Clean slate on soft tyres

But I can't get my mind off New Zealand this weekend (16-17 April 2011) as it's going to be a whole new ball game.

Even though we've raced in Hamilton the past two years, this will be like the first time because it's an all-soft tyre weekend. That's practice, qualifying and races on nothing but soft tyres. So all our set-ups from previous years are out the window and we have to start with a clean slate. That should help some teams and should it should hinder others.

Luck will play some part, but it will also hinge on the hard work of the engineers who set the cars up in practice and qualifying.

The Hamilton circuit is a tight track with a lot of bitumen surface changes so it will be interesting to see how that affects set-up and tyre wear. Hamilton is also notorious for track position. It's like the Winton track; if you have good position you can hold it. Therefore qualifying becomes all important. Start up the front and you have a good chance of holding your position.

Passing is usually difficult there, but maybe the soft tyre will change that. The back chicane is a car killer. It's a much tighter chicane than it looks on TV, especially at speed. There is always a high percentage of cars that come through there with panel damage.

My scorecard at Hamilton isn't too good. I've qualified in the mid-top 10 and the best race result is a fourth last year. We've had our share of bad luck there. Last year we had a brake caliper come loose and the year before I crashed into everything that I could. Jamie's had great results n Hamilton, but I haven't.

This year I'm hoping to come away with some valuable points.