Articles by Craig Lowndes

There has been terrible flooding in Victoria this week and we're still not sure what the weather will be like for the weekend.  It's a big unknown but most teams will have wet-weather strategies on standby anyway because it's always so unpredictable at the Island. The other unknown will be fuel economy because we go back to 120-litre tanks like we used to have.  This year we went to 75-litre tanks for more pit stops in the sprint races and we've just got used to our range from these tanks and now we go back to the 120-litre tanks for the endurance rounds. So we don't quite know how many laps we'll get out of a tank and that will affect our pit strategies.  The format for the weekend is the same as last year and it's quite complex. We have separate qualifying on Friday for the A and B drivers, then two sprint races on the Saturday. In only one of those we have a compulsory pit stop. The combined finishing positions will determine the grid for Sunday's 500km race. It's all very confusing, but after the first race you have a much clearer idea of who will pit in the second race and who your main competition will be.  I suppose for drivers we'd like a bit more certainty but for teams and spectators it's quite exciting because it adds an element of surprise to the race weekend. We'll have a strategy going into Sunday, but it will probably change during the race. You really have to think on your feet.  Skaifey and I haven't worked out yet who is the A and the B driver, who will do the pit stop sprint race or who will start in the Sunday race. We'll see who's comfortable in the car and wait to see what the economy is like before we make any decisions. I have no issues if Skaifey wants to start.  Not only will we have to look after fuel economy during the main race, but also the tyres. It's not a sprint race so you have to conserve the front right-hand tyre, in particular, because of the last few high-speed left-hand corners.  Phillip Island is one of my top three circuits in the country. It's fast and flowing and you need to be confident with the car at high speeds, especially around the back at the Hayshed. You need a car that flows through the corners and you've got to have the confidence to brake deep and late into Honda, Siberia and over the top into MG.  You get a lot out of it if you commit deeply into the corners. You have to be brave on the brakes and carry your corner speed especially coming into the last corner on to the main straight or you can lose a lot of time. It's a ballsy track.  I'm looking forward to seeing the Australian Superbikes at the Island this weekend. It's like back in the old Triple Challenge days of the late 1990s with drag racing, motorbikes and the cars. Having cars and bikes combined is good for the spectators.  I'll be hanging over the fence watching them race and I'll go down and say hello to the Suzuki guys, although Josh Waters won't be racing after his accident in the US. I don't know how they'll go if it's wet. I will certainly be a lot more comfy in my race car than they will be sitting on a racebike in the rain.  The race drivers won't have any problems sharing a race track with the bikes, but I wonder what the riders think about all the rubber we leave behind on the track. I get a chance to do some riding myself on the Monday after the race.  Our team have all their bikes loaded on to the transporter and we're heading to Broadford with the Suzuki team to blow off a bit of steam. Then I'm home for two days for a debrief and on Thursday I set off for Perth and the Australasian Safari the following weekend.  I had my final test in the Holden Colorado at John Hederics' property at Mildura earlier this week. We had a full day of running around and I didn't roll it this time like I did at the first training day at Jimna.  I'm more in tune with the car now and it was good to be on sandy, limey soil like we'll experience in WA. Hederics is a former Safari winner and he was on hand to offer some good advice and insight into the feel of the truck, suspension and tyre bounce.  We also practised tyre changes. It's a bit different to V8 Supercars pitstops. My navigator Kees Weel has a lot of the tools on his side and I operate the jack and retrieve the spare wheel.  It's definitely no eight-second stop.

I don't know the full details of why he quit two years ago, but I'm just glad we got him out of retirement again to partner me in the next two endurance rounds. He can read and understand a car so well and I think he'll show he's still got great speed in him. Skaifey was the first driver in our new Series II Commodore on Monday at Queensland Raceway official testing and right away the oldest rookie on "rookie day" was on the money with some very quick lap times. Our times were pretty line ball - within a 10th of a second - and he said he felt comfortable and confident in the car. We don't have a team strategy yet for who will start, who will finish and who will qualify at Phillip Island and Bathurst, but there could be some surprises. We go in with a ballpark strategy and then see who's the fastest on the day. We both have to qualify at Phillip Island, but I'm more than happy to hand over the duties to Skaifey at Bathurst for the benefit of the team if he's the fastest. And I don't care either way whether I start or finish. It's been 10 years since we drove together and it was great to be sharing a car with Skaifey again although there were a few minor issues. We practised our pit stop driver changes and had a few problems at first because I get out head first and he gets out bum first. It takes a little longer to get him out of the car because he's got to get his walking cane first. Jokes aside, we've got about 30-odd seconds for a pit stop with fuel and we can do the driver change in 20 seconds, so it's not going to be a real problem. We're also about the same height and weight, so there's been little compromise on seating position, although we did move the steering wheel 15mm closer to accommodate Skaifey's unusual driving style. He has longer legs and a shorter torso so he has the wheel closer to his body. It was our only dispute when we were racing together in HRT so I knew it would be a hiccup again. I noticed the wheel position straight away, but it's an easy thing to get my head around. He's a very hands-on driver and he works really well with my race engineer, Jeromy Moore, in setting up the car. Our new car has been finessed and is a bit nicer and better balanced than the previous one and after two full-on days of testing we had absolutely no mechanical or electronic problems. I'd really like to thank all the fans who have sent messages of support for my wife, Nat, over the past few weeks. She's been struck down with a hematoma on her spleen and that's why she couldn't come with me on our sponsor trip to Europe and the F1 at Spa last week. She needs plenty of rest and thankfully the rupture has now reduced in size. It was a real shame she couldn't come with me because we could have revisited some of our old haunts from 1997 when we were living over there and I was racing Formula 3000. The trip was great, although it rained all but two days. Because I had to get back home for testing, I had to leave the track right before Aussie Mark Webber qualified on pole, plus I missed the race as I was in the air. I arrived back a bit jet lagged and at 3pm I started to hit the wall. I'm sure my team boss, Roland Dane, was concerned. But I'm back into the swing now and I need to be, because the next few weeks are going to be hectic. After a test debriefing yesterday I flew to Hamilton Island for a sponsor function, then I'm off to Mildura this weekend for another test in the Holden Colorado I'm driving in the Australasian Safari with Kees Weel. I shoot up to Sydney mid-week for more PR, then down to Phillip Island for the first of the enduros. On the Monday after the race we have a motorbike track day at Broadford with Wayne Maxwell and Josh Waters from the Suzuki Australian Superbike team. Two days later I'm on a plane to Perth for the nine-day Safari and before I know it I'll be saddling up for Bathurst. At least it'll give Nat a chance to rest and recover while I'm away. Hopefully she will be well enough to come on our annual family caravan pilgrimage to the mountain.

I just want to get back in the car and driving again.  It's been the biggest break I think we've ever had; even longer than Christmas.I've been able to do a lot of stuff around the farm and finalise a lot of things, but I've been getting a little frustrated.  Right now I'm in Europe to see the Belgian F1 at Spa this weekend.Well, not quite. I'll get to see the qualifying, but then I have to hop back on the plane on Saturday night and fly home so I can be ready for our test day next Tuesday at Queensland Raceway.I've been concentrating on my fitness in preparation for the tough enduro rounds at Phillip Island and Bathurst.  And for me there is the added challenge of the nine-day Australasian Safari in between them.As most readers would know, a couple of weeks ago I had my first test in the Holden Colorado I'll be sharing with Kees Weel in the Safari. It didn't turn out the best with me rolling it half way through the day.Anyway, the Colorado is just about back together again and we plan for a final test at Albury on the Monday before Phillip Island.  Then I head home for a few days, before flying to Perth for the Safari, so there really isn't a lot of preparation. However, Kees and I are still pretty confident. He and the car are proven veterans in this sort of racing.I know a lot of V8 drivers have been taking advantage of this long break to holiday overseas.  I've been able to keep up with everything they are doing because 19 out of the 29 drivers have a Twitter account and are quite active on it.Nat and I use my Twitter and Facebook accounts to keep our fans updated on what we're doing.  Some of the other drivers also use it to chat to each other, but I think it's a great way for the fans to stay in touch with us.If anyone wants to follow what's happening in my life on the farm and at the track, they can go to twitter.com/craiglowndes888.  There have been a couple of things that have happened in V8 Supercars recently that I would like to comment on.The first is the strengthening rumours that we will race a non-championship round in Singapore next year as a support act to the F1.  That would be fantastic. Our category has always spoken of having four overseas races.For V8s to be showcased beside F1 again would be a great opportunity. It's also a brand new track which should be interesting.It will certainly be a better timeslot for the fans back home than the Mid-East rounds.  The Mid-East is great in some aspects such as coverage in Europe, but back here in Australia it's poor. The timing is all wrong and some fans hear about the results on the net or phone before they see it on the TV. Singapore would be a lot better proposition.The other great news is that the Perth round has been saved for next year.  It is a great city and we enjoy going there, so it was pretty sad we missed out this year.Triple 8 still went over to fulfil our sponsor requirements and the fans showed us just how much they love the sport. There is a great support base for V8 Supercars over there.I'm also delighted that the deal includes the government spending millions of dollars on permanent motoring facilities rather than another temporary street circuit.More money should be spent on keeping and improving permanent circuits.  Sydney's Oran Park closed down this year, Perth's Barbagallo Circuit missed out on a V8 round because of poor track facilities and Ipswich nearly missed out on a round for the same reasons.We need more circuits, not just for racing series like ours, but also for training, track days and corporate events.  Circuits such as Queensland Raceway could become international-standard tracks with the injection of funds.If money was spent lengthening and improving the Ipswich circuit it could host an international event like World Superbikes.  We'd also end up with a better permanent facility that could also be used for driver training.About a year ago I was part of a group that looked at improvements to the Ipswich track and we found we could also integrate a motocross track which would be good because they're also closing down all over.

I might not be racing a car, but I'm racing around doing a lot of PR as are most of the drivers.  And the teams are also playing catch up on work, plus catch-up on a well-deserved break.Our workshop has plenty of work to do building a brand new race car for Skaifey and me for Phillip Island in September and Bathurst in October.  The benefit of this break is that we can also rotate our staff through some holidays to catch up with some well-deserved rest because they worked right through Christmas last year to get our new Holdens built.  So we basically have a skeleton crew on all the time at our Banyo headquarters.Mark is really excited about the new race car.  We both have to get comfortable in the car which is difficult for him and me because he has longer legs and a shorter torso than me.So getting the seat, steering wheel and pedals in a comfortable position for both of us will end up as a bit of a compromise.  I will have to stretch a bit more to the pedals, but I'll be closer to wheel.We drove together for HRT in 1999 and had a two-stage steering column we could push or pull about an inch, which is something our team is looking at.  Obviously you can't change the seat which is anchored down, so our legs will be a bit compromised for space, but we've got away with it in the past.Speaking of car-building, it's good to see V8 Supercars has now started building two prototypes to iron out any problems before the teams start building their race cars.  It's definitely a good concept and will make racing cheaper.However, with the chassis and components identical and only different Ford and Commodore shells, there is some skepticism among the fans about retaining that all-important Ford-Holden rivalry.  The teams will also have a challenge coming to terms with some of the technical issues such as the 100kg lighter weight and independent rear end.I hear they are thinking of staying with the spool diff, but having a custom housing so we can swap in a Detroit Locker or Salisbury. Interesting to hear that we may get those options for varying circuits and conditions.Our team, along with FPR, HRT and SBR have been testing various diffs to get the feel of where they work and where they don't, how they hook up and how they change the feel of the car.  Either has its pros and cons. It doesn't matter to me which one they go with.We've given our feedback and now it's up to the category to make their decision.  The idea is to allow more passing, particularly for drivers to dive down the inside into a corner and still have enough turn to be able to avoid running into the side of the car they are passing.All drivers are scared of that because you don't want to gain a place only to cop a points penalty through contact.  The other reason for the possible change of diff is to minimise the amount of damage our cars are doing to the tracks.The initial cost of all the car of the future changes will be huge, but in the long term it will be cheaper on running costs.  It should also make it safer with bigger wheels and brakes, and lighter cars.I was surprised and delighted at the weekend to see that Valentino Rossi has made a comeback to MotoGP just weeks after breaking his leg.  The sport really needs a charismatic rider like him and it was almost a fairytale comeback with a fourth place, denied of a podium by our very own Casey Stoner.No doubt he would have had the best doctors, best prep and best recovery, but it still takes an enormous  amount of personal courage and talent to come back so quickly after the biggest accident of his career and then to perform so well.  What a star.I'll also see a few F1 stars when my wife, Nat, and I fly to Europe for the Spanish GP in August.  However, I'm a little disappointed because I have to fly home before the Sunday race for a rookie day and test day the next week.  It would have been nice to see Mark Webber win another race, but at least we will be there for the practice and qualifying.

Straight after the Townsville round, I hopped in the campervan and drove home.  I got to Mackay, then Nat took over and drove to Gympie then I drove the rest of the way home to Kilcoy. So we were back home on the farm the next morning contemplating what could have been a great weekend, but turned out to be a bit of a disaster.  As Nat keeps telling me though, you can't change the past. So while it was a disappointing weekend we can also see some positives because we showed we had the speed to not only get pole, but also win races.  And that's a great positive to cling to as we now head into a nine-week mid-season break. It's important to focus on the positives and not be all doom and gloom or it could really play on your mind over nine long weeks.  I'm now trying to focus on the next race at Phillip Island. One of the interesting things to come out of the weekend was the incident where James Courtney ran into his teammate Steve Johnson and didn't cop a penalty.  I have never turned around a teammate and never had it happen to me. However, if you go by the rule book there should definitely have been a penalty.  We are all told by the stewards that if you destroy another car or hinder someone else's race and get a benefit you should cop a penalty. There has never been any mention of an exemption if it's your teammate. As far as I'm concerned Stevie could have got a better result than 11th and Courtney definitely benefited ending up in fifth.  Courtney originally got a penalty and then it was overturned, so what was a clear-cut ruling is now a grey area. I was involved in a couple of racing incidents of my own getting pushed into the wall in race one by Will Davison and badly damaging the car and then running up the tailpipe of Courtney's car in race two. Both are racing incidents and very disappointing.  The first happened at the start of a 72-lap race. We fixed it and I was down 10 laps, but at least I finished.  After the second incident I was out of the race completely. Before Tander went into the wall at turn three I had swapped places a couple of times in battle with Courtney.  He got by in turn two and didn't expect to see a HRT car sideways in front of him at the next turn so he slammed on the brakes just as I was accelerating.  I was totally unsighted and had no idea why he hit the brakes let alone any time to react. The crash put a hole in the radiator which we could have plugged, but we decided to change the whole radiator.  The rules state that to finish the race you have to have completed 75 per cent of the laps. We had the car running and were ready to push out, but we simply ran out of laps. We were about a lap away from our 75 per cent.  Oh well. That's motor racing. So now we're supposedly on holidays, but of course we're not stopping work. There will be work in the garage for the team and I'll be out doing plenty of PR. Plus I am competing in the Australasian Safari in September and flying to Europe for the Spa F1 GP next month.  I've been talking to Kees Weel who will be my co-driver in the Safari and he says our Holden Colorado pick-up truck will be together in the next week or two. The engine has been done and is back, the transfer case is on its way and the gearbox is getting finished off. It's the same as the six-speed sequential in my race car so that's handy for me.  That's at least one thing new I don't have to learn. It will be the first time I've ever raced on dirt and the first time I've ever had anyone in the car with me telling me where to go.  Well, of course I have Nat telling me where to go in our car, but I've never had a co-driver in a race car before, so that should be interesting.  I'm not sure if it will be a help or a hindrance. As for the Spa GP, I'm a little disappointed because I have to fly home before the Sunday race for a rookie day and test day the next week.  It would have been nice to see Mark Webber win another race, but at least we will be there for the practice and qualifying.

Turn 1: We don't even think of turn 1 as a turn. It's just a kink on the main straight where there is plenty of room to run side by side at speeds approaching 255km/h in sixth gear. It's hair-raising stuff.Turn 2: The right leg gets a big workout as we are hard on the brakes going into the 140-degree turn 2, banging down the gears from sixth all the way to 2nd for a 70km/h turn, protecting our line from someone ducking up the inside.Turn 3: In the run up to the next turn we get up to 4th gear and 180km/h before it's another hard brake down to 2nd for the faster 90-degree right hander that tightens up on exit. We take at about 90km/h.Turns 4-6: We refer to this area as a fast chicane but it isn't really a chicane at all, just a series of right, left, right kinks with a top speed in 4th gear of about 185km/h then full throttle to 190km/h for the last run down to turn 7.Turns 7 and 8: Hard on the brakes into 2nd gear for the much slower chicane and about 95km/h. The exit here is quite important as you have a long loaded right hander with two kinks down into the turn 11 hairpin.Turns 9 and 10: These are the two right-hand kinks over the train lines where we hope to get a good drive up to about 210km/h in 5th gear. We lift off a little before jumping on the brakes and gearing back to 2nd.Turns 11 and 12: We take this hairpin at about 65km/h and try to get good acceleration out of here as it bows around to the right through the turn 12 kink which we hit in 4th at about 175km/h.Turn 13: The last turn is a 1st gear corner and 60km/h with the all-important drive out of here to get the maximum terminal speed down the main straight.Traps: The things to look out for at Townsville are hitting your braking markers as hard as possible because there are four hard-braking corners. If you maximise your entry and exit speeds, you get good speed through the following straights.Tricks: It's important to have good car set-up to get good flow over the kerbs through the tricky back chicane. Another trick is to try to carry almost full throttle out of turns 8, 9 and 10. It's quite difficult to carry that sort of speed around this section, but it will give you a great passing opportunity in the back hairpin.Passing: There are really only three places to pass. Turns 2, 11 and 13 are all a duck down the inside under brakes. Around the back you are just basically blocking to hold your position. If your car is flowing well, you have a great chance of keeping competitors at bay.Bash and barge: Most of the crashes will be in the back section where you generally have big speed differences between cars. It's hard and dangerous to pass here, but some drivers will try to create a passing opportunity out of nothing but bravery... or stupidity.Qualifying tip: You have to be confident under brakes, get good drive off the corners and have a balanced car through the fast kinks.

The farm just needs a little more rain, everything's starting to dry off a little bit. Other than that it's been good to be home. Townsville's going to be another hot round which is for Queensland-based teams isn't so bad. But it's definitely an issue for Victorian-based teams, just getting drivers and cars acclimatised to that heat. We noticed some of the Victorian teams prepping their cars in Darwin on the Monday and Tuesday after that round. For us this is our last race before the big break, we've got an eight-week break once Townsville's done. And it's our last chance to maximise points before we head into the endurance rounds with Phillip Island and Bathurst coming up after Townsville. So it's a really important weekend to stabilise our position in the championship, really make the best of it before we head into that long break. Townsville was a fantastic first-time race last year, they did an amazing job to create a 'street circuit'. Then to put it all together the inaugural Townsville race was done very well. There were some 168,000 people turn up last year and we're expecting more this year. One of the issues they had was accommodating the big increase in people and that's something they're well aware of this year and obviously they're making adjustments to accommodate the fans. Friends, and people we've spoken to, are already saying Townsville's going to be another Clipsal, another Adelaide with the carnivale feeling, the atmosphere, the concerts and the racing. It's very well received all round and the drivers just love it.

So strategy was always going to play a huge part in the outcome. As a team we decided to have two different strategies, obviously the ultimate sin for teams is to have both cars in trying to do a pit stop at the same time for ultimately the second car is always disadvantaged.We opted to not start on the soft tyre where Jamie (Whincup) decided to start with it. The way we come up with that decision is basically the lead car in qualifying _ which was Jamie here _  has the priority, has the first option.He opted to start with it which meant we had to finish on the soft but we thought we still had a great opportunity to not only win but also to be on the podium.  Then the way the race panned out, I had a really bad start. It's always quite difficult to get these cars off the line and I spun the rear wheels up and fell back.Another element of the race here was knowing the guys behind you that are on the soft tyre and when to look out for them because the speed difference between a soft tyre and a hard is almost two seconds.  The radio communication from the team to me was quite busy _  giving me information about who was on what.From that we went about our normal strategy which was trying to split the race up into two thirds with a soft tyre in the mix. The last sprint to the finish was going to be on the soft tyre for us where we had great pace at the beginning but overtaking cars takes a bit of life out of the tyres.We burnt up the rears and finished fifth.  We also had a little issue in the pit stop when one of a regular tyre guys fall sick and we had to replace him with a backup. Unfortunately he was not quite as quick as our regular guys and when they dropped the car as normal the front left tyre wasn't on the car.We lost about six seconds in our pit stop just because of the mistake.  So if you look back we possibly could've finished fourth, third was probably a bit of a stretch.Now it's two weeks to Townsville and we'll be driving up as we did last year.  So we'll be leaving mid next week with the caravan and the kids, the kids will be on holidays, and we'll be driving up the east coast.

But as far as I'm concerned the hotter the better.  The hot temperature seems to suit me better than most drivers who suffer from heat exhaustion.  I think it's because I don't sweat a lot. Some drivers are like that.So I intend to put a little heat on my teammate (Jamie Whincup) and JC (James Courtney) and close the gap this weekend.  I'm excited about coming to Darwin after a five-week layoff.I've had some good results here in the past, plus it's a bit of a homecoming for me because I've got two aunties that live in Darwin.  We also return to the hard-compound control tyre this weekend after two rounds of exclusively qualifying and racing on the soft sprint tyre.That's something all the teams will have to get their heads around again for qualifying and racing on the Saturday.  But just to throw a spanner in the works and make things interesting we get one sprint tyre to run in the Sunday race.Balancing the cars for the two different sets of circumstances is going to be taxing on the race engineers, in particular.  A lot of people have pointed out that I've had better results than Jamie on the sprint tyre and wonder why one side of the garage can get it so right and why the other side can't.Apart from car balance and set-up, it probably also comes down to driver styles.  The sprint tyre gives me what I'm looking for which is front grip. That gives me confidence in the turns.The Falcon I raced over the past few years had more turn-in grip than the Commodore I'm in now which is where I struggle.  Jamie struggled early on with the sprint tyre, but he's started to get on top of the problem and was achieving some good performances in the last round in Winton.He's also got a new brand new car this weekend, so that should build his confidence and help him bounce back into the lead again.  It seems like an eternity since we last raced at Winton. The five-week break was because the Perth round was dropped.One of the things I've been doing to keep my mind and reflexes sharp over that time is clay target shooting.  My wife Nat is more the shooter than I am. For her it's an enjoyable pastime, but for me it's another angle I use to sharpen my hand-eye co-ordination.The clay target machine we've had for the past 12 months oscillates so you don't know which direction it will throw the target. You really have to have quick reflexes to hit the targets.The next stage for me will be to turn it into an Aussie version of the winter Olympic cross country skiing event where they ski, then stop and shoot at five targets, then ski on to the next stop. Only I'll include running instead of skiing. The idea is you have to develop aerobic fitness and steady your heart so you can hold the rifle still enough to hit the target.  Maybe we can develop that into a summer Olympic sport. Most fans would know I've had photos of my kids on the back of my racing helmet for a few years now.  But they grow up so quick. So at the start of the season I had photos taken of them to update my helmet.However, I'm still waiting.  The guy who is doing it rang me and said he has only just got the undercoat on.  He's a perfectionist and a real artist so you can't hurry him.  Hopefully I'll have it for the first of the enduro rounds at Phillip Island after our nine-week mid-season break.

It's been four weeks since the last round in Winton and we still have another week before we head to Darwin.  We should have raced at Wanneroo in Western Australia last weekend, but the round was dropped after disputes between V8 Supercars and the track owners. However, our team still went over to fulfil our commitment to the fans.  We had about 300 people turn up for our ride and open day and it was interesting to hear what they had to say about the situation.  They are very passionate about cars and motorsport over there and they were very disappointed about losing a round. The majority of the conversation was why the V8s weren't in Western Australia this year.  Most of them don't really care where it is or whether it's a track or street race. They just want a round back in the west and I agree.  It's a huge part of our sport to go to every state and territory. That's what makes it a national sport. Hopefully the powers that be will sit around a table and come to their senses.  Meanwhile, the ride day gave me a chance to keep my hand in, do a few laps and stay familiar with the instruments, the noise and the smell.  I've also been diligent about keeping up my fitness during these long lay-offs with lots of gym work and running. I love running and it's important to have good aerobic fitness in this sport. Sounds like a couple of my colleagues have been in the wars during the break - break being the operative word.  I heard Steven Johnson broke his leg and ankle on some stairs in Fiji and that Jason Richards broke his nose while playing with his kids. In a lay-off like this you can let your guard down and the next thing you know you've ended up getting injured in something that should have belonged on Australia's Funniest Home Videos.  I don't pack myself in cotton wool, though. In fact, I get out on the dirt bikes as much as possible even though it's fairly dangerous and I could end up hurting myself. The thing is, a lot of the V8 drivers ride motorcycles because it keeps them familiar with throttle and brake control and reading tyre traction levels.  I've recently taken delivery of my new Suzuki dirt and road bikes and I've been getting to know them. I've already had some suspension work done on the dirt bikes by the Suzuki motocross racing team boffin as I reckon that's the most important thing with an off-road machine.  The vehicle has to cope with a lot of bumps and bangs and it's important that it is comfortable and still handles well when it's being tossed around. Speaking of which, this week I've had my first look at the Holden Colorado I'll be racing in the Australasian Safari with Kees Weel in September.  He co-drove it last year with his son Paul at the wheel so the cockpit was set up for him.  Paul's a V8 racer as well and he's almost my height, so a lot of the ergos, switches and instruments felt kind of familiar. However, we'll still need to make a few minor tweaks to make sure it's totally familiar and comfortable for me.  As soon as the car is back together in one piece we'll do some testing on a private property near Albury. It'll be my first serious time in an off-road racer and it's going to be important not only to test the car and become familiar with its handling, but also to establish a good rapport with Kees inside a race car.  I need to understand his lingo and he needs to understand mine. We'll do a lot of the testing in the nine-week break we have after the next two rounds in Darwin and Townsville.  However, toward the end of that break, my wife Nat and I will be going to the picturesque Spa circuit in Belgium for the Formula One GP as part of a promotion with our sponsors, Norton. It'll be the first time I've been back to Europe since I raced Formula 3000 there in 1997 and I'm really looking forward to revisiting the track. I believe it's had a substantial facelift since I was there.  Finally, I'd like to say a big thank you to the Queensland selectors for seeing reason and selecting Israel Folau for the second State of Origin match, despite his intentions to quit league and go to AFL at the end of the season. As someone who copped flack for switching sides, I can understand the dramas he's been going through.  Obviously it was his personal choice to switch codes, but right now I believe he has the right to be part of the Maroons squad. He's playing exceptionally well and will bring an important element to the team as he did in the first game.  Besides, the fans deserve to have the best players available on their representative team.