No sheep in Melbourne

But if you think any of the teams will be taking it easy, think again.  There are limited chances for testing during the year, so teams take every opportunity to test their cars.  Least of all us. We have a totally new car and we are still getting to grips with the Holden's set-up, how it behaves when we make certain changes to the aero, the fuel economy and much more.

So we'll be going hard this weekend in an effort to further develop our cars.  There is one other very good reason why we'll be having a red-hot go in Melbourne, even though we don't have a spare car or engine yet.

As I said, we don't have a lot in the way of spares, but even though this is a street circuit, it's a thousand times safer than any of the other street circuits on the calendar. It has to be for the high speed of the F1 cars.  So there is more run-off and less chance of crashing into immovable objects.

But you never know. There can still be a lot of crash damage here.  Car set-up will be absolutely vital. We need a nice flowing car for the smooth F1 track.

You also need a car that changes direction nicely, especially in that fast chicane down the back of the track.  My record at the GP over the past couple of years has been pretty erratic. I've been as high as second and as low as 20th, so I'll be trying to get a consistent result this time.

It's one of those tracks that no one seems to have mastered with four different winners in five races over the past two years.  The format has changed back to three 13-lap sprint races - one on each day - so tyre wear and degradation won't be a problem.

We have the smaller 75-litre fuel tank again, which should be enough to get us around the distance without a pit stop.  Not that we can use the pits anyway, because they are devoted to the F1 cars.  Basically, it's race over if you need to pull the car in for anything.

When the F1 cars come out, I'll be hanging over the fence like the rest of the boys on the team. I love the speed, the noise and the excitement.  My tip is Lewis Hamilton and not just because he's on the Vodafone McLaren team. He had a great run at Bahrain and is a hard man to beat on this track.  He debuted here in 2007, qualified fourth and finished third. How amazing is that?

Then he followed up with pole and first in 2008 and last year had a bit of bad mechanical luck, but still managed to finish third.  It was great news last week that V8 Supercars is continuing its "rock and race" theme by announcing that INXS will play at the Townsville round.

Our sport definitely fires on all cylinders when we have the complete entertainment package on and off track.  I think Clipsal has shown that for years and last year's finale with Cold Chisel proved it without doubt.  It also gives the fans great value for money.

My personal musical tastes are pretty broad. I like a bit of everything. I'm passionate about AC/DC, but I also like Nickleback, Pink and some country stuff like Adam Brand, Adam Harvey and Beccy Cole.  While INXS is great for people my age, the question needs to be asked whether the bands they are choosing are the right ones to attract the younger generation.

I've heard around the traps that Pink could be playing at some stage this season.  As our ambassador this year I think it would be great if she could perform at one of the venues. If it's the grand final in Sydney it would be the icing on the cake for the season.

And most importantly she would attract the broad spread of ages we need to keep this sport in a forward gear.