It was a weekend I?d rather forget

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.

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.