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  Craig Lowndes puts his Holden through it's paces during the V8 Supercar test day at the Queensland Raceway.

I'm about to start packing my bags for the Mid-East and I'm feeling a lot more confident about the new car.

Our testing at Queensland Raceway on Tuesday in wet conditions wasn't exactly the right warm-up for the hot and dry conditions at Abu Dhabi and Bahrain over the next couple of weeks, but at least we got to run through some set-ups with the car.  We've got another test today (FRIDAY) before we head off to the Mid-East.

The good news is that the Commodore seems to respond the same as the Falcon.  By that I mean that if they added 5 per cent downforce on the rear wing of the Falcon, I knew how to adjust the brake bias. I am finding I can do the same adjustments on the Commodore for the same results.

Having said that, the Holden feels more stable at the back, but doesn't turn in as sharp.  The engine feels strong, but it's hard for us to know what car speed will be like because QR isn't a high-speed circuit.  We weren't the fastest in testing, but we've not really put our best foot forward yet, either.

Tuesday's test showed that Courtney is carrying on his form from last year with good pace.  Ingall has come to grips with the new car quite well and he's also showing good speed.

And Murph is right on the pace considering it's not his normal test track. He's come up from the South Pole and seems to be doing well. This is a brand new challenge for him.  One to watch out for is Jonathon Webb who circulated with reasonable lap times.

Glad to say Jamie and I mixed it up pretty well with them all. There was no real stand-out.  Testing is one thing, but no one ever knows what tyres teams are running and what their plan is for the test day, so lap times really mean nothing.

The true speed will come when we get to Abu Dhabi.  It should be interesting because Abu Dhabi is a totally new race track for everyone and I hear it even has a corkscrew like the famous corkscrew at Laguna Seca. It drops 15m over 100m. Wow! That should be interesting.  Even Bahrain will be new to everyone because this year we are racing the full-length circuit.

There has been some good news and bad news in V8 Supercars this past week. It's great that the Ipswich race is definitely on, but it is really sad news that Barbagallo has been axed from the calendar.

To be a true national sport, we have to be in every state.  It's sad news for the West Australian fans, in particular. Let's hope that something can be done for next year so we are back there racing again.

As it stands at the moment, I could be the last winner there. Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better about the situation.  I know it's a long way off, but I've been thinking a lot about the Indy _ I mean the Gold Coast SuperCarnivale. I suppose it will always be the Indy to the drivers and the fans.

Doubling the race distance and shortening the track will be great for the fans. They'll see the cars go past more often and for twice as long.   However, I also predict now that it will also mean double the carnage.

That circuit is a graveyard for cars as it is. Twice the distance and it will really claim some victims.  It might make for great footage on the TV, but it will be hell for the teams.