Race track

I hadn't driven with Mark Skaife for 10 years when we paired up last year for the enduros and what a pairing that turned out to be, winning Philip Island and Bathurst.  Now we're back again for the enduros this year, but with a distinct advantage of time.Last year we announced the pairing much later in the season, giving us little time to prepare.  This year we'll be much better prepared and with Skaifey at every round for his TV commentary duties, we'll be able to get him in the car much more often.That means we'll be able to keep him sharp and on the pace which is important because each year the competition gets tougher and tougher.Also, Skaifey should be able to help us develop the car throughout the season.I'm absolutely delighted. Skaifey was always my first choice as co-driver.  He's also rapt and looking forward to the challenge.He says the surroundings are familiar and the car is the one he wants to be in.  Of course, the only problem is that with him on six Bathurst wins and me on five, if we keep drving together on the mountain, I'll never be able to catch up or beat his wins.But hey, I wouldn't be too disappointed if after Bathurst this year I've got six and he's got seven.  We have a whole new team structure and some new people this season so it'll be interesting to see how the new team dynamic shapes up.Our first test will be at Eastern Creek in Sydney this weekend when all the V8 Supercar teams will be present for a shake-down and fan day.  It should be a very special occasion, even though we don't race at Eastern Creek in the V8 calendar. That should make it a neutral base for all the teams, no matter what manufacturer or where the team is based.We have to use the hard tyre up until lunch time, then we swap to the soft tyre in the arvo so we get an opportunity to test both set-ups on the one track.  Because we are returning this year with basically the same car as last year plus a few minor tweaks made over the break, we will just be sorting out the plumbing and working on any problems that arise.There won't be any testing for lap times or speed as the track is not relevant for that.  Apart from giving the teams a chance to set up their cars for the year, it will also be a great opportunity for the fans to see all the new liveries and get some autographs.The event should attract a huge crowd as we don't get to Sydney on a permanent track throughout the year.  I'll also be making a mental note of who is driving what and the new colour schemes so I can pick them out in the rearview mirror.I'm sure the drivers will also be happy to get in behind the wheel again after a long break and shake out some of the cobwebs before we get to Abu Dhabi in a couple of weeks.In the meantime, I'll get another hit-out in the driver's seat when I compete in an Audi R8 in the Bathurst 12-Hour.  I couldn't be in a better team. The Audi Sport Team Joest is the most successful Le Mans team of all time with 11 wins under its belt.Even though the car will take some getting used to, at least I know the track very well and should make a good impression.  Could it lead to something else? Who knows?This is just a first step for me and we'll see what we can deliver.  Hopefully I can forge a relationship with the team that could lead to something bigger and better like a Le Mans 24 Hour race.Roland was good enough to allow my race engineer, Jeromy to come down to observe the race.  It will be a great learning experience for him to see how one of the world's greatest motorsport teams operates.He'll also be able a help to me in the sense that it will be a familiar face and he might also be able to interpret any problems I have with car setup to the other engineers.  He may also be able to give them an insight into how we operate.I spent Australia Day picking up my neighbour and motocross training partner, George Knight, from the hospital after he crashed his dirt bike.  It's a good sport to help me train for racing, but his crash is a warning. Crashing is one of those things I'm always very conscious of.I always thought it would be me having an accident not him with all his experience.  I wish him a speedy recovery as well as V8 driver Jason Richards.I got an email to say he's seeking treatment in the US for his cancer.  You hear about people getting cancer, but when you get someone fairly close to you in the industry it hits home pretty hard.  I'd love to see him back on track for the sake of his family, but also because he's a great competitor.

I was away in Melbourne with the family visiting dad when the floods hit.  We got back last Saturday and ever since I"ve been busy cleaning up the mess, helping neighbours transport vehicles over washed-out gullies and bridges and getting petrol. The town has nearly run out what with all the generators running to keep power going.It's been a sad start to the year.  V8 Supercar drivers, race teams and staff have helped with various methods of raising money for the victims, many of which are avid V8 supporters. Team Vodafone is auctioning off some hot laps with me and Jamie Whincup.  It was also great to see a lot of other sporting codes contributing manpower to the clean-up and keeping the morale up.But it was devastating to hear that Peter Champion's museum of Brock race cars at Yeppoon is closing because of what the floods have done to the state's tourism industry.Peter's done a wonderful job of resurrecting Brocky's cars and historical memorabilia and displaying them in a single area. I spoke to him at Homebush at the last round and he was thinking about relocating. I certainly hope so.From a team perspective, the floods have had very little impact. We had no flood waters at the Banyo workshop and minimal disruption to staff.Our first outing is at Eastern Creek next weekend for the mandatory test day for all V8 teams.  It's a track I love and it's a real shame we don't have it on our race calendar any more.However, that makes it the perfect neutral place for al the teams to test and for the fans to have their first look at the new livery cars and driver line-ups.  Usually there's a bit of change with drivers moving between teams in the off-season, but this time there has been a team merry-go-round, mainly among race engineers.Happily, I still have Jeremy Moore as my race engineer and while some teams like DJR have been broken up, ours has stayed together. We've even expanded with Williams F1 engineer John Russell now heading up the team.I can understand race engineers changing teams with the drivers, because you develop an important relationship and bond.  If I was to move, I would want to take my engineer with me just like Valentino Rossi did with Jeremy Burgess.It's like a marriage. You develop an understanding of what you want from the car and how you translate that to your engineer and how he translates that into changes on the car.At the moment most of my planning is going into the Bathurst 12 Hour race next month.  Unfortunately, we don't get a chance to test  the Audi R8 race car before the event, so it will be a matter of going to Bathurst - which we know fairly well - and trying to get to know the car and its traits as quickly as possible.The car will have different aero to what I'm used to in a V8 Supercar and a totally different feel being mid-engined, so there is a lot to get my head around very quickly.  We're lucky to have co-drivers like Warren Luff and Mark Eddy who are also veterans of the Mt Panorama circuit, but it remains to be seen how quickly the German team come to terms with the mountain.Still, I reckon we're in with a good chance to challenge the favoured Porsche 911s for outright honours.  I didn't get to watch any of the recent Dakar Rally, but after competing in and winning my first Australasian Safari I was obviously very interested and kept up with progress on line.My Safari co-driver, Kees Weel, also kept me up to date with the rally because his company supplied the radiators to the VW Touraegs that finished 1-2-3.  I heard about Bruce Garland dropping out with broken vertebrae. That's a shame as he was running quite strongly and had a really good shot at the top 10.Hopefully one day I'll get to compete in the Dakar, but I was quite happy to have a break over Christmas.  It's been the first Christmas in a few years the whole Triple Eight team has been able to shut up shop, have a break and not build a race car.We're all heading back into HQ this week to go through the changes we've made and Jeromy tells me the car has more finesse.  Because we've had so few changes, the team is much better prepared than we were this time last year when we were scrambling to finish off the new Holdens.Having said that we hit the ground running with a 1-2 in the first race in the Mid East, so we really can't do much better than that this year.

After interest from a number of parties and a drawn-out processes of trying to get the vehicle here, the KTM X-Bow has been confirmed for low-volume import by the DIY Group, who have done a deal with KTM-Sportscar AG.The Audi-powered two-seater will initially be on sale only as a track and motorsport car, but DIY managing director Paul Burfitt says the company is going through the approval processes to get the carbon-fibre pocket rocket approved for road registration in Australia."The first car should be here in January - we're awaiting the authority for that road test development vehicle to get into the process for road-use approval.  Currently we can supply for motorsport use only, they're approved for road use in the European Union, we have to go through the process here which could take up to 12 months," he says.The asking price for the range won't be bargain-basement but the KTM X-Bow Clubsport, likely to be the most popular model, should slot in well under $150,000."There's a new range of power parts coming, suspension, brakes, exhaust, body additions that are now available as well for 2011, that will be part of the pricing so we're still working on final pricing," Mr Burfitt says.The car will factory-built right-hand drive in three of the four models - the Street, Clubsport, Superlight and the left-hand drive GT4.  Performance per dollar will be exceptional, as the X-Bow tips the scales at a featherweight 790kg.Given it is propelled by a 177kW/310Nm two-litre intercooled turbocharged four-cylinder engine with a six-speed manual gearbox, expect Ferrari-esque pace in the region of 3.9 seconds for the sprint to 100km/h.  The ability to wipe off speed is similarly good - KTM claims the X-Bow's Brembo brakes need only 32.9 metres to go from 100 km/h to a standstill.Mr Burfitt says the desire to see the car on Australian roads has been the driving force behind the two-year project.  "I'm not expecting to sell heaps of them, if we can move 5 to 10 a year we'd be wrapped, I love my cars and I want to see it in the country."We're planning plenty of things with the car - it will be in the Murray Walker Extreme Machines at the Clipsal 500 and we're planning to run it in Targa Tasmania next year as well, with a V8 Supercar driver lined up to get behind the wheel," he says.

The original word was that he was going to stay with Ford and had a handshake deal to go to FPR.  Now he's changed his views and apparently is signing up with HRT.  I suppose it's not called the silly season for nothing.I've been there and done that myself, so I can't say I blame him.  He's naturally looking for the best opportunities for himself and his sponsors to win races next year and he feels he has to look outside his team because of the internal strife they've had this year.There are a few other movements around the pits, notably Will Davison apparently moving from HRT to FPR.  For both Will and James it will be interesting times swapping manufacturers, but it won't be anything like the controversy that I've experienced in my two switches.There are a lot more manufacturer swaps among drivers these days and they will become more common as drivers look for the best opportunities and as more and more fans follow a driver or team, rather than a manufacturer.The season couldn't have finished in more bizarre circumstances with the two red flags at Sandown in the second-last round and then the top five crashing out in similar circumstances in last Saturday's race.Some people say that race should have been red flagged like the Sandown races and that might have yielded a completely different championship result.  But I think it was the right decision to allow the race to continue under a safety car and then re-start.They managed to clear the circuit very quickly, the track wasn't blocked and there were no safety issues, so there was no need for a red flag.The crashes happened because teams and drivers made the wrong decision on tyres. Bright and a few others made the right decision and they benefited, so good luck to them.I had radioed my race engineer Jeromy (CORRECT) Moore and said we should get the wets ready but I didn't imagine it was that wet at the time.  The previous lap the track hadn't changed condition, but on the restart the rain had come down at that corner and it was like a river.I nudged the wall but got around the corner without any major damage only to find James stopped right in front of me with no way to avoid him.  I aquaplaned right up the back of him but it didn't do as much damage to his car as mine because the back of these cars is basically cosmetic, not structural.On Monday night we had our annual awards night in Sydney. It's the one time each year I actually get dressed up!  But it was quite strange this year for me because it was the first one I've been to without my wife, Nat. She's been recovering from an illness and couldn't make it.It was still a great night and our engineers gave an inspiring speech when they accepted the best team award.I've also thought about my own choices for awards.  Best and fairest driver award went naturally to James, but I would split the award into fairest which would probably be Frosty and best which would be my teammate Jamie just going by his race wins and pole positions.We won the best team award and I think we deserved it from then number of wins, poles and enduro round victories.  Most improved driver and team award went to Paul Dumbrell and his team which is fair enough, but I'd also like to recognise Alex Davison, Tim Slade and Tony D'Alberto and their teams.The best event award went to Townsville which I thought put on a great show. I think an award should also go for the best race and that should be the last race at the Gold Coast. The closing stages with Shane van Gisbergen chasing Jamie were incredibly exciting.I'd also like to give a best track award to Abu Dhabi for the great facilities.  If I could give an award for best passing move it would be James's move on Jamie at Winton around the outside on turn two.Biggest crash award would have to go to Fabian Coulthard for his massive roll at Bathurst. It was amazing to see him get out and walk away from that crash. It was a testament to the safety in our industry.  And finally I'd give an award to the stewards. Normally we bag them for being inconsistent but largely they did a pretty good job this year.For me, it was one of my best years yet, despite finishing fourth in the championship.  I've achieved what I wanted to achieve this year winning both of the enduros and staying in championship contention for much of the season, while winning the Australasian Safari was an unexpected bonus.I didn't expect to have an opportunity to race in the Safari, let alone win it.  For me the season has finished on a higher note than it began.If you look back on the whole year, it shows I need to be more consistent at the beginning. There were no problems with the back half of the season, only some bad luck.  Also, there have been occasions where we could have finished the race with some points instead of not finishing at all. That certainly hurt my chances.This is my last column after a very long and hectic year that started in February in the Mid East and finished just before Christmas in Sydney and included the Safari and the release of my first book.So over the Christmas holidays I'm planning on doing absolutely nothing.  Basically I'm going to sit at home and spend some time with family and friends, especially Nat who I haven't been able to spend near as much time with over the past few months as I would have liked.I hope all my fans also get to spend some valuable time these holidays with the people they love.

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."

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.

He will need to be faster than a speeding Ferrari and more powerful than a pair of McLarens to have any chance of lifting the world title- and that's without worrying about the Red Bull family feud with Sebastian Vettel who took pole position.Basically, Webber must get ahead of championship leader Fernando Alonso to have any chance.He did not help himself when he only qualified fifth for the duel in the desert, but his grid spot for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was not helped by only using one set of qualifying tyres and a surprising lack of speed on the two big straights at the Yas Marina course.Even so, Webber - arguably the toughest bloke in F1 - is not giving up."I did not expect to be fifth, I expected to be further up. But that is what happened," Webber admitted after qualifying."Of course I am not rapt with the qualifying today. It was the crucial session that did not come together for us, which is a shame."But he has not given up his world title hopes, even with Lewis Hamilton promising a go-for-broke run at the front, Alonso sitting tight on a solid series lead, and outgoing world champion Jenson Button pipping him in the final seconds of qualifying."The script is impossible to predict tomorrow. Let's have a look at the end, and the world champion - one second after the race they will give it to him, whoever he is."It is not handed out yet. So, if it was a one lap race it would maybe be not so good. But it is a two hour race and things can change."Webber was quick enough to be a serious contender through the three practice sessions at the gorgeous Yas Marina circuit and was clearly baffled when he slipped down the final order."It is one of the first times this year I have looked at the pit board and said, 'I really cannot do that time'. Because most of the time I can always react to the pit board with the lap time and get back in the fight, but tonight in the last Q3 I could not do that."In contrast, Vettel was bouncing like a puppy after claiming his tenth pole position of the season with a Red Bull RB6 that has been the car to beat all season. He is a long shot for the championship but if Alonso has problems and Webber cannot improve then he could become the youngest driver to lift the crown."My season has been up and down and we should be in a different position and we are not. Still we are in a strong position," Vettel said."We put the car on pole here which is crucial for tomorrow's race. It is long race, a lot of things can happen. We will see."Hamilton is likely to be very quick, and his McLaren has been strong on the straights all year, but everyone in the field is looking at Alonso as he builds towards his third world title and his first championship at Ferrari."I'm confident. I've been confident for the past five months of the championship. Now there is one day to go," Alonso said."This year also I feel the team supporting a lot. I feel very happy in the car. It is a great, great year for me."ABU DHABI GRAND PRIXSTARTING GRID1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault2. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes3. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari4. Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes5. MARK WEBBER, Red Bull-Renault6. Felipe Massa, Ferrari7. Rubens Barrichello, Williams-Cosworth8. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes-Benz9. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes-Benz10. Vitaly Petrov, Renault11. Robert Kubica, Renault12. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber-Ferrari13. Adrian Sutil, Force India-Ferrari14. Nick Heidfeld, Sauber-Ferrari15. Nico Hulkenberg, Williams-Cosworth16. Tonio Liuzzi, Force India-Ferrari17. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso-Ferrari18. Sebastian Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari19. Jarno Trulli, Lotus-Cosworth20. Hekki Kovalainen,Lotus-Cosworth21. Timo Glock, Virgin-Cosworth22. Lucas di Grassi, Virgin-Cosworth23. Bruno Senna, Hispania-Cosworth24. Christian Klien, Hispania-Cosworth  

Every round from now until the end is do or die for me with less than 300 points separating me from James Courtney and Jamie Whincup and only three rounds to go.  I'm enjoying how close the top three are in the championship. It makes the season more exciting for the fans.If I can maintain touch with the leaders I will press all the way until the final Sunday at Homebush.  That round is another street circuit and we know what a high attrition rate they have, so don't count me out yet. Jamie only had to get a handful of points in Sydney last year and he almost threw his championship away running into the walls a couple of times.I'm looking forward to this weekend's racing in Launceston. I've won two rounds there before and had a couple of seconds two years ago. But last year we had problems with brakes.The Symmons Plains circuit is demanding on brakes because it's only 2.4km long with two really heavy brake applications about 30 seconds apart.  Also, because it's about 500m shorter than Darwin, Townsville or the Gold Coast, the key is track position. It's easy to go a lap down even if you have a bad pit stop, so you have to start with a good qualifying session and a prime grid position.There is also the big problem of lapped traffic on a short circuit and all the chaos that can create.  While I'm still focussed on these last three rounds, I'm also looking forward to next year with the 2011 V8 calendar being released this week.It was unfortunate that we couldn't fit in with Bahrain's busy international race calendar.  We've gone there for the past four years and had just started to get a good fan base among the ex-pats. They originally thought it was only going to be a one-off thing like China so they'll be disappointed. At least we still have Abu Dhabi.I was also disappointed that the expected round in Singapore has been postponed a year. Every time you go to a new circuit, especially outside of Australia, it's a great opportunity to showcase our cars and our sport.I'm still not sure whether our calendar clashes with the Australasian Safari. Apparently the Safari organisers are releasing their dates next week and are planning to move it forward to August.I'm hoping it will co-ordinate with a break in our calendar because my co-driver, Kees Weel, and I would love to go back and defend our title.Thankfully the huge mid-season break we had this year has been abandoned. I thought it was too long not only for us as race drivers, but more so for the fans who get itchy feet.It's good for the longevity of our sport that Perth is back in the calendar. It's also important for Western Australia to be included to make it a truly national sport. We have a great following over there.I can't wait to see the modifications they plan to do to the circuit.  The same goes for Ipswich which seems to be firmed up on the calendar for the next few years.They are doing some resurfacing at Christmas time. It would be good if they could not only smooth it out but also take the opportunity to extend it.My teammate and I are not only competing on the track but also on the bookshelves.  Jamie's new book, "My Championship Year" is written in personal diary style.I had a similar title, but his came out first so we changed mine to "Inside Line" which is a look inside a year around the team and the car.  It was a great opportunity to reflect and put pen to paper.Motorsport journalist Mark Fogarty came up to the farm at Kilcoy about four times during the year and we had endless conversations on the phone and Skype about it, so it was fairly time consuming.  Everything was in my brain and we just had to get it down on paper.There are a lot of V8 Supercar books out at the moment including Mark Skaife's and a new book about Peter Brock's early career.  I think it's a great demonstration of the sport's health and depth of interest in our sport that so many books can be on the market at the same time.

... and include former Formula One stars such as Martin Brundle, Jean Alesi and David Coulthard.V8 Supercars Australia boss Tony Cochrane said there was a possibility that all cars in the field could have an international driver next year if the formula proves a success this weekend. The 18 international drivers gathered at Queensland Raceway yesterday for a "Rookies Day" of familiarisation with the cars they will race at Surfers Paradise this weekend. Only half of the drivers have raced a V8 Supercar before."If ticket sales are anything to go by, it will be a success," Cochrane said. "Sales are up on last year. We're on target for 150,000 to 175,000 people this weekend. When we took over the event we had a three-year plan to get it back to its former glory. The previous promoter did a poor job really."After the IndyCars withdrew from the event in 2008, the promoters replaced them with the A1GP series, but it went bankrupt last year and V8 Supercars Australia took over the event.In February the new promoters suggested adding international co-drivers to ensure Queensland Government funding of $6.5m.Sport Minister Phil Reeves said the government had a contract with V8 Supercars Australia and it was "up to them" how they spent the money."This event will go on to bigger and better things," he said. "We're going to have to look at the (ticket) numbers over the weekend and whether we'll have something to do with it in the future."He said the event was important for the economy and accommodation bookings were going "really well".Cochrane described the line-up of international drivers as "arguably the best line-up of drivers in any touring car race in the world"."This is a ripper of a formula," he said. "But it's expensive. Our budget for the weekend is north of $16m."He wouldn't say how much they had paid for the drivers."These are the best drivers in the world," he said. "We rang around quietly at first to gauge interest and were blown away with the level of enthusiasm. Next year this event falls between the Korean and Indian F1 GPs so we could have former F1 drivers such as Jean Alessi, David Coulthard and Martin Brundle. It is realistic to see those names next year if we have an international driver in every car in the field. We've had a lot of drivers in the last two weeks asking if there is a last-minute drop-out."Three-time world touring car champion Andy Priaulx of the UK, who will co-drive with reigning Bathurst  champion Craig Lowndes, agrees that the standard of international drivers is high."Everyone in motorsport overseas knows about Bathurst and the drivers go back with a high opinion of the drivers, the cars and the teams," he said. "It's always a pleasure to come here and drive. The positive spin we can bring from competing here is with the foreign media. I'd love to come back again next year."Priaulx admitted that few Australian motorsport fans would know who he was."Hopefully being partnered with Craig, they will like me."Marino Franchitti, brother of IndyCar champion Dario who is co-driving with championship leader James Courtney, isn't racing but hopes to compete next year."James Courtney is my best mate and I was his best man at his wedding and he told me to bring my race suit, just in case," he said. "It's a big race with all the international drivers, but I think they could have filled up double the cars with the number of drivers who wanted to do it. It's such a great idea and it will get bigger and bigger every year."

David Beckham kicked Kylie Minogue off top spot in the latest quarterly results from Millward Brown, a research company with 35 years experience in the UK.The results rank celebrities according to their 'star power', assessing everything from their buzz to how they score as a role model and their likeability.Stephen Fry is now the most-likeable celebrity with veteran actresses Joanna Lumley, Judi Dench and Helen Mirron rated as the most-positive role models, with Amy Winehouse, Katie Price and Ashley Cole as the most negative.Results of the rankings are compiled from 2000 consumer interviews about 100 celebrities and 100 brands.The UK celebrity top 10 are (previous ranking in brackets)1) David Beckham (3)2) Ant & Dec (4)3) Kylie Minogue (1)4) Will Smith (20)5) Lewis Hamilton (14)6) Judi Dench (12)7) Joanna Lumley (5)8) Cheryl Cole (2)9) Jamie Oliver (7)10)Gary Lineker (n/a)