Good to be back

We arrived earlier this week in Abu Dhabi where it's in the low to mid 20s and the track looks great.  It's not the same track as the one the F1s race on. It has an amazing corkscrew section which I am looking forward to driving on.

We'll be racing at night, so temps will be down but the action will be hot. We're expecting blistering speeds and lap times.  I've been very happy with the response from the fans to TeamVodafone switching to Holden.  As I've said it's good to be back with the Lion.

I don't want to dwell on it too much, but I have to say I was always upset that Ford's motorsport department didn't take advantage of Ambrose's wins. I was never in that situation of winning for Ford, but I would have been snaky if they had done the same thing.

Maybe Ford has realised the error of their ways because they have now thrown their support and money behind Dick Johnson's team.  I think that's great for the sport because they have finally acknowledged they need to support the few Ford teams that are remaining in the field. And DJR is the best Ford team they have, going on last year's results.

It's important for Ford fans to have a team the calibre of DJR and I'm sure (James) Courtney and Steve (Johnson) will back it up with great performances.

I am happy with my new race car and the progress we have made after a one-day shakedown, an official test day and then an elective test day last Friday before the cars were packed away for the Mid-East.  My car feels just right. My seating position is now where I want it. I just have to get my head around the aerodynamics.

We didn't actually take my car to the track on Friday.  Our team boss, Roland Dane, decided we would just use Jamie's car to free up the workload and combine the efforts.  It was almost like an enduro test day.

We are the first team to try to extract the best our from both manufacturers, so we are pioneers, in a way.  Hopefully a lot of fans will have caught up with Australia's Greatest Athlete on Channel 7.

It was great fun and very rewarding and a tribute to the hard work I have put in for several months now on my fitness.  About midway through last year I decided to concentrate on building my fitness and the first thing was to get down to about 80kg.

Since then I've stayed at a constant weight, but my skin fold measurement has gradually decreased which means I'm building muscle and become stronger.  My fitness should ensure I don't waver in concentration, particularly on the endurance rounds.

Also helping my concentration and focus will be John Bowe who Roland has appointed as a team driver coach.  Driver coaches are very big in Europe.

He's a wise old race driver and an independent person who can not only help Jamie and me focus but also act as an independent adviser and judge on team decisions and strategies. He'll even be giving advice to Roland.  When you are so close to something, you lose objectivity.

He's a fresh face and fresh opinion on our team.  He was at our test day last Tuesday, but he's not over here in the Mid East with us.

However, he will be a welcome addition at Clipsal which is the hardest race of the year because of all the functions we attend. It is quite easy to get frustrated by not having enough time for the data and racing side and he will help us retain that focus.

Finally, it was great news to hear that Pink will be the face of V8 Supercars this year.  She is such a great personality and Aussies seem to like her judging by the number of concerts she performed here last year.  Wouldn't it be great if they could get her to perform at the finale in Sydney?