Articles by Jamie Whincup

It's been stinking hot here this week, but at least I have been tapering my physical training so I've been able to escape the heat a bit.  However, it's out of the frying pan and into the fire when we head to our bogey track in Perth this weekend for the penultimate round. Our season has been up and down; we had big results before Bathurst, then we slumped a bit only to come back strong in the last round.  But we're not alone. A lot of teams have had their ups and downs.  The key now is to steady the ship and rack up some consistent results. Perth's Barbagallo Raceway has been a HRT circuit over the past few years.   Garth (Tander) won three straight in 2007 and had three podiums last year.  HRT have really dominated there simply because they have a really good set-up for the track.  However, we are yet to nail it. I qualified outside the top 20 last year. The car just didn't have speed, but it was quite good in the race and we managed to fight back with good teamwork and score a couple of podiums.  Yes, it's a bogey track for us. It's been our weakness in the past. The big challenge is now to turn that around. It's a unique track. It's not that long; only really five big corners on the whole track. You keep turning right so the left tyre gets a real workout.  There is also a lot of sand that gets on the track and the surface is quite rough and hard on tyres. The problem is getting enough grip on the slippery, sandy surface. Unfortunately, we run the dreaded sprint tyre again. Everyone knows how much I love the sprint tyre.  We haven't run it since Queensland Raceway, so we have to re-think our strategies.  At least it's the last time this season we use it. Thankfully there is no sprint tyre at the final in Sydney.  The secret to conquering Barbagallo has escaped me. I've never won there, but I'm hoping that will change this weekend. Even though it's not a great circuit for our team, I still think it's vital for completing our championship that we continue to go to Perth. I am proud to say our sport is truly national because we go to every state in the country. However, V8 Supercars boss Tony Cochrane has been saying there is no guarantee the event will return next year even though they are promising to spend $5 million resurfacing the track.  Hopefully that's just talk. I quite like Perth and we have a lot of fans there. Outside of Bathurst it's the only time you will see a packed grandstand at 6 in the morning and people on the hill in turns one and two marking out their position for the day.  It's also fantastic to drive on, even though it's short. Resurfacing and widening the track will help create more passing opportunities, but they also need to improve the corporate facilities and make the pit area larger. Pit lane is very cramped.  The state government should give it all the support they can because it will be money well spent. Not only will it create a facility where for corporate and training days, but it may also open it up for testing for motor racing categories and car companies, because it's not far from Asia. They could use it in their winter.  It's been a great week for sport in Australia with Tiger Woods here for the Australian Masters.What a legend. He is the highest paid sportsman in the world, but even he makes mistakes. I think I learnt a lesson from Tiger when he admitted an error straight after a shot. He got his frustrations out immediately and didn't carry it for the next two or three holes.  I love all sports and try to participate in as many as I can. I love my golf, but I'm not that good. I've got a set of Tiger Woods golf clubs and I get out about once every two or three months and use it as relaxation, even though I am criss-crossing up and down the fairway.

Not least of them is my mate Bargs (Jason Bargwanna). I tangled with him at Bathurst and Surfers Paradise and my teammate Craig (Lowndes) had a run-in with him at Phillip Island last weekend. Bargs has since come out and sprayed both of us in one of his press releases saying we are driving like teenagers. All I can say is there is a common denominator in all those incidents. I won't comment anymore than that. We'll do our talking on the track. And I think I did some talking last weekend that should put an end to these rumours about me being a choker. I hadn't won a race since Queensland Raceway which was a few months ago, so we were really on the back foot. Then I had the worst race meeting in three years on the Gold Coast only to bounce back with what was one of my best weekends in years. All of this in just two weeks. It was just very weird. People have asked me if someone had a talk to me but it's my job to turn my own momentum around. I motivate myself. I don't need someone else to motivate me. I do the work required to be at the top of my game. I think the whole team and I turned in a flawless performance at the weekend. Everyone dug deep, the whole team came out of the dumpster and now I feel like we are back on top again. At the same time I'm fully aware there are four races and 600 points up for grabs and that I hold only a small lead of 122 points. So it's nowhere near over and the next two rounds are going to require the same amount of hard work and commitment as went into Phillip Island. However, don't expect to see me driving defensively to protect my lead. Expect to see me on the attack. And I'll keep on the attack until I feel there is a time I can relax. Attack is the only way I know how. The only time I've driven defensively was in that safety car fiasco at the weekend. If I hadn't passed the safety car and got out of the way I might have been cleaned up. I came out of pit lane expecting the safety car to accelerate to its usual 80km/h but it was just parked at the second fastest point on any Australian track. He had me coming out at 40km/h and Garth coming down the straight at 250km/h followed by several other drivers. Instantly the rule came into my mind that you can't pass the safety car unless directed, so I hit the brakes. That was my first reaction, but quickly commonsense prevailed. Stopping there is not commonsense so I decided to pass and clean the area as much as I could. I saw cars coming down the straight, but I kept my eyes forward and stayed off the racing line to minimise the situation. It was just human error and there is no point in head hunting, but we can use this incident to change procedures. The safety car should wait around at turn one, a lot further down the track where speeds are slower. While we're reviewing safety car procedures I'd also like to see the situation where they turn off the lights off and accelerate away tidied up a bit. It's a little bit messy. Hopefully this incident will help spur people into action. Once again I would like to say how very disappointed I was in missing out on the Race of Champions in China last week, but I had to concentrate on the V8 series. I think the results at Phillip Island show it was the right decision. I'd also like to put out a big thanks to my mate Chad (Reed) for taking my spot at the last minute. He and Mick (Doohan) got knocked out early in the event and unfortunately for Chad, he had a crash in the SuperX at the weekend and had one of the worst weekends of his career while I went ahead and won two races. Just goes to show what a fickle old world motorsport is. In the next 10 days before we head to Perth, I'm settling down to a similar plan as the two weeks before Phillip Island; a good balance between hard work and clearing the mind.  

I had been invited to represent Australia along with Mick Doohan at the Race of Champions in China, however I decided to pull out. It is disappointing that I've missed it, especially since one of the reasons I decided to stay on in Australia for the next three years is because I would be able to weave in some overseas events like this. However, it is the right decision. Our team boss, Roland (Dane), gave me his advice not to participate, but he said ultimately it was my call. Glad to see my good friend Chad Reed was able to take up my position for me at the Race of Champions. He's a real talent on a bike and I'm sure he has a career on four wheels after he's finished winning everything on two. There are no other overseas opportunities on the horizon for me that I know of and I have no plans at this stage to go hunting for anything over the Christmas break, so it is kind of disappointing to be missing out. However, I made the call. I just didn't need the distraction after the debacle at Surfers Paradise. I was very disappointed with myself because that weekend was clearly my worst performance in three years. Now I just need to concentrate on the next three races, starting with this weekend back at Phillip Island. It's going to be like "deja vu all over again" with us returning to the track we very nearly won at just a couple of months ago. Of course, we should be at Bahrain this weekend, but that event got cancelled because it is part of the double header opener next year and it was just too close to this event. While it might feel a bit like deja vu, Phillip Island's format will be very different from the last time we were there. For a start it's only a two-day event. We get a quick 30-minute practice on Saturday morning, then we're straight into qualifying and a 100km race and 150 points up for grabs. Even the qualifying is cut short. Sunday is the usual quick qualifying and then a 200km race. The HRT team drivers will have the scent of blood up now after I faltered at Surfers Paradise, but really it's a four-way struggle with my teammate Craig (Lowndes), Garth (Tander) and my good mate Will (Davison) breathing down my neck. It's going to be tight as I think we're all pretty even. It was a close thing in 2007 and this year feels similar. I learnt a lot from my experiences in 2007 and although it didn't look like it at the SupergGP what I learnt then will help me in the remaining three rounds. I'm not really getting worried or concerned about the closeness of the points. I suppose I have more to lose than the other guys, but I'm confident in our ability as a team and I'm just going to go out there and do my absolute best. We had a very quick car when we were last at the Island, but luck just didn't go our way with a blown tyre with one lap to go. We'll be checking the tyres this time to make doubley sure that doesn't happen again. Another two-wheel champion who is stepping up to the four-wheel challenge is World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss. He's tested with us and other teams and didn't disgrace himself at Bathurst. Now I hear there is a chance he will get a full-time drive next year in some sort of hook-up with our team and Paul Morris Motorsports which we're working with closely now on our move to Holden next season. Good luck to Troy. He's a great talent and a great bloke. We're right in the silly season now with driver movements and licence changes and team movements going on everywhere. It's just a great feeling to know we sorted out our move to Holden months ago.  

You remember races for good and bad reasons and last weekend there were some very, very bad reasons. I'd say it was my worst performance for a long time.  I'm just lucky I still have the lead even though I don't deserve it. That's something I've now got to sort out if I want to be competitive right to the end of the season. Thankfully I still have time to turn it around.  I can also take some comfort from the way I was able to recover from my own misfortune when I crashed at the end of the third race. Of course, I shouldn't have been in that situation to begin with.  But I didn't need a session with the team psychologist to get my head straight for the last race. Once that helmet goes on I am immediately focussed. That crash was just a lapse in concentration. You have to remember that we are not just driving around out there; we're on the limit every corner of every lap and you need to have 100 per cent concentration for the whole race.  The damage was almost bad enough to finish me for the weekend, but our team did a fantastic job to get it right for the last race in very short time. Twelve guys replaced the whole front end and the rear including the watts linkage in just two hours and even managed to fill my drink bottle with water and ice.  In fact, all the teams did really well considering the amount of carnage, plus the hectic four-race format and the complicated strategies that format required. Our crew did such a good job the car still handled just as well as it had all weekend. In fact, it was so good I managed to pass more than 20 cars in that last race.  I started in 23rd place and passed about six cars before the race restart where I was sent back to 23rd, then I got myself back up to sixth by the end.  My race engineer told me "don't come back unless you are in the top 10", so I did. I know Bargs had a go at me about my driving, but there is nothing to talk about in my pass on him.  I don't know why he turned across me. It was a textbook pass and the stewards and everyone in the pits saw it the same way.  What a crazy weekend, but what a great event even with the A1s pulling out. I thought the V8 Supercars put on a great show. There was plenty of carnage for the fans and three different winners in four races.   It offered everything. What more could you want? I don't know what they will do about future Gold Coast events, but I agree with our team boss (Roland Dane) about the possibility of getting the Formula 3 guys here before they head to Macau in November. I know the V8s would like to make it our own event. We want to be the number one category and be in control of our own destiny, but we also need some fantastic support categories.  I'm sure F3 would be accepted without doubt.  They are top-notch open-wheel cars and not particularly noisy. Most of the corporates don't want the cars as noisy as the Indy cars or the A1s, but the F3 cars are still full-spec racers. It's also one of the most competitive categories in the world. Despite crowds being down because of the uncertainty of the event there was still that awesome Indy vibe and just thousands of people enjoying themselves with that carnival/party atmosphere.  I'd hate to see the event lose that vibe.

Funny thing is you never feel sore when you win. I don't probably feel any worse than any other year but the win sort of bandaids the tiredness away. It's always a bit tougher when you don't get the result you are after. It was the first time in a long time I had been able to finish the race and I was happy to get the chance to do that. As soon as I crossed the line I was straight on the radio to thank the guys in the pits. We battled very trying conditions all day and things just didn't go our way the whole time. It was a big roller coaster. We were in contention from the start, then got the drive-through penalty, so we dropped back, we had some ordinary wet pace, got back into contention, had some luck with a safety car, but couldn't convert it. We had just too many mistakes. HRT won the race like we did in the past three years with no errors. In the past we had won the race when we weren't the quickest, but we also didn't have any issues. This time there were four or five issues that set us back. You can bounce back from two or three, but not five.I think the black flag for the dangerous pit release was fair enough. We released the car and FPR had to jump on the brakes to get out of the way, even though there was no contact. All pit lane rules are for safety. The last thing we want is contact and mechanics in danger. It wasn't ideal, but I knew there was a long way to go and that we could get back there. I had my first race laps in the wet and dropped back because the tyre pressures were too low. I couldn't turn the car in the corners and I was just getting passed in the straights. It was wheel spinning in a straight line and I couldnt get grip to use full throttle.  It was frustrating, but my main focus was not to throw it away. In those tough slippery conditions I could easily have speared off the track and ended the day. At the end, it was a fantastic duel. There was a bunch of cars in contention and swapping places right to the checkered flag. Kelly was holding up a bunch of cars, but they had track position and they were within their right to defend their line. They had an issue with their car and were doing the best they could with what they had. I was getting frustrated behind Bargs (Jason Bargwanna) and made a last-corner dive which I felt was safe. The main issue is Bargs moved under brakes and the car getting passed isn't supposed to do that.  I'm happy with my move, but I can understand Bargs being disappointed as he's been working hard to get back into the series.  But I'm not a charity either. I had a few runs on Bargs and he shut the gate on me a few times. No one likes anyone being defensive like that so I did what I had to do. I saw him half go and tried to clip the front of him to straighten him up a bit but I couldn't.  I didn't want him to spin and tried to straighten him up. In the end I was very happy for my former housemate and good friend Davo (Will Davison) getting his first Bathurst win. I know what it feels like and I'd like to congratulate him and the HRT team for their flawless effort. Now my attention is on Surfers Parade next weekend. It usually seems that whoever wins there goes on to get the championship and there are four of us now in contention, so it will be a thrilling ride to the finish in Sydney.

The car felt good and we managed to get the best time out of it, even though we were fairly heavily interrupted with safety cars in the session. Craig (Lowndes) got a run in the middle section on old tyres and then they left me in the car for the balance of the session on new tyres and I got the best time. However, it will still be Craig tomorrow who will do the qualifying. I'll fill in the gaps. The car didn't really feel fast yet the times were great. It was cold so there was a lot of grip, so that helped. It also felt nice to drive and gave me a lot of confidence for the weekend ahead. I only got a few laps and set the best time on the 10th flying lap around which was not much. I figure there is still more in me and in the car, but we're well in the ballpark. We carried a lot of confidence coming into this event and this can only extend that, but we understand how it can go pear-shaped. Phillip Island showed us that. And now Lowndes is out for revenge ... we all are. We felt like we got robbed at Phillip Island so we will use that as motivation. It was under 10 degrees out there, but nice and sunny, however the rain is on its way. Not sure when, but we will most certainly be driving in the wet at some stage. I'm almost positive. The Tander/Davison car had a few issues with tyres in that session but don't worry, they will bounce back like they always do. We have practice in the morning and again Saturday morning with qualifying Friday afternoon and Top 10 Shootout Saturday afternoon. We just need to keep fine-tuning the car and fine-tuning our driving. We still don't have a race strategy, but we'll look at the computers, work out our fuel economy and make a plan. I hear Mark Larkham thinks we will be too distracted by the change next year to Holden, but we've built cars before for ourselves and other teams and it hasn't distracted us. We are definitely focused on this event. It may be a one-off, but it counts for so much in the championships. The track looks very similar to last year, but with some improved safety. Over the top they've added some yellow lights so we get more warning of a crash and they've made some changes to the surface and the off-track area around the Esses so we dont get rubble on the road. There have been some safety issues in the past, but it just goes to show that they have listened and addressed it.  

Its 5 degrees here in Bathurst and we’ve just finished the walk around the track in cold, cold drizzle. All the team have their jackets and beanies on, trying to beat this cold while they work out some new strategies for qualifying and the race. We hadn’t figured on this. All our strategies have been for a dry race, so well have to develop some new strategies.They say it is going to be cold and wet all weekend. I guess that’s just the way it goes, but at least it’s the same for everyone. Im pretty sure and I’m hoping that we will get some rain during the practice sessions so we can at least work things out and get the car settings right for the wet. It will then be a fairer and more exciting race if everyone has had a chance to prepare. If not, then the cars won’t handle too well and there will be some carnage and no one wcan’ts to see that.One strategy we have sorted out that I can tell you about now is that the team has decided Craig (Lowndes) will qualify and start, and hopefully I can steer the ship home. I did the qualifying last year and he did it the previous years. Either way it seems to be a winning strategy. Craig’s done a great job all year and he knows this track like the back of his hand so he’ll do a good job again, I’m sure.When I got on the plane on Monday it suddenly hit me that the rest of the year is full-blown motorsport right through to the decider at Homebush in December. It’s going to be full on with racing and all the off-track promo work as well. We’ve really hit the ground running this week with heaps of PR stuff, meeting the fans and signing autographs.Its not a distraction from the race. I never get sick of it and Im particularly looking forward to the annual barbecue we put on at the top of the mountain for our fans on Friday after the qualifying session. Even our team boss, Roland Dane, will be there. Should be great fun.Its all part of the hectic pace Ill have to get used to over the next few months. And Ive only made it more hectic for myself by accepting the race of Champions in Beijing in November.Speaking of which, my teammate in that event is Mick Doohan and he’s here this weekend, so Ill be catching up with him to work out our strategies to beat the rest of the world. I hear Mick has backed me to win this weekend. That’s a good start on the teamsmanship.However, I hear a few others think the odds are against us becoming the first crew in race history to win four straight Bathursts. Doesn’t worry me. Records are made to be broken.I also hear Mark Larkham thinks we will be too distracted by the change next year to Holden, but we’ve built cars before for ourselves and other teams and it hasn’t distracted us. We are definitely focused on this event. It may be a one-off, but it counts for so much in the championships.The track looks very similar to last year, but with some improved safety. Over the top theyve added some yellow lights so we get more warning of a crash and theyve made some changes to the surface and the off-track area around the Esses so we dont get rubble on the road.There have been some safety issues in the past, but it just goes to show that they have listened and addressed it. 

We've had a full month off to prepare for Bathurst and now we are getting close to crunch time. It's not only the cars that have to get prepared but also the drivers. I've stepped up the physical training to cope, not only for the special demands of Bathurst, but also the last part of the year.From Bathurst, it's a race every two weeks until the end of the year. One minute you are racing at Bathurst and the next thing you know you are sitting down for Christmas lunch with the family. It's a gruelling schedule and a right royal battle all the way to the finish.So we have to get our fitness right before next weekend because we are pumping it for the rest of the year. I suppose this will be pretty much what it will be like next year with the two condensed halves of the season with racing every fortnight and a nine-week break in the middle.I don't do anything massively special in my training except to modify frequency to cope with the two or three driving stints we do at Bathurst. So instead of one training session a day we do several sessions a day to get used to switching on and off and recovering quickly.Generally we have one big race per day, so we warm up, compete and cool down. The body gets used to that. Bathurst is more like a game of footy with two halves so you work hard, put in the big effort, then recover as quick as you can and then go back out there and put in again for the next half.Speaking of footy, I'm really looking forward to the grand final this weekend. I'm originally from Melbourne so I'm a big Storm fan and I'm hoping they can make it two out of four. Going by their form of last week it's looking good. I'll probably catch up at the local with a few mates and watch the game as we did with the AFL final. It's an amazing time of the year for sport with the footy finals and then Bathurst.We did our final testing at Queensland Raceway on Monday. There were no issues that surfaced. It was all fairly routine. We weren't trying to go for times or speed, we just ran in all our equipment for the race over about 10 laps to make sure everything is running well. Then we get everything crack tested and that goes in Saturday night for the big race on Sunday.We also did plenty of driver changes and pitstop practice. It's great news to hear that Casey Stoner is fit and ready to return to MotoGP this weekend in Portugal after his lay-off with a mystery illness.They say it's chronic fatigue syndrome but no one knows for sure. I think he just needed a bit of a much-deserved rest. We went overseas quite young and has been pushing really hard for a long time. I can relate to that. I've been pushing hard since I started as a kid in karting.Every sportsman can knows that to stay at the elite level as he has it takes a lot of energy and mentally it's extremely tough. I hope he will come back feeling refreshed, motivated and strong. He clearly is an awesome rider as no one has been able to handle that Ducati like he has.If his mind is in the right place he should be really competitive. I wish him luck and I'll be glued to the TV at the weekend cheering him on. I haven't received anymore details about the Race of Champions in Beijing next month. All I know is we're 100 per cent committed and ready to go. I get to drive a WRC car which should be fantastic plus a KTM buggy and some other great racing cars.It'll be a great experience to race against some of the world's best drivers. 

We are spending the whole time getting prepared for the most important race of the season. We have our final test day at Queensland Raceway next Monday where we will run in all our parts and fine tune the car set-up from Phillip Island.There isn't a huge amount of difference between Phillip Island and Bathurst circuits as far as car set up is concerned. They are both high-speed circuits with a lot of grip so set-up is fairly similar, so we won't be making major changes, just fine-tuning things. We had a quick car at Phillip Island so we are confident we will have a quick car for Bathurst.Our test day will also include a lot more pit stop and driver change practices.I know the Euro boys (Allan Simonsen of Denmark and James Thompson of England are driving the team's 88 car) are champing at the bit to get to Bathurst and drive on the best circuit in Australia. So is Troy Bayliss. Unfortunately he didn't get a chance to drive at Phillip Island after mechanical problems.The two-time World Superbikes champion is now retired from motorcycle racing and is loving his switch to cars. I'm sure he will be back at Bathurst and show his talents. He's also looking to try to race a V8 more often next year.It is disappointing to see that Queensland Raceway in Ipswich and Barbagallo in Perth are listed as provisional on next year's calendar. But their facilities really do need some work. We need garages in pit lane instead of bunkers like we have in Perth and Ipswich. Every other circuit is designed to have the cars in pit lane, so why not them?There is also a lack of corporate facilities at these circuits and our sports relies on having first-class facilities for guests and sponsors. It's like the AFL or NRL with their big grounds and corporate facilities. It makes the sport more professional.Fingers crossed they will both update their facilities because they are great circuits to drive on and the fans deserve to be entertained in quality surroundings. There has also been some valid criticism of the season starting with a double-header in February in the Mid East.Naturally the Aussie fans don't want to see the opener offshore. It's not ideal but if you look at the grand scheme of things it makes sense to do the races together at that time of the year and get them over with.I'm one to speak my mind on all matters whether anyone disagrees or not and I'm the first to say if the wrong call has been made, but I think this is a fantastic improvement to the season. The organisers have made some big calls recently and got a lot of stuff done and they deserve some credit for the effort.I've accepted to represent Australia in the Race of Champions being held in November in Beijing for the first time. What a great honour just to be invited as I will be racing against the worlds best in a variety of different cars and racing disciplines.Some of our competitors look like being Formula One drivers Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button as well as World Rally championship leader Mikko Hirvonen.I hope I can do Australia proud and I hope I can still put in a good performance in Phillip Island straight after. I hope I dont come back jet-lagged. It's a risk, but I'd also hate to have knocked back the invitation and look back later and wish I had done it. 

It's probably a bit too confusing, especially for newcomers to the sport, but it is the same system as last year. Let me explain. This weekend is a dual-driver endurance event with one driver referred to as driver A and the other as driver B. Driver A gets a 20-minute qualifying session to determine the starting order for their sprint race and driver B gets a separate 20-minute qualifying session for their separate sprint race. So that's two sprint races with 75 points on offer from each race. Now here is where it gets a little confusing because one of those races has to include a pit stop for at least two tyres. I'm not sure yet whether that will be Craig (Lowndes) or me doing the stop. It will depend on what is happening in the race. We have plans A, B, C and D for every contingency. Now it gets even more confusing because the results of the two sprint races are added together and that determines the grid position for the two-driver 500km endurance race on the Sunday which is worth 150 points for each winning driver. So there is still 300 points on offer for the whole weekend just like there is in every round. I like the format, but I can understand it can be confusing for the fans. Our cars have arrived down here and I'm finally happy with the ergos in Craig's car which we will campaign for the two endurance rounds at Phillip Island this weekend and Bathurst in October. I feel a bit guilty because I sent the engineers a long list of things I wanted change to make my job easier, but they've now been done and the car is all polished and set to go. The list included things like steering wheel adjustment, a button moved ... silly little things which help us on the big day when things are all happening. You know, in the heat of the moment you want everything where you expect it to be so you don't have to think about hitting the right button, you just do it by instinct or habit. Which brings me to the 60 Minutes episode last weekend. I was fortunate to be invited back after the segment they did on me last year. This time I was invited to help out in an experiment to see how texting on a mobile phone while driving can affect your abilities. I was called in as a professional driver and they also had a rather new driver there and we had to go through a course while texting. Although I'm a professional race driver and usually have to deal with making adjustments to roll bars and brakes, with an engineer in my ear and other cars and drivers all around me, trust me it was hard work trying to negotiate the course whilst texting on the phone. It was a real eye opener for me and, I'm sure, thousands of motorists. As we predicted a few weeks ago, there will be an extra round next year bringing the series up to 16 rounds with an extra race in the Mid East. The full details will be revealed this weekend. I think that's great. I'm a racer and I want to race cars, so the more events the better.