Race track

First up is our win at Sandown at the weekend. We did have some minor issues, but nothing that troubled us too much and we've now sorted them out, so that's a big lift in confidence.The other confidence booster is the performance of our team's co-drivers. That's the part of the equation that is out of your hands in the enduros, but I think most of the co-drivers in the field showed that the standard has lifted.In fact, they were a lot more level-headed and mature in their qualifying sprint race than the main drivers were in theirs. Perhaps Mark Webber is right about drivers being too aggressive because of the false sense of security from the high safety standards of today's race cars and circuits.My co-driver, Warren Luff, didn't put a foot wrong all weekend, even in a wet practice session. He drove to the pace of the car and made no mistakes. The biggest thing for me is his laidback attitude which is just like mine. He's simply the easiest enduro driver I've had to deal with and that includes people like Mark Skaife.He's also a closer match to me than Skaifey in pace and in size which means we haven't had to change the seat, pedal or steering wheels so our driver changes are particularly slick and smooth. It's a big confidence builder knowing your co-driver and team are up to it.Bathurst is all about confidence and I'm approaching this event with more confidence than I've had in a long time. In my first year on the mountain in 1994 as a rookie I attracted a fair bit of attention when I passed John Bowe around the outside at Griffins Bend. I then led the race for several laps before he passed me back again when I was balked by a back marker turning in front of me at Murray's Corner.People say that pass was a mistake and that I missed my braking marker, but it's my belief that Bowey broke too early. The corner is cambered quite well so you can pass on the outside there although you have to be careful as it gets slippery late in the race from all the rubber on the road. I've also passed around the outside at the kink before the Chase. However, you have to swallow a few bravery pills and have commitment to stay alongside someone there. It can be heart-in-the-mouth stuff as we are reaching maximum speeds approaching 300km/h flat out in sixth gear. You really have to have your wits about you because it can go completely wrong. 

Expect people like Russell Ingall and Greg Murphy to suddenly show up in the results.Expect teams to throw caution to the wind in a desperate bid to snatch a victory. But with the points so tight for the top four cars, there is nothing unexpected about the battle between Triple 8 and FPR.We'll be fighting door handle to door handle all the way to the end of the “grand final” in Sydney in December. I don't think I've ever seen the points so close at this time of the season going into the enduro rounds.It's now a two-team and four-horse race, whereas it's usually just two or maybe three drivers in with a chance of a championship. It's going to be an exciting stage of the series as the long-distance races always throw in a mix of results.Teams that haven't figured too high in the season so far will push hard with nothing lose. Russell Ingall has been on the verge of a podium over the past few rounds and he always does well at Bathurst so there's no doubt the Enforcer will be charging through the pack.He had a fantastic race at Eastern Creek in the last round and I'm sure that's given him a lot of confidence. Greg Murphy is also back after surgery and he's always a threat at Bathurst where he's held the qualifying lap record since 2003.There are a lot of other guys who come alive at this time of year and have no reason to hang up their helmets just yet. But make no mistake; FPR and our team will keep pushing hard. I don't usually look at the record books, but I've been told I'm on the verge of a couple of milestones.One that is personally important is that I've got 99 podiums, which is just one off my mentor and hero, the late Peter Brock. In his honour I hope I can equal that record at Sandown next weekend (SEPT 14-16) and then go one better at Bathurst. I am also on the verge of equalling the record of 90 category wins by my old Bathurst teammate Mark Skaife. If it happen, it happens. Every record is there to be broken but I don't go out at every race thinking of those stats. I love this sport and hope to go on racing as long as I can. Then I'll sit back and reflect on what records I've achieved. In the meantime, the championship is so competitive these days even finishing second or third is a huge achievement.As far as I know we will be racing on the new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in May next year and I'm not surprised to hear they are trying to include some American drivers. It would be great to have Nascar racers participate as they have an enormous following in the States and it would cultivate some interest in our sport.I think they'd be a bit disappointed with the horsepower in our cars, but they'd be pretty excited about the aero and the turning capabilities. It would be great to get them out of their comfort zones and prove they can actually turn right. 

I had predicted before the event at Sydney Motorsport Park that they would last only 10 laps, as the (formerly Eastern Creek) circuit is notoriously hard on tyres, just like Phillip Island.Ten laps is pretty much how long they lasted when we did a race run at the official test day in January 2011. But I suppose there were lots of factors that contributed to the longevity of the tyres last weekend. For a start, track temperatures were lower than in January and the newly resurfaced track has smoother tarmac and fewer sharp stones which means less ripping of the soft tyre.We have also improved the car to look after the tyres since then and I've improved my knowledge of the limits of the tyre and how to budget wear. The car was exceptional on Saturday and did everything I needed it to do to look after the soft tyre. We ended up getting 23 laps out of it which was actually more than we had expected.In the second Saturday practice session we did a race run to see where the tyre was at and how hard I could push it before it burred up. We only had an eight-lap run before an oil spill shortened the session, but it gave us a good insight into how much pace we could get out of it. We thought it would be good for about 20 laps. I talked with JJ (race engineer Jeromy Moore) and we believed we could get better life than nearly everyone else so we gambled on pitting early. Then it was a matter of how I nursed it to the end.The Creek has some really fast long-loading corners and you need to preserve the tyre in those sections. Also, like Phillip Island, the front right-hand tyre cops all the punishment, so you have to be mindful of not scrubbing the tyre going into corners just for the sake of a millisecond of pace. It was an amazing result to come from sixth to the top step of the podium.Of course, we handed over all our data to the other side of the garage at the end of the day and on the Sunday my teammate Jamie Whincup basically ran our Saturday race to win. We also had a faulty rattlegun in the first pit stop which lost us a couple of seconds which we never got back. We were running at exactly the same pace as Jamie, but we just couldn't make inroads and still preserve our tyres.In the end I was happy with the weekend and pulling about 100 points out of the gap to first. There's now only 154 points between first and fourth and I'm breathing down Will Davison's neck for third. I was also pretty happy with the crowd of 24,000-odd for the return to Eastern Creek.It's a proper permanent racing circuit and there are precious few of them left in the country, so we need to keep it on the calendar. The Creek has never pulled huge crowds, but they are always the V8 diehards and it was very hectic with the fans in the pits. Everyone I spoke to was talking about how great it was to have the circuit back on the calendar. 

Developing a world-class supercar like the Lexus LFA from a clean sheet of paper is no easy task, and turning that supercar (or supercar prototype) into a competitive endurance racer is an order of magnitude more difficult.Taking that race car to compete with long-dominant German automakers, in their own backyard, almost borders on insanity. Japan’s Gazoo Racing has been working with Toyota's luxury brand since 2008 to develop an SP8 class endurance racer based on the Lexus LFA, capable of winning the gruelling Nürburgring 24 hour race.The last time a non-German car took home a win was 2002, when a Dodge Viper GTS-R took the overall win for the second year in a row. While early LFA endurance racers were less-than-competitive and plagued with mechanical difficulties, Gazoo Racing managed an SP8 class victory and a 15th place overall finish in 2012.That’s even more remarkable when you consider that the team finished 41st overall in 2011, just one year earlier. To mark five years of blood, sweat and tears at the Nürburgring, Gazoo Racing has posted a video of highlights from 2008 through 2012.  While we’re sure there are moments the team would like to forget, the trophies from the 2012 race clearly show that hard work and dedication produce results.Motor Authority 

Our team was the first to complete a COTF project and test it on a track, so we're basically test dummies for the rest of the field.Jamie (Whincup) and I took it out on Queensland Raceway after the last round and I'm happy to say the first test went really well. It's an interesting car with a different makeup and a lot of potential. We still haven't got to fine tuning the car yet. It will take some time to understand the differences such as fuel economy, grip, handling and tyre wear.But a big positive is in the larger 18-inch wheels and brakes which make the car more sensitive and provides more feedback and feel. The gearbox is now a transaxle and on the upshifts it is very nice and precise. However, the downshifts are a little bit different to what we currently run. At the moment it takes longer to select gears downshifting which we will have to work on.The rear end has made the car much nicer over bumps and kerbs especially into turn one at QR. That means we will be able to attack the kerbs harder and save a bit of precious lap time. We'll get to test the car again in October when we head to Eastern Creek for our second test. We'll see what it's like on a high-speed fast-flowing track which is where I believe it will be even better.Even in the very first track test we managed to record almost identical times to what we get on the hard tyre, so there is a lot of potential in the car to destroy some V8 Supercar lap records right around the country. At Ipswich we have the potential to take another second off my new qualifying record with a soft tyre and good track conditions.The only problem is the newly surfaced track might disintegrate a bit by the time we get back there, but I still think the new race cars for next season will be record breakers. I'm quite excited about Red Bull becoming our new major sponsor as they are one of the biggest sports sponsors in the world.Obviously the rumour mill has gone into overdrive about Casey Stoner joining V8 Supercars next year after he's retired from MotoGP. We now have the same sponsor as he does, so it's only natural people would put two and two together.However, I'm not sure it's going to add up to four. It comes down to what he wants to do and I understand he wants to spend some time with his family. There is no given path for him to come straight into V8s, although we do have enough bays for an extra car at our Brisbane workshops. 

I'm strapped into the passenger seat of a V8 Supercar alongside Todd Kelly for a lap of Queensland Raceway.In the pits, I'm cool and calm. After all, I've piloted race cars, street cars and motorbikes in tests and red-fisted racing rage around the Ipswich “paperclip” track before, so I know what to expect.Sitting on the starting line with your left foot riding the clutch and shaking like a dog on a toilet stop is the most nervous I've ever been. But right now, I'm fine. I chat calmly with Todd and we exchange pleasantries. He heads out of the pits with the limiter on and it's rock-band noisy and mosh-pit hot, but still nothing to be concerned about.Then he hits the limiter button and starts to accelerate out of the pits. Still nothing. I've driven cars and bikes with a lot more power and acceleration, so I'm not the least bit alarmed. But when he turns toward turn one and is still on the gas, I start regretting not making my own pit stop first.Even though he's not taking the turn at full tilt because he's only had a short run-up from the pits, the G forces are enormous. As he exits the turn, the car skates toward the outside ripple strip and the beach on the other side.I think I may have just spoiled the Kelly Racing Team's loaned race suit a little. He's still accelerating as we head for turn two and hasn't had his foot anywhere near the brake yet. Then he hits it. If you think the acceleration force is huge, the braking force is greater. Unlike you and me, race drivers don't touch the brakes, they hammer them.One V8 driver I rode with a few years ago even used two feet to hit the brake pedal. Todd slams the brake and brutally turns the car into the corner. Then he does an alarming thing...he lets the brake go. That's way too early, I'm thinking. The car is fighting grip, biting, then slipping, biting, then slipping...all the way out to that lethal ripple strip again.We're less than a third of the way through the lap and my racing suit is copping some punishment. Now for the long back straight. V8 Supercars hit about 250km/h here. It's one of the three fastest straights in Australia.That's fine, but it's the braking markers that are worrying me. The 200m mark comes and goes and Todd seems to have missed it. The sand and concrete wall beyond seem to be looming at a great rate of knots and I have target fixation on the advertising sign on the wall.Again Todd pounds the brakes and whips the steering wheel into the corner. But he holds the brake all the way into the middle of the corner and slows the car to a sedate pace. I'm surprised, relieved and actually take my first breath.However, it's short-lived relief as he turns the car toward the exit and slams the throttle to 100 per cent. The infamous paperclip circuit is straight, turn right, straight, turn right, straight, two short left turns, straight, turn right, straight and then repeat.It's a series of drag races with turns on the end, so all the straights are fast and all the turns are brutal. The complex two lefts at turns four and five are the only time the right tyres get a chance to grip. As Todd turns in, the car doesn't want to follow and it understeers straight ahead.We're heading for some off-roading, but somehow Todd flicks the back around and slides it sideways into the second left, using all the width of the road on exit and heads down toward the final turn. I take my second breath before all the breath is knocked out of me with the brutal brake and steering application in turn six.Again we seem to slow to walking pace before he fires it out of the turn and up the straight. That's one lap down and only one more to go, so I figure I've survived the experience and there is nothing left to concern me. But I've forgotten that this time he is approaching turn one with a longer run-up.He drops just one gear and only seems to dab the brakes before aiming the missile for the apex. Hang on...he's got this wrong. He's had a lapse of concentration and has miscalculated his entry speed. We're going to crash, we're going to hit the sand trap and then roll and cartwheel into the concrete barrier with all sorts of noise and pain and I'll never see my lovely wife and daughters again.The car squirms, it fights, it twitches, it slides, but mainly it screams in mechanical agony, yet somehow it gets through the corner and stays on the black stuff. I think I blacked out and missed the rest of the lap because the next thing Todd presses the limiter button and we're burping, farting and crackling down pit lane.I feign bravado and calmly shake Todd's hand, turn the buckle on the five-point harness, exit the car faster than Usain Bolt leaves the starting blocks and head straight to the toilets without even taking off my helmet. I've learnt a lot about cornering lines, late brake application and gear selection from the drive with Todd, but mainly I've learnt to take a pit stop before leaving the pits. 

However Nissan¹s entry seems to have stalled. The V8 engine for the Nissan Altima which the Kelly Racing Team will race next year has not even been bench tested yet. However, Nissan and the Kelly brothers, Rick and Todd, are not panicking. Nissan Australia motorsport general manager Jeffrey Fisher - one of the architects of Nissan returning to Australia¹s premiere racing category says he is not getting frustrated by the apparent lack of progress on a Nissan-powered V8 Supercar.“We always knew it was mega job they have to do,” he says. “They’re building a brand new engine from scratch and are building a car that is not even on sale here yet. “They’ve only just started to build the Altima in the US.” Nissan returns to Aussie motorsport next year with four cars built by the Kelly Racing Team for Rick and Todd, plus Karl Reindler and Greg Murphy.They will be driving cars with a five-litre V8 engine that is a “de-stroked” (shorter-cylinder) version of the Patrol’s new 5.6-litre V8 due in December. The car will be shaped like the “large-ish medium-sized Altima” which Fisher says will go on sale here in the second half of next year. “We always went into the race program with a vehicle that we would sell here,” he says.“We will be racing the Altima before we sell it, so it’s a great way to get some awareness for it.” Rick Kelly says he is not concerned that championship-leading team Triple 8 has already tested its first completed new V8 Supercar “Car of the Future” (COFT) for the 2013 season at Queensland Raceway. “Triple 8 doesn’t have the same issues we have,” he says.“Their car is the same shape and has the same engine but we have to design the whole thing from scratch and then get the aero package homologated by V8 Supercars,” he says. “It’s largely in the hands of V8 Supercars and whatever package Nissan is comfortable with.” He confirmed that the V8 engine was still awaiting parts and had not yet been bench tested.However, he said it would be ready for revealing early next month and the first completed new race car rolled out in October. While the double-overhead cam V8 Nissan engine should have better fuel economy than the Holden and Ford push-rod engines, Fisher says V8 Supercars will equalise the engines. “Every advantage that a team can garner they will have a look at,” he says.“The equalisation terms are pretty strict. V8 Supercars will do what they need to so there are no obvious advantages. “We already know that the car will need to run some extra weight to get it up to the minimum.” Fisher says Nissan owners are keen for the brand to re-enter the sport. “This is just the kind of tonic the brand needs,” he says.“There’s a latent fan base out there. “I’m sure it will be a more interesting competition next year.” Kelly says the 2013 series would be more level with all teams having to build new race cars to the new COTF specifications. “This year is unusual with two teams dominating, while last year we won three races,” he says. “Next year (COTF) will even everything out. “However, the teams that are doing well now with managing tyre wear will still be good teams next year so it’s not going to be a free kick for us.”