Lowndes A long outsider

But mathematically I am still a very slim chance, despite the setback last Sunday. I'm not really a betting man, but I'd still put a bet on me as a long outsider.

Realistically, the bad luck I had at the weekend would now have to strike all three in front of me to have any chance. But I haven't given up all hope and will keep the pedal down until such time as it becomes a mathematical impossibility.

At that point where we realise we are out of the chase, we will sit down and have a discussion about what we can do to help Jaydub win. It's a shame that such bad luck can strike after having a good run all the way from Phillip Island.

After Saturday's race I had hauled back a stack of points and the car was sensational and exciting to drive on the sticky soft tyres. On Sunday it rained, but we were still running fast and it looked like Jaydub would leapfrog Courtney and I'd be only 100 points behind.

But then it all started to unravel when I came out of the hairpin and pulled the gear shift back to second and the bolt and thread came straight out of the front mount.

I had the adrenalin pumping because I was running second to Frosty and quite comfortable at that point. So when it all disappeared from my grasp it was a bitter disappointment. We came in and re-drilled it, tapped it and put in a helicoil. We then went back out 19 laps down, but still looking for some points.

However, it seemed the incident weakened the two other mounting points and it broke again. We then parked it because we couldn't do enough laps as you have to complete 70 per cent of the race and greet the chequered flag to score points.

By this stage the adrenalin had subsided and I was in a different mindset. I was still disappointed but I realised it was just one of those things that happens in racing.

Then there was the unfortunate incident with Jaydub's car running low on fuel. Our team is one of the best sport teams in the whole of Australia, but we can still come unstuck with basic human error and that's what happened.

It was a simple mistake of looking at a wrong graph and getting the fuel calculations wrong. It's highlighted a flaw in our procedures. Now we've spoken about it, come up with a different strategy and we won't make the same mistake again. It was possibly the most disappointing weekend we've had as a race team.

Our debrief with team boss Roland Dane could have become a shouting match, but it wasn't. He's obviously not pleased and when he's like that he'll share his view of the world. He's very passionate and focussed.

However, I think that the time between the end of the race and the debrief allowed him to cool down a little more, so basically Roland left it up to us to analyse it and figure it all out.

There's no good dwelling on it. We have to make changes to fix what has happened and that is that.

As for sorting out the gearshift problem, from what we can understand, a couple of teams have had the same problem with the sequential gearbox. It's highlighted a problem that the bolt arrangement may not be strong enough.

As it's a part everyone runs, the problem needs to be sorted out as a category, not by an individual team. I didn't see the pit lane fight between Steven Richards and Rick Kelly, but I heard all about it.

There's no doubt drivers get frustrated when they are baulked in qualifying, especially at Symmons Plains. It's the shortest track in our series and that means there is a lot of traffic and it's difficult to get a clean run to set a good qualifying time.

I'm not sure who did what to whom first but they repaid the complement later on and two negatives never make a right.

I've had situations like that where you might go and have a talk to a driver about their behaviour or conduct, but I've never got to a point where I've become physical about it. Not even after the Kelly incident at Phillip Island a couple of years ago that crippled my championship. Everyone could see what went on there and I didn't want to make the situation worse.

Moving on, I'm keyed up for Sandown this weekend. This is a track I love. I've done many miles around here when I was with HRT and also working as a driving instructor so I know every inch of it.

It's quite bumpy and the car needs to ride kerbs extremely well. The back straight has a kink and goes up a hill, but it's actually faster than the front straight.

You grab fifth gear over that crest and you have to position the car just right or you can spear off like Jason Richards did a couple of years ago and mount the wall.

It's not as critical to get a front row in qualifying as it is at some other tracks. So long as you are in the first few rows you have a good shot. My track record is good at Sandown, but Frosty will also go extremely well, so will Jamie and the HRT cars.

We stayed in Melbourne rather than heading home this week and we did a ride day at Calder Park, but we didn't get a chance to take our motorcycles to Broadford like the team usually does because our truck was full of spares we might need to work on the cars.

So this week has been about PR duties such as signing sessions for my book.

Some people have been asking about our team's support for men's health issues with the big moustache on the front of our cars and why Jaydub and I aren't sporting mos. Well, while the team might be happy for us to support the cause, I don't think anyone reckons we'd look good with a mo.

People have also been asking about my wife, Nat, and her health problems. She's feeling better and is a lot more active, but I'm not sure whether she will be able to come down for the finale in Sydney or the gala presentation night on the Monday. We'll see what the doctors say after her next cat scan early next week.