Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell have been deemed the favourites for Bathurst by bookmakers around the country, despite Prodrive’s recent domination of the V8 Supercars Championship.

Prodrive scored a one-two in the recent Sandown 500 and heads to Bathurst with its drivers Mark Winterbottom, Chaz Mostert and David Reynolds holding the top three places in the championship.

The Ford team has now won 15 of the last 18 championship races, compared to just two in the same period for Red Bull team-mates Whincup and Craig Lowndes.

Prodrive has also won the last two Bathurst 1000s, with Mostert edging an out-of-fuel Whincup on the final lap last year.

Regardless, Whincup’s improving recent form that included a drought breaking win at Sydney Motorsport Park in August and his strong speed at Sandown see him at the shortest odds for Bathurst.

The sport’s official partner betting agency Ubet has Whincup and Dumbrell at just $3.75 to win compared with $4 for Mostert/Cameron Waters and $4.25 for Mark Winterbottom/Steve Owen.

Others in the mix include Lowndes/Steven Richards ($7.50), Shane van Gisbergen/Jonathon Webb ($11) and David Reynolds/Dean Canto ($13).

“It’s weird, I definitely feel like the underdog,” Whincup told Speedcafe.com when asked of the markets.

“I don’t know where the bookies get their knowledge from. I haven’t paid them, that’s for sure.

“For PRA to be one-two in the championship and one-two at Sandown, they’re definitely the team to beat.

“We’ll be doing our best to run with those guys.”

Last year’s loss was the second time Whincup came out on the wrong end of a nail-biting Bathurst finish in two years, having trailed home Winterbottom by just 0.5s in 2013.

“I’m pretty hungry, without doubt,” he said of returning to the Mountain.

“Last year’s Bathurst result, Sandown last month, the 2013 Bathurst result… it all adds up.

“I’m absolutely hungry to put my best foot forward up there next week.”

Despite laughing off the favourites tag, Whincup feels Red Bull will “bring a pretty strong package” to Bathurst and is encouraged by the speed shown at Sandown.

The six-time champion dismissed suggestions that a new chassis for the event played a direct role in the performance, but believes the team made a genuine step forward with car set-up.

“It’s all about the tuning side of things, that’s what’s critical,” he said.

“It was a combination of hard work behind the scenes before Sandown and tuning the car well across the weekend itself.

“Because we had that shocker test day that we never got any laps on, we were certainly learning during the race meeting.”

Whincup’s Sandown bid fell apart due to a combination of an ill fated fuel strategy and a pit crew error that resulted in a punctured tyre.

Practice for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 begins on Thursday, October 8.