Nothing but bad luck

The run of bad luck started in qualifying on the Saturday with electrical problems. By the time the team had got the car going, it started raining and we lost the opportunity to post a good time and get into the top 10. As it turned out, we hadn't fixed the problem at all and when my co-driver, Andy Priaulx, went out on the formation lap for the race it reared its ugly head again and the engine kept cutting out.

Fortunately he got the car back to the pits and we lost some 19 laps trying to fix it. The team did their utmost to change as much of the electronics as they could and we went back out only to encounter another issue. We came back in, changed some more bits and finally got racing.

I'd gone from 50 points in front of Jamie after Bathurst to 100 behind as he went on to brilliantly win again on a track where he really does well.

The boys in our team didn't get any sleep Saturday night as they completely changed the wiring loom. Sunday morning came and we had no problems with the car so we were confident of having a great race from fifth position.

Andy was running well - faster than most of the full-time drivers - and our team was running 1-2 before that same problem of queuing in pitlane came up again. Just as our pit window opened the safety car came out and we had to queue behind Jamie. We went into pitlane second and came out in 15th.

And on a track like the Gold Coast it's extremely difficult to overtake, especially toward the end of the race when all the bollards had been wiped out at the chicanes and everyone was straight-lining them. We finished 20th, so I'm now 143 points behind Jamie who finished second on Sunday behind Frosty, another driver who seems to do well at Surfers Paradise.

Hopefully that's all the bad luck out of the way for the rest of the year now and I can focus on Tassie, Sandown and Sydney.

In the wash-up of the Gold Coast there is a lot of talk about the event's success and future format. I think our category has shown in the past couple of years that we can continue to pull the crowds even without an international race. And while I'm sure we could pull big crowds without the international drivers - like we do at other street races such as Adelaide and Sydney - I'd like to keep the formula going.

I'm not so sure about going back to having an international race there. Bringing in international vehicles creates all sorts of problems in pit lane and I don't think the infrastructure is good enough to house both V8 Supercars and international race cars.

They are also talking about changing the driver pairings which would mix things up a bit. I think TeamVodafone definitely had the pick of the international drivers this time with Andy and Sebastien Bourdais faster than many of the full-time drivers.

But most of the internationals acquitted themselves very well and I think it gives the event a point of difference from the rest of the series. Not that the full-time drivers didn't do well. In particular young James Moffatt is really showing his class. He's got a good car, but he's also got a mature head on his shoulders.

With the move of Lee Holdsworth from Holden to Ford at Stone Brothers Racing, it's the start of the silly season and we should see a few more changes over the next few months. We'll be keeping a keen eye on the movements, particularly on how it affects us with driver pairings for the enduros next year.