Race track

"Smooth and committed," he says. "Especially across the top of the mountain you have to be committed, hit all your marks and carry the momentum." Lowndes says the way he drives the Mt Panorama circuit is almost identical to how his teammate, Jamie Whincup, attacks the track."The beauty and the strength of this team is that we drive the car very similar in all respects; in line, set-up and what we want out of the car," he says. "For us it's very similar even in our comments to the pit crew and how we read the car."Lowndes said that despite the extra fuel stops this year for the less-efficient ethanol fuel, he and Whincup would be likely to swap at every stop, rather than doing double stints."The pit stops will be long enough to do a driver change and a fresh driver is better than doing a double stint. "One of our team's strengths is that the two of us are consistently fast, so it doesn't matter who is in the car." In a break from the past three years, the team is using Lowndes' race engineer, Jeromy Moore, for the endurance races."Phillip Island was a good warm-up for him and there is no doubt he's up to the challenge," Lowndes said. "If he needs a hand we have a great depth of talent in the pits."Lowndes talks us through a flying lap of the 6.213km anti-clockwise circuit. "Exiting turn one, or Hell Corner, is important as Mountain Straight is long and you want to get as much terminal speed as you can by the end. "I select fifth at top of the crest and carry it all the way through to turn two. You know if you are on a good lap if you hit the rev limiter just before braking marker into turn two. "Then it's back to third through the Griffins Bend and dodge the kangaroos and stray tyres. "I grab fourth leading up to and into the first part of The Cutting, because there is a little kink entering the corner. "Then I grab second and hold a tight line close to the concrete wall on the exit and short shift to third as it runs over a little bump which kicks the car into oversteer."I hold that gear all the way up the right hander under the tree and grab fourth which you carry all the way across the top into Skyline. "There's no chance to catch a breath here, thought, because there are areas where you need to pinpoint your track position or you will crash. "You know when you have that line right because you hit the limiter just before Skyline."You brake back to third as you drop off Skyline and go down through the Esses, braking back to second for the Dipper. "On the exit to the dipper you are hard on the throttle up to third for the run down to Forest Elbow. "Here you can lock up the front right tyre so you have to be careful as you grab second and fire it into the exit."You need a good clean exit because from there you are flat all the way down Conrod Straight working the gear up to sixth. "You are flat into the Chase at 297km/h which is the fastest on any circuit in Australia. "To pass on the left like I've done before you have to be committed. Get it wrong and you are gone. "Then it's hard braking back to third for the left and right out of the Chase."You grab fourth gear just as you approach the last turn into Murray's Corner, then hard on the brakes, into second and then hard on the gas for the run to the flag."

We've had a full month off to prepare for Bathurst and now we are getting close to crunch time. It's not only the cars that have to get prepared but also the drivers. I've stepped up the physical training to cope, not only for the special demands of Bathurst, but also the last part of the year.From Bathurst, it's a race every two weeks until the end of the year. One minute you are racing at Bathurst and the next thing you know you are sitting down for Christmas lunch with the family. It's a gruelling schedule and a right royal battle all the way to the finish.So we have to get our fitness right before next weekend because we are pumping it for the rest of the year. I suppose this will be pretty much what it will be like next year with the two condensed halves of the season with racing every fortnight and a nine-week break in the middle.I don't do anything massively special in my training except to modify frequency to cope with the two or three driving stints we do at Bathurst. So instead of one training session a day we do several sessions a day to get used to switching on and off and recovering quickly.Generally we have one big race per day, so we warm up, compete and cool down. The body gets used to that. Bathurst is more like a game of footy with two halves so you work hard, put in the big effort, then recover as quick as you can and then go back out there and put in again for the next half.Speaking of footy, I'm really looking forward to the grand final this weekend. I'm originally from Melbourne so I'm a big Storm fan and I'm hoping they can make it two out of four. Going by their form of last week it's looking good. I'll probably catch up at the local with a few mates and watch the game as we did with the AFL final. It's an amazing time of the year for sport with the footy finals and then Bathurst.We did our final testing at Queensland Raceway on Monday. There were no issues that surfaced. It was all fairly routine. We weren't trying to go for times or speed, we just ran in all our equipment for the race over about 10 laps to make sure everything is running well. Then we get everything crack tested and that goes in Saturday night for the big race on Sunday.We also did plenty of driver changes and pitstop practice. It's great news to hear that Casey Stoner is fit and ready to return to MotoGP this weekend in Portugal after his lay-off with a mystery illness.They say it's chronic fatigue syndrome but no one knows for sure. I think he just needed a bit of a much-deserved rest. We went overseas quite young and has been pushing really hard for a long time. I can relate to that. I've been pushing hard since I started as a kid in karting.Every sportsman can knows that to stay at the elite level as he has it takes a lot of energy and mentally it's extremely tough. I hope he will come back feeling refreshed, motivated and strong. He clearly is an awesome rider as no one has been able to handle that Ducati like he has.If his mind is in the right place he should be really competitive. I wish him luck and I'll be glued to the TV at the weekend cheering him on. I haven't received anymore details about the Race of Champions in Beijing next month. All I know is we're 100 per cent committed and ready to go. I get to drive a WRC car which should be fantastic plus a KTM buggy and some other great racing cars.It'll be a great experience to race against some of the world's best drivers. 

Things were looking good when he headed to Japan last weekend in first place after a breakthrough win

We are spending the whole time getting prepared for the most important race of the season. We have our final test day at Queensland Raceway next Monday where we will run in all our parts and fine tune the car set-up from Phillip Island.There isn't a huge amount of difference between Phillip Island and Bathurst circuits as far as car set up is concerned. They are both high-speed circuits with a lot of grip so set-up is fairly similar, so we won't be making major changes, just fine-tuning things. We had a quick car at Phillip Island so we are confident we will have a quick car for Bathurst.Our test day will also include a lot more pit stop and driver change practices.I know the Euro boys (Allan Simonsen of Denmark and James Thompson of England are driving the team's 88 car) are champing at the bit to get to Bathurst and drive on the best circuit in Australia. So is Troy Bayliss. Unfortunately he didn't get a chance to drive at Phillip Island after mechanical problems.The two-time World Superbikes champion is now retired from motorcycle racing and is loving his switch to cars. I'm sure he will be back at Bathurst and show his talents. He's also looking to try to race a V8 more often next year.It is disappointing to see that Queensland Raceway in Ipswich and Barbagallo in Perth are listed as provisional on next year's calendar. But their facilities really do need some work. We need garages in pit lane instead of bunkers like we have in Perth and Ipswich. Every other circuit is designed to have the cars in pit lane, so why not them?There is also a lack of corporate facilities at these circuits and our sports relies on having first-class facilities for guests and sponsors. It's like the AFL or NRL with their big grounds and corporate facilities. It makes the sport more professional.Fingers crossed they will both update their facilities because they are great circuits to drive on and the fans deserve to be entertained in quality surroundings. There has also been some valid criticism of the season starting with a double-header in February in the Mid East.Naturally the Aussie fans don't want to see the opener offshore. It's not ideal but if you look at the grand scheme of things it makes sense to do the races together at that time of the year and get them over with.I'm one to speak my mind on all matters whether anyone disagrees or not and I'm the first to say if the wrong call has been made, but I think this is a fantastic improvement to the season. The organisers have made some big calls recently and got a lot of stuff done and they deserve some credit for the effort.I've accepted to represent Australia in the Race of Champions being held in November in Beijing for the first time. What a great honour just to be invited as I will be racing against the worlds best in a variety of different cars and racing disciplines.Some of our competitors look like being Formula One drivers Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button as well as World Rally championship leader Mikko Hirvonen.I hope I can do Australia proud and I hope I can still put in a good performance in Phillip Island straight after. I hope I dont come back jet-lagged. It's a risk, but I'd also hate to have knocked back the invitation and look back later and wish I had done it. 

...including seven-times F1 champion Michael Schumacher in the Race of Champions.The annual competition between the top drivers from Formula One, Nascar, World Rally Championships and other formats will be held in November in Beijing for the first time.V8 Supercar champion and current series leader Whincup said he was "pumped" to have been asked to compete. He was given the all-clear to compete by Team Vodafone principal Roland Dane yesterday.Some of the drivers who have been confirmed for the event include Formula One drivers Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button as well as World Rally championship leader Mikko Hirvonen. "Talk about thrown in at the deep end," Whincup said. "I always said I wanted to do some overseas races and this is the first of many."Whincup last month re-signed with Team Vodafone for three years after considering offers to race overseas. He said his re-signing would also include opportunities such as the race of Champions for overseas one-off races.

Organising committee chairman Garry Connelly said Rally Australia would alternate each year with New Zealand and would return in two years. "We won't know the exact dates for a while as the FIA usually announce the calendar in December the year before," he said. "We'd prefer it at roughly the same time which is perfect because it's just before the school holidays and the weather is usually stunning. "We had perfect weather all weekend with a storm early Saturday morning which just settled the dust."He confirmed that the Speed on Tweed classic street rally would again be a part of the event. More than 70,000 people attended over the four days of the rally, exceeding targets by 80 per cent. "We were very conservative in our crowd estimates for the first year," Connelly said. "We always said we didn't expect a large crowd in the first year. "But it does mean we are going to have to plan more spectator points. "We had a few little complaints about parking, toilets and exit from the stages because we were just overwhelmed with so many cars and people. We were just swamped. "But it will be solved. Any event that rest on its laurels is doomed to fail."Connelly said they had less than a year to organise the event. "That is too short for a new event in a new location."He said organisers were working with police to prevent another disruption by protesters. Two stages of the rally were cancelled on Friday after protesters threw rocks at competitors' cars. "Unfortunately the teams did see the vocal minority, but I think what left a bad taste was the radical actions of what I would estimate were less than six people who did dangerous things," Connelly said. "We're working with the police on a strategy for that but we're not making that public."Connelly, who was awarded a member in the general division of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen's Birthday honours list this year for service to motor sport, said they had "just enough volunteers"."We had more than 1000 volunteers from all over Australia, including a huge contingent from Perth who wanted to get their 20-year awards for being officials, as well as New Zealand, Japan, Finland, US and Great Britain who flew here at their own expense."We had an email from the Ford team which won the event asking us to congratulate the volunteers because the team couldn't find one error or mistake by any of them over the entire rally." 

This will be the final year of the championship being a one-day event, with the growing popularity of the sport leading to it having a multi-round format in 2010. The Drift Nationals will also be the final major event held at the popular Sydney circuit before it closes at the end of the year.Drift Australia director James Fava says the organisation is excited by the potential of drifting in Australia, and are fully committed to its development. “Our aim is to take the awareness of Drifting as a competitive sport to a whole new level and I think the 2009 Drift Nationals at Oran Park will be a great starting point leading into a full championship in 2010,” Fava says.This year’s competition will see 32 drivers battle for the crown as Australian Drift Champion, while the country’s best emerging drifters will also hit track in the Super Drift Series. “The 2009 Drift Nationals will feature the best line-up of drifters ever assembled in Australia,” Fava says.Off-track entertainment will include Remote Control Drifting – a groundbreaking version of the main event — an automotive trade show, a CarWars Show featuring the best builders and modifiers in the country and a Pioneer Sound-Off.One lucky event goer will also win their very own track-ready drift car – a track-ready Nissan Silvia – thanks to SABER, including lessons from leading Drift Australia driver Wiehrl, who finished third in the 2007 Drift Australia Series.Powered by Nissan’s renowned SR20DET engine, the Silvia features the finest components from a number of leading drift suppliers, including a SABER intercooler and radiator. Steering and suspension expertise from D-Project, an Xtreme Drift Clutch and Federal’s SS 595 tyres provide optimum performance across the board.Carsguide has 50 double passes to the Drift Nationals at Oran Park on September 20. To enter, in the comment field below tell us who was the 2008 Drift National champion. Entries close at midday on Friday, September 11. Winners will be notified by email by 5.30pm Friday.This competition has now closed. 

Not because we were trying to make the car go any faster, but because of all the pitstops we did. Lowndes and I have all the enduro bits and bolts ready to go on his car for Phillip Island and Bathurst and there is not much more we can do to it.Instead, we spent our third test day of the year fine-tuning all the ergonomics in the car and practising driver changes for the endurance races. We're the same size, height and shape so there are no major changes needed, but the cars are getting harder and harder each year to get in and out of. There are more bars and safety precautions in the car these days which makes driver changes very difficult.I've been stretching the hamstrings in preparation over the last couple of weeks. You need to be loose and flexible and almost do the splits just to get in and out. It's not so bad getting out of the car after a stint racing over the mountain because you are all warmed up and quite flexible.But getting into the car is quite difficult. You land on a hard seat made of carbon composite, you hit your knees on the dashboard, scar your knuckles on something sharp and chip your helmet on the roll bar. So yesterday was a pretty brutal day physically for us just getting in and out of the car about 100 times. At the end of the day we were pretty bruised and battered.We will do a heap more practices between now and Phillip Island next week and we really want to be at our maximum for Bathurst. All those areas where we whacked ourselves against something hard should be nicely callused by then.And our team physiotherapist Chris Brady will be pretty busy. There's not much he can do about the bruises, but he will be working hard to keep us loose. It hasn't happened before but it is quite easy to get a cramp or strain a muscle doing a driver change and that would be a tragedy at the start of a driving stint.Meanwhile, the crew also had a big day practising brake pad changes and tyre changes. We're all now getting pretty excited about the coming enduro season. You may have seen the ads for Bathurst with Lowndesy running. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of my three Bathurst wins and I have the trophies sitting at home to remind me. But Brocky was King of the Mountain and Lowndesy was his protege, so that's ok by me that they feature him in the promotions.It's going to be a great few weeks for sport with the coming footy finals and then Bathurst. I'm a Hawthorn fan and my mate Will Davison is an Essendon fan and we played each other last week and the Bombers won so we're out. But I'm hoping my other favourite team, Storm, will do better in the finals. I love this time of year. It's always entertaining to watch champions doing what they do best.And that's why I will do everything I can to get down to the Tweed this weekend to see the action in Rally Australia. Citroen driver Sebastian Loeb is leading the World Rally Championship and he is at his peak at the moment. Even if I only see him for two seconds as he goes past at Mach 1 it will be well worth the trip.

Bates has won a series of concessions which will allow him to drive his locally-built Toyota Corolla in Repco Rally Australia, which will run on the far north coast of NSW from September 3-6.It has taken a special homologation for the car, and a guest pass into the top group of drivers, to get Bates and Coral Taylor back into action following their failed defence of the Australian Rally Championship this year.The pair had a miserable local grand final with a stupid alternator problem on the first day of Rally SA in Adelaide, then were unable to start the final day because of engine trouble. They slipped to third in the series, behind their former Toyota team mates Simon and Sue Evans in a Mitsubishi Lancer."I left Adelaide thinking it could be all over for my top-line career," Bates admitted yesterday. "And it was a terrible way to finish." He and Taylor still pushed ahead with plans for a two-car Rally Australia entry, but expected their pair of Corolla S2000 cars to be driven by Darren Windus and Stewart Reid. But a surprise deal has been done and Bates is back for Rally Australia with Reid alongside and driving a car he hopes to buy after the event.Toyota, which withdrew from rallying this year as part of a major finanical cutback in Australia, has decided to celebrate the recent showroom success of its Corolla and the rally effort will also be backed by Carsguide.com.au "I'm excited. No, very, very excited," Bates said yesterday."I had given up on Rally Australia. I really didn't think it would be happening with me as a driver. But we were still trying to put something together and, with the help of a lot of friends, it's now going ahead. We are all incredibly enthused."Bates' entry will not be official until the starting list for Repco Rally Australia is confirmed, probably tomorrow, but he is likely to get a starting spot in the top 20 crews as an entry in the production world championship class. His closest rival will be Cody Crocker, a former Australian champion who has dominated the Asia- Pacific championship in recent years in a Subaru.Bates is still working on his Rally Australia plan and said he has not set a target yet. He never did well when Rally Australia was in Perth, but often ran in the top 10 against the world's best and scored sixth when he competed in Rally New Zealand. "Perth was never a good rally for me. I ran in a few high piositons but had a few problems," Bates said."My best would have been seventh or eight. But I went to NZ for the first time and got sixth, which was my best WRC result. "I've always really loved Rally Australia. I always wished it would be on the East coast and now it's happened. No-one has rallied on the roads before so that will be a big leveller""I think the format and route should suit me, with lots of hard-packed roads and the superspecial stage through the streets of Murmwillumbah. We've got a lot of work to do this week before we head north but there are a lot of smiling faces now in the workshop."

It is the first time Webber has been honoured by Australia Post and means he joins Peter Brock, Sir Jack Brabham and Alan Jones among the motorsport heroes who have been stamped.Details of the special issue, which will be announced later today, reflect Webber's success in the German Grand Prix on July 12.Each commemorative sheet of 10 stamps uses three pictures - a head shot, his car and a close-up of Webber's helmet - on the 55c stamps.The stamps are surrounded by images from the winning day, with an action shot, a picture of Webber with the winner's trophy and one with him spraying champagne.The souvenir stamp sheet costs $15.95.