Motorsports

But I won't play dirty and there are no team orders as such.  There has been no discussion yet about team orders or strategies. We'll have to see where Jamie, James, Frosty and I are positioned after qualifying on the Saturday before we even think about that. No doubt we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but there won't be any orders to play dirty.  I'll do the best I can to help Jamie, but I won't change my style for this weekend.  I will attack James as hard as always and if he leaves a door open I'll put my nose up the inside and have a go. But I won't knock him out of the way. I know how gut wrenching that is after having it done to me at Phillip Island in 2006.  You want to win a championship honestly and on your own merits and not have it handed to you by other people's mistakes. Jamie is in a position where he has nothing to lose and will come out firing this weekend.  He's been doing all the usual PR stuff with me this week in the lead-up to the finale at Homebush, but he's also been very focussed on overtaking James to win the title. Jamie was pretty confident coming out of Sandown where the car was working well for him, but the red flags didn't help our cause.  The media pressure is on both of them, but I think Jamie will handle it a bit better because he's been here before. However, in the past two years he's come into this weekend leading, not chasing, so he'll have a different mindset this time.  I think the weather will play a big part in the two 250km races. It's been raining pretty heavily all week and is expected to continue up to and maybe into the weekend. Rain always mixes things up.  The wet conditions will mean a lot more strategy over the weekend with decisions on wet tyres and slicks.  We know what the track is like in the dry, but we have no idea of its grip levels and characteristics in the wet. For one thing, pit lane is downhill and it might be a bit awkward pulling up correctly in your pit bay.  The surface looks grippy in some sections, but dubious in other sections where we run across some old bitumen. I can only speak for myself, but the idea is to stay off the concrete walls. That will be difficult for Jamie and James who will be in a pretty heated battle to maintain track position.  Courtney won the Sunday race last year and the DJR cars go well in the wet so he will be confident.  But Jamie has also done well in the wet and while he didn't have the speed he wanted last year, he's pretty confident about his car speed now. The team PR machines have been running hot in the lead-up to our series finale.  One thing Team Vodafone has done to get a bit of interest going its to launch a Australia's first V8 fragrance. It's called Eau De Engine, but it should be called Eau De Pit Crew Sweat.  You can't buy it. It's actually just a joke and a marketing tool to raise some interest.  We've made 200 bottles of the fragrance, done some video and photos and we're giving it away to media and VIPs. The idea is you spray it on and smell like a Supercar pit garage with oil and rubber odours. It's quite disgusting. It makes you smell like a grease monkey.  I've also spent a lot of time signing my book which has just gone into its second printing. When I wrote it I didn't know how successful it was going to be. While I'm not yet prepared to write my autobiography yet because I still have a lot of years of racing yet and hopefully some other career in motorsport after that, I can now see that there might be another book or two in me. I could start with a follow up that includes this year's enduro wins at Phillip Island and Bathurst or delve back in history more and do my early days of racing.  There's still a lot to be said about my first shift of allegiances from Holden to Ford.

Webber, who finished third in this year's F1 championship, received a loud cheer as he drove his Red Bull onto the Wanneroo track for the inaugural AAC Festival of Speed just before midday. The 34-year-old was amazed by the strong turnout and praised festival organisers for luring him to WA."The last time I raced on this track I was 17, which was a long time ago," Webber said. "There is a great atmosphere and the weather is pretty warm, but it's great to see all age groups here.  It's nice to be able to wave to the fans and display the car. Formula One draws people like no other." The last time an F1 driver revved into Perth was in 1962 when three-time world champion Sir Jack Brabham visited the city.  Webber was scheduled to drive his Red Bull three times, but passed one of his drives onto Perth's Daniel Ricciardo, who on the weekend was announced as Toro Rosso's third and reserve driver for the 2011 Formula One season. Ricciardo completed Barbagallo's short track in quick time before sending the crowd into a frenzy with a series of burnouts in front of the main grandstand.  The 21-year-old from Perth endorsed future motorsport events for WA. "It's great for the first year of the festival that we've had such a big turnout.  It's a surprise, but a good surprise. To have so many people here and see so many familiar faces is really awesome." The WA Police put on a spectacular demonstration of a high-speed chase, with an aim of sending a safety message that "speed belongs on the track".  Former West Coast Eagle and motorsport competitor Troy Wilson defeated former Fremantle Dockers star Dale Kickett in an AFL-themed grudge race.  Webber, Ricciardo, 1980 world champion Alan Jones and driving expert Geoff Brabham were paraded in their cars at the end of the day. Meanwhile, many fans were left disgruntled by the parking arrangements and lack of shuttle buses to the racetrack as hundreds became caught up in a massive traffic jam. Some motorsport enthusiasts waited for up to three hours in traffic to reach Barbagallo Raceway and were then forced to walk more than 3km through rugged terrain to the venue as the mercury approached 36C. Others waited for almost an hour in the heat for shuttle buses to take them to the racetrack from listed stops.  Traffic banked up around the venue, with cars piling up on sections of the Mitchell Fwy and Wanneroo Rd. Festival chairman Terry Mader said motorsport fans could not expect to just "drift in" when there is only one access road to the racetrack. "Most of the motorsport guys got out here about 6-7am and (it's not like) you can just drift in like you would to the footy and then wait in the queue," he said.  "They've got to get an upgrade around here." Mr Mader said the traffic and parking issues would be reviewed for next year's event.

... next weekend. Last year, he only had to finish to win the title, but twice ran into walls and limped home.  This year some of the walls have been moved back and the kerbs lowered on several corners. "We didn't prepare very much at all last year," admitted the TeamVodafone Commodore driver who this year is 53 points adrift of Dick Johnson Racing driver James Courtney. "Last year was more of a media focus for me than a race performance focus," Whincup said.  "It will be different this year."I can't guarantee I won't hit any walls, but I definitely should go a bit quicker. "I think there are some circuit changes that will also help."  V8 Supercars Australia spokesman Cole Hitchcock said the "teething problems" from the first year at Homebush were sorted out with feedback from drivers. "Changes to a new track are quite normal," he said.  "(Mark) Skaife has spent a fair bit of time working on it as chief consultant. He also played a major role in developing the tracks at Townsville, Hamilton and the Gold Coast." Courtney has been studying the track changes and believes it will be "nicer" to drive.  "The kerb profiles are a bit lower so it should be a bit smoother," the Ford driver said. "It will be nicer to drive, less aggressive on the car and allow the car to flow a bit better around the track."  Courtney won the Sunday race last year and declares he is "quietly confident" of winning the event and the championship next weekend.  "We had really good speed (last year) and should have been a podium on Saturday as well but the door latch broke and we had to pit for that," he said. "We've since changed the way the door latch works to stop it happening again, so I'm quietly confident." Courtney said the final event would be a "fairytale" end to the championship.  "You couldn't ask for a better ending with Ford versus Holden, the championship going down to the wire and Homebush with Guns and Roses and Tony Hawk. It will be a massive weekend." Whincup says the close title race would draw a bigger crowd than last year.  "The huge crowds are right on the side of the track and we can hear them as we go by," he said. "You can't help but feel that you're in a special place with the big stadium and big hotels around you."  Whincup says that apart from the mental strain of the close leader points it is also one of the physically toughest events on the calendar. "At 250km it's equally the longest race we do with a single driver and we have to back it up again on the Sunday so it's as long as Adelaide," he said.  "It's also compulsory for teams to run a cool suit if it gets over 30 degrees which you can almost guarantee for Sydney in December."  Whincup says he is not thinking about equalling Skaife's three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002 nor his 10th placing in the top 50 touring car drivers. "I don't know how I feel about that. Those things while you are still competing don't mean a huge amount but I know that in 20 years time when l'm old, fat and retired they will mean everything to me," he said. "When you are a warrior in battle you don't think about your last fight, you think about the one you are having now."

STEVE Owen is set for his second Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series crown in Sydney in two weeks after victory at Sandown at the weekend. Owen won his sixth race of the season on Saturday and finished fifth in the reverse-grid race on Sunday to take the round. He now has a 218-point lead over David Russell with 300 points on offer in Sydney but will drive conservatively in the final round. "We were in this situation in '08 Fujitsu Series where we had a really big points lead and had mechanical problems in Race 1 of the final round," he says. "We'll be a little bit conservative, I'd imagine, in the first race of Sydney and have a bit of a go in the last race on Sunday and try to wrap up the round. The last thing we'll want to do is wind up with a DNF, which could cost you the championship, which is our number one priority." Owen partnered Jamie Whincup in the endurance rounds, with a win in the Gold Coast 600. THE V8 Supercar driver's championship is yet to be resolved, but TeamVodafone has wrapped up the team championship with one round to go at Homebush in Sydney in two weeks. The team of drivers Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup has scored 5446 points ahead of Jim Beam Racing with 4708 and Ford Performance Racing on 4159. ON the same weekend he was named fourth greatest Australian touring car driver, Jim Richards stamped his racing authority with a round win in the Touring Car Masters at Sandown. He also reclaimed the championship lead in his Falcon Sprint with his second pole position of the season and a first and second place in the three races. The second race was red flagged and declared a non-race. John Bowe won the first race and failed to finish the third race with a broken accelerator cable, dropping him to third place in the title behind Gavin Bullas. Leanne Tander sidelined her Falcon with engine failure in qualifying, ending her weekend and dropping her from fourth to fifth in the standings. The championship will go down to the wire at Homebush in two weeks with Richards only 20 points in front of Bullas and Bowe another 54 behind. MARCOS Ambrose is still confident of starting the 2011 NASCAR season in Daytona in February despite financial troubles with his new Richard Petty Motorsports team. "I'm hungrier than ever to succeed with my new team," the Australian says. He finished his fifth year in the championship in 26th place after another 26th in the final round in Miami at the weekend. In a thrilling finish for the season, Jimmie Johnson came from behind to finish second to Carl Edwards and wrap up a record fifth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title. PORSCHE Carrera Cup returns next year with the first race at the Australian Grand Prix in March. Porsche Cars Australia boss Michael Winkler says they have "substantial interest from a number of teams and the full support of the Porsche factory". Others who have signed up for next season are Mark Cini and 2008 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia champion Craig Baird. The 2011 racing calendar is yet to be confirmed. ALMOST 30 drivers have declared they will compete in the return of production car endurance racing next year. The new Australian Endurance Championship will run under AASA regulations and will include cars not previously eligible under CAMS rules. Each race is a day-night six-hour enduro, starting at Calder in April. Other rounds will be held at Winton in June, Ipswich in August and Wakefield in October. AMERICAN rider Josh Hansen won both motos in the fifth round five of the Australasian Super X on a wet and slippery Dunedin track in New Zealand at the weekend. The Kawasaki open rider scored both holeshots and stayed clean out the front of the pack. He leads the championship with two rounds to go ahead of Jay Marmont (Yamaha) and Jake Moss (Suzuki). Moss's brother, Matt (Suzuki), was the overall winner in the lites category and leads the series. The penultimate round will be held at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday, 27 November 2010. DAVID Wall has scored back-to-back Australian GT Championships, even though his Porsche Cup S, came in underweight at the end of race one at Sandown at the weekend. That put him at the rear of grid for Sunday's race. Both races at the weekend were won by veteran Queensland campaigner Tony Quinn who also set the fastest lap of the second race in his Mosler. CHAZ Mostert has completed a record-breaking Australian Formula Ford Championship season with a triple win in the final round at Sandown at the weekend. The Brisbane driver has beaten Steven Richards's 1994 tally of 13 race wins in a season and sits equal fourth of all-time race winners in the 41 year history of national competition. Mostert, who wrapped up the championship at the previous round in Tasmania, is tied on 15 wins with Ash Walsh, who'll join him at Miles Racing in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series next season. B8 SUPERCAR driver Jason Richards has undergone successful surgery to remove a tumour from his abdomen and is now recovering in a private Melbourne hospital. Tests are being carried out to establish what type of tumour it is; results are not expected until next week. Richards has pulled out of the last two rounds of the season with his Brad Jones Racing seat taken by Andrew Jones. SYDNEY teenager Pierce Lehane, crowned CIK Stars of Karting Series Champion earlier this year, recorded the best finish by an Australian junior driver in the 10-year history of the Rotax Max World Challenge Final in Italy at the weekend. The 14 year-old finished third in the event which attracted 250 drivers from 55 countries in identical Rotax-powered 125cc karts. Fellow Aussies Jonathon Venter and James Macken, finished 21st and 23rd. For the first time Australia had two representatives in the main event with Victorian Matthew Wall and Queenslander Kel Treseder lining up against world karting champions and IndyCar driver Raphael Matos. Treseder finished 14th and Wall 20th.

Not only will Australia field its biggest contingent yet in January's Dakar Rally, but at least two competitors have strong chances to make an impact at the front of the field. Our most successful entrant, Bruce Garland of Sydney, is back again in a stronger Isuzu D-Max and confident of running in the top 10 of the auto section after finishing 11th outright two years ago and first in class. "We've got a new engine coming from Isuzu, so we'll drop that in the car and go into the Andes to test it," the privateer says. "One of the Isuzu engineers will come with us, because the new engine will need to be re-tuned to work more efficiently at high altitudes." He will be joined in the auto section by Cairns resort owner Geoffrey Olholm and Victorian Steve Riley who will share the driving duties in their UK Rally Raid car. Competing in their first Dakar, the pair are no strangers to off-road racing. Olholm is a former motocross and motorcycle enduro champion and Riley is a former enduro motorcycle champion and two-time winner of the Australian Safari. The best chance of running in the top 10 in the bike category is Jacob Smith, 22, who won the 2009 Australasian Safari. He is the spearhead of the four-bike Mittagong-based Glenn Hoffmann Racing team which also includes seven mechanics, heavily modified Honda CRF450X motorcycles and a support truck. The other riders who paid $120,000 each to compete are Safari top 10 finishers Warren Strange and Simon Harslett and Mark Davison who finished 29th this year. "They're not mugs. Realistically two of them can run top 20 if they have a good event," Hoffman says. "If Jacob doesn't have any penalties for getting lost, he'll run top five. He's fast, but we need to calm him down and remind him it's a two-week event. "We'd like to think that in a couple of years we'll get a front-running Aussie team with three A-level riders. Domestically the team has won everything in Australia - Hattah, Condo, Australian Off-Road Championship, Finke and six Safaris in a row. This is the last thing to do; the ultimate test. "Aussies have not had such a co-ordinated team in the past. We hope to do this for several years with the ultimate goal of putting Australia on top. Nothing short of winning the event eventually will do." Hoffman says they will run "a bit conservative" this year to get Jacob across the line. "We hope to generate some interest so we can go back there with an A level team and a big sponsor, turn the globe upside down and put Australia on top." The final Australian competitor is Dakar veteran Simon Pavey. He has competed six times and completed the rally four times. The ex-pat now lives in Wales where he runs a BMW off-road riding school and trained actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman before their Long Way Round global motorcycle adventure. He also trained Boorman to compete in the 2006 Dakar Rally for the TV series Race to Dakar. Another Australian entrant, Andrew Scott, has withdrawn. The ex-pat gold miner has been living in Canada but crashed in the Safari and kept riding not knowing he had broken his arm. He suffered complications and has had to pull out. He is expected to move back to Brisbane soon. French-born Sydney rider Christophe Barriere-Varju has also pulled out after last year becoming the first Australian to enter and complete the Dakar without assistance, finishing third in his category. "My next challenge will be to change category and compete in a single seater two-wheel-drive buggy.," he says. The buggy is currently being manufactured and will be ready in March. "I will use 2011 to race various FIA races and get ready to win the two-wheel-drive category in the 2012 Dakar Race."

Company chief Matthias Muller tells Carsguide there is not enough return on the spending for a grand prix program.  "Look at Abu Dhabi. Sebastian Vettel wins, Red Bull wins. We need Porsche to win," Muller says. There have been persistent rumours in the Formula One paddock for the past six months about a Porsche comeback as an engine supplier.  The company won with McLaren in the 1980s, with a V6 turbo it designed for badging as a TAG V6, in the time when Niki Lauda and Alain Prost fronted the team.But it also made a disastrous comeback attempt in the 1990s with the under-funded Footwork team, using a 3.5-litre V12 engine that was  overweight and underpowered.Porsche has been much more successful at Le Mans, where its sports cars are the most successful of all time with a win record stretching back to the 917 in the 1970s."But there is Audi," says Muller.  So Porsche is looking at its motorsport choices, but it yet to make a final decision."The only thing is that Porsche is very successful in motorsports... and, of course, we would be able to step into the top level of motorsport, but that is not just Formula One."

GARTH and Leanne Tander's TanderSport operation will make its debut in the final round of the Formula Ford Championship this weekend at the V8 Supercar round at Sandown. Tander has recruited West Australian Pete Major to drive the car and signed him for 2011. He will drive a new Stealth S311D chassis, designed and built by Brett Lupton's Fastlane Racing.Major's last national event was the Targa West where he won ahead of Jim Richards. Tanders said their company wanted to develop young talent. "And there is no better category than Formula Ford to achieve that," he said.SEBASTIEN Loeb capped off a dominant World Rally Championship season with yet another win in his Citroen in the final round in Wales at the weekend. Loeb beat Jari-Matti Latv's Ford Focus by more than 100 points for the drivers' title and the Citroen C4 WRC finished its career with its 36th win in 56 events to win the manufactures' title also with a 100-point margin. Loeb won points in every round, averaging 21 points per event, to claim his seventh WRC title in a row and his 62nd round victory in Wales. "This is the perfect way to end the season," he said.AUSTRALIAN Marcos Ambrose battled bad handling in his Camry to finish 22nd in the penultimate NASCAR Sprint Cup round in Phoenix at the weekend. He started in 13th and had run as high as ninth but the car's handling degraded toward the end of the race pushing him back in the field before regaining positions as several cars ran out of fuel. The race was won by Carl Edwards, taking a sweep of the Phoenix NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup races for the weekend. Sprint Cup Series leader Denny Hamlin (Toyota) ran low on fuel, finished 12th and now leads by just 17 points from Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet) with the final round in Miami this weekend.HEAVY rain brought the Rally Victoria to a premature halt at the weekend. The final round of the Australian Rally Championship was won by Glen and Matt Raymond in a Mitsubishi Lancer, 40 seconds in front of Justin Dowel and Matt Lee (Lancer) who were 30 seconds ahead of Mark Pedder and Lee Tierney (Lancer). The last five forest stages were cancelled to prevent road damage in the wet conditions. The ARC was won by four-time champions Simon and Sue Evans (Suabru) and the manufacturer title by Mitsubishi.AMERICAN riders continue to dominate the Super X championship with Josh Hansen winning three of four races in the fourth round at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland at the weekend. The only Australian to win a round so far has been Chad Reed in the first event in Newcastle before he flew overseas to sort out his 2011 American ride. Hansen leads the series with his first win and three runner-up finishes. Australian Jay Marmont (Yamaha) won the final moto and came second for the round ahead of Jake Moss (Suzuki). The series heads to Dunedin for the fifth round this Saturday. (NOVEMBER 20) ITEM SOUTH Australian driver Scott Pye will again compete in the New Zealand Toyota Racing Series he competed in last year. The five-round series runs from January to March, after which Pye expects to return to the UK to compete in the British F3 Championship having won last year's British Formula Ford title.AN endurance component has been added to the five-round Australian Manufacturers Championship next year. The Production Car Australian Endurance Championship will comprise a six-hour race at Phillip Island on May 28-29 and eight hours at Eastern Creek Raceway, Sydney, on December 10-11. The endurance title will have a separate champion, while dovetailing into the manufacturer championship. The Australian Endurance Championship will make up more than 70 per cent of the total distance of the Production Car Championship. Organisers expect 25 Gp3E production cars in the endurance field.BRISBANE teenager Chaz Mostert clinched the Australian Formula Ford Championship in the seventh and penultimate round of the series at Symmons Plains at the weekend. Fellow Queenslander Geoff Uhrhane finished second despite winning the round in tricky wet conditions. The final round of the series will be held this weekend at Sandown. Mostert will move to the V8 Supercars development series next year.THE 24th annual World Series Sprintcars Championship starting in Brisbane on Saturday (NOV20) has been thrown open with the withdrawal of defending champion Brooke Tatnell. The eighth-time titleholder is unavailable for the first four rounds because of family commitments in the US. His seat in the Krikke Motorsport car will be taken by World Of Outlaws regular Jason Sides from Tennessee. Top title contenders include seven-time champion Max Dumesny, American Darren Pittman who won in 2002/03 and five-time runner-up Robbie Farr of NSW.PERTH rider Bryan Staring weathered appalling conditions at Symmons Plains at the weekend to become the first to win three national motorcycle road race titles in different categories. Staring only had to finish the last race of the Australian Superbike season to claim the historic triple crown. He braved a breath-taking moment in lapped traffic on a slippery wet Tasmanian track to finish eighth. The final race was won by fellow Honda rider Wayne Maxwell who needed Staring to fail to finish to claim the title. Staring won the 125cc title in 2004 and Supersports title in 2009.A CRUSTY Demon hopes to drive a V8 Supercar in next year's Gold Coast 600. American freestyle motocross rider Brian Deegan says he would like to compete in the race as one of the invited international drivers. Deegan is no slouch on four wheels having won the American off-road truck series in his debut season last year and hoping to back it up this year before moving on to V8 trucks next year and possibly NASCAR. "I've been on four wheels more than two lately," he said. While in Australia for a Crusty Demons tour, Deegan said he talked with teams about lining up a test in a V8 Supercar.THE American IndyCar series will add a manufacturer competition in 2012 with Chevrolet returning to the series. Chev will introduce a new twin-turbocharged, direct-injected V6 racing engine running on E85 fuel. Chevrolet last competed in Indy car racing as an engine manufacturer in 1986-93 and 2002-05 with V8 engines, winning 104 races, powering six driver champions and scoring seven Indianapolis 500 victories. They join Honda who will build a new V-6 engine. Next year's rules limit manufacturers to six cylinders and 2.4-litre displacement, but they will be turbo charged produc ing up to 522kW of power.BRISBANE driver Andrew Hagen will race a full season in the American Must See Racing Extreme Sprint Series next year. (MSRXSS). The 24-year-old will race a Wilshe Motorsports sprint car in the 10-round short-track speedway series. "I was fortunate enough to race in the last two winged sprint car events of 2010 and I was hooked straight away," he said. "The cars are phenomenal."

"A team of specialists is planning the best course of action and the tumour is expected to be removed early next week,'' his Brad Jones-run race team confirmed late yesterday. "The focus of Jason and his family is on Jason's health and they have asked for privacy at this time.''  Fans have been asked to send any message of support to Team BOC or the Jason Richards Fan Page on Facebook. Richards, 34, married with two children, is a former New Zealand Touring Car Champion.  In V8 Supercars he has finished second three times at the Bathurst 1000 race. News footage of his spectacular crash at Queensland Raceway in 2005 went around the world.  Andrew Jones will drive the team BOC Commodore this weekend at Sandown, Melbourne and in the final V8 event for 2010, the Sydney street race, early next month.

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.

Hundreds of the fastest cars from Australia's racing history will blast back into action next weekend at the Tasman Revival meeting at Eastern Creek. About 400 racing, sports and touring cars from the 1960s and 70s, valued at more than $2million, will turn back time, with 11 different categories of cars contesting more than 60 races over three days. Organisers say they have also attracted more than 40 cars from overseas including entries from the US, the UK, Japan and New Zealand. While the focus is on the grand prix cars of the 1960s reliving the international Tasman series that was contested in Australia and New Zealand at famous long-gone tracks such as Warwick Farm in Sydney and Longford in Tasmania, Formula 5000 open wheelers from the 1970s will also be racing. Unlike today the Formula One stars of the 1960s including Sir Jack Brabham, Jim Clark and Graham Hill regularly contested the Tasman series in their off-season. Sir Jack and Lady Margaret Brabham will attend the event - which is effectively an open wheel version of the successful Muscle Car Masters retro touring car event also run at Eastern Creek. The organisers says one of  Sir Jack's most famous cars, a Brabham BT24 that he drove to second place in the 1967 F1 world championship, will be racing at Eastern Creek.  It is now owned and raced by Sydney enthusiast Brian Wilson. Champion racer John Bowe, who won Australia's highest open wheel honour the Gold Star, before becoming a household name after winning the Bathurst 1000 in touring cars, will return to the open cockpit next weekend. Bowe will drive a Brabham BT 23B.  He has a strange tie to the Brabham lineage. As a child the Tasmanian regularly went to Longford to watch the Tasman series and recalled how he got lost in the crowd one year. "A very nice old lady comforted me and returned me to my parents. The kind lady turned out to be Jack Brabham's mother.''  Half a century later he will drive one of the cars her son built.  For more information go to tasmanrevival.com