpeterson.