With one round remaining in this year’s V8 Supercars Enduro Cup, Mark Winterbottom’s Prodrive Racing co-driver Steve Owen is in prime position to get his hands on the coveted trophy.

After the duo won September’s Sandown 500, they backed it up with a second placing in the Bathurst 1000 behind Craig Lowndes and Steve Richards.

With the team clearly travelling well heading into the Gold Coast 600 and Winterbottom also holding the overall championship lead, Owen would have every right to feel satisfied.

However, given his competitive nature, Owen admitted to being a bit disappointed not to have won the Bathurst 1000.

“I am a little bit [disappointed] to be honest. You come here with opportunities sometimes and today we had a big opportunity,” Owen, who also placed second in 2010 with Jamie Whincup, said.

“It was a pretty tough day though, at one stage we didn’t think we’d be up here. The team did a great job, he [Winterbottom] did a great job. The car was okay, but you don’t win this race with an okay car.”

The #5 Ford Falcon FG X of Winterbottom and Owen started from 14th on the grid and dropped back to 20th on the opening lap.

The team then received a 15-second penalty for an electrical problem that resulted in the car’s brake lights failing.

However, the pair was able to capitalise on their speed in the dying stages after making the decision to go from wets to slicks early after a mid-race downpour.

By lap 121 they were in the top five and though a shortened pit stop temporarily had Winterbottom running second, the additional fuel he had to take on in his final stop dropped him back to fifth on lap 140.

But Winterbottom was not yet done. As Owen watched on, Whincup dropped out of the contest due to a black flag and then his team-mate pulled off passing moves on Fabian Coulthard and David Reynolds.

He was not able to reel in Lowndes, but it was still a good recovery.

“Starting 14th, with a penalty, losing the electrics for a while and fighting back in the rain – it was quite an eventful day,” Owen said. “To not be too far behind at the end and to finish second is not too bad a day at all. Mark and I have extended our Enduro Cup points lead, which is basically the co-driver championship, so that was nice, but more importantly his overall lead has been extended.”

The Gold Coast 600 will be conducted on October 25.