December 2011
2 posts
1 tag
In the Driver's Seat with... Murph
It’s a bit of a common theme this year, tough race weekends. The racing was really great at the Sydney Telstra 500 – exciting for the fans, which is always great. But we had a few dramas and didn’t have the speed of other cars, so we struggled along, as our qualifying efforts were pretty poor.
In Sunday’s race, we had to start at the back of the pack for causing a red flag in qualifying, but at...
2 tags
In the Driver's Seat with... Frosty
It was great to be able to fight back the way we did in the 2011 season. We would have been very happy with a race win at mid-season let alone climbing to third in the drivers’ championship. We turned our year around quite a bit and to win the Sunday race at the Sydney Telstra 500 was very special.
So to finish in the championship and to win two races at two of the toughest street circuits, we...
November 2011
2 posts
2 tags
In the Driver's Seat with... GT
We head into the final event of the year, the Sydney Telstra 500, with a bit still to play for. We can still finish third in the championship, so for us it’s important to make sure we have a strong weekend.
We’ve had some success there in previous years – we won the first ever race there – but last year wasn’t too kind to us. It’s a very, very tough race; really hard on the cars and physically as...
2 tags
In the Driver's Seat with... J-Dub
We had an unbelievably disappointing race at Bathurst, where we led for most of the race before hitting trouble, and we lost the championship points lead. But that’s the crazy thing about motorsport, two weeks later at Surfers Paradise we bounced back and grabbed the lead back heading into the final three events of the season.
It was great to have that sort of performance on the Gold Coast. I’m a...
October 2011
2 posts
2 tags
In the Driver's Seat with... Frosty
We are very relieved to get a win in 2011. We’ve had a season that hasn’t been what we expected, so to get back into the winner’s circle at the Armor All Gold Coast 600 was great. And to do it on the soft tyres, having to pass Jamie Whincup, the most dominant driver this year, for the lead in a way he usually does to you – run you down, pass you and pull away – made it one of the sweetest wins...
2 tags
In the Driver's Seat with... Murph
I’ve had a really quiet, laidback week leading into Bathurst. The family and I went back to New Zealand, having some fun with mountain bikes and more – nice and relaxing before the season gets busy from Bathurst on.
We headed to Bathurst on Tuesday – reasonably early – and we’ve got a pretty easy lead in with not too many commitments. But it’s a case of waiting around and really wanting to hit...
September 2011
2 posts
2 tags
In the Driver's Seat with... GT
The L&H 500 at Phillip Island went very well for us, apart from what happened at the start of the race! We had a pretty good qualifying and ended up on the front row in second place, despite some dramas in my qualifying race. But then we had an issue on the grid with the starter motor that forced us to start from pitlane.
That put us behind the eight ball. But the team did a great job with...
2 tags
In the Driver's Seat with... J-Dub
I’ve been away flat-out for the last six weeks – hardly been at home – but I’ve had a lot of fun in that time. It all started in the Hunter Valley to do some promotion work with Craig (Lowndes). We both love our wine so it was great to check out the vineyards there. But the highlight of the break was the launch of the 2011 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Perisher last week.
It all started...
August 2011
2 posts
2 tags
In the Driver's Seat with Frosty
There haven’t been too many highlights from the track recently, sadly. We’ve struggled on the soft tyres, which has given us a real wake-up call on how to get on top of it. The Queensland Raceway event was the worst Ford Performance Racing has ever had. The soft tyres have proven to be a real issue for us, but the team has had a crisis meeting and we’ve all come up with ideas on how to address...
2 tags
In the Driver's Seat with... Murph
We’ve been pretty busy during this mid-season break, even though there hasn’t been much racing. I am getting a chance to go to the snow with the family for a few days, but the previous weeks have been full on with trips back to New Zealand, testing, meetings in the workshop and such, so this week I’ll be having a break before the second half of the season gets underway at Queensland Raceway.
...
July 2011
3 posts
2 tags
In the Driver's Seat with... GT
At the press conference after my win on Saturday at Townsville, I said that win was as important as the team has had in its recent history. I even compared it to a Bathurst win. It’s certainly not as big as a Bathurst win, as we know that’s the biggest race we have, but as far as importance goes, it was massive.
There have been so many changes within the organisation that it was important to get...
2 tags
In the Driver's Seat with... J-Dub
I’ve had great results up there in Townsville, but often left not feeling satisfied because we hadn’t had good results on the Sunday, only on the Saturdays. So I really wanted to win the race on Sunday – that was my main goal from the weekend.
There was so much going on throughout the week through Vodafone and to get the result we did – a one-two finish on the Sunday – was really rewarding for...
3 tags
In the Driver's Seat with... Frosty
In Darwin it was really good to be back on the pace and being a contender to win races again. That was where we really should be and it was nice to have all the hard work we’ve done pay off with car speed. We need to maintain that for the rest of the season and try and move up the ladder. But having three pole positions in a row is a pretty good achievement; we just need to turn that into a race...
June 2011
1 post
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with... Murph
The 2011 season has been showing promise, but we’ve suffered from a bit of inconsistency throughout the whole team. Rick Kelly has had a good set of results and we’ve looked good at certain sections. Sometimes we’d have really good stints and then doing nothing different and having bad stints, which we are putting down to those inconsistencies.
Things were looking promising at Winton in...
May 2011
2 posts
3 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...GT
After the Winton weekend we can reflect on a really good Sunday race and not such a good Saturday race. On Sunday we recovered from a bad car to be passing Jamie Whincup for the lead and ending the race in third place, which was a good result. We think we can challenge Whincup for the title. We’ve got to improve in some key areas, namely being more consistent. We have the package to be at the...
3 tags
In the Driver's Seat with J-Dub
This has been a really hectic two months of my life with just six days spent at home since I left for the Clipsal 500 on the Tuesday before the event. We were in Adelaide for the week, straight to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix and then a couple of days at home to do my washing and clean out my email inbox – or should I say half clean out – then I headed on a flight to Los Angeles and on...
April 2011
2 posts
3 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Frosty
It’s good to be going back to Perth this season. It was a major loss to the calendar not going there last season, and I’m sure they don’t want to lose the event off the calendar again. What they’ve done this year is put on a new format to really spice up the event. The qualifying format will be interesting. On the Sunday your fastest lap qualifies you for the first race and your second fastest...
3 tags
In the Driver’s seat with… Murph
This is the fourth year V8 Supercars has visited the Hamilton street circuit in New Zealand. It’s always a bit nerve-wracking coming back to New Zealand as you always feel some expectations. Obviously previous results at Pukekohe were quite strong, so we want to do well in front of the home crowd. I haven’t had great results at Hamilton since we have been running there; the performances have been...
March 2011
2 posts
3 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...GT
For us at Toll Holden Racing Team there have been some real highlights to the start of this season. Obviously that doesn’t include the first event of the season at Abu Dhabi, where we were crashed out of Race 2. But since then there have been some real highlights like winning the Saturday race in Adelaide, fighting back to fifth in the wet Sunday race, and going to the Australian Grand Prix and...
3 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...J-Dub
For me this is this is a really hectic month. It starts massively with the Clipsal 500 and then we go straight into the Australian Grand Prix. I then go over to the USA for a week with sponsor Komatsu, to their proving ground to drive some of their new big diggers, excavators and what not, which should be fun. Then a week later I go to New Zealand for the Hamilton round, so I’ve pretty much got...
November 2010
2 posts
3 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...J-Dub
Everyone is talking about the battle for the Championship at the moment with only two race meetings and four races remaining for the season. While its very much the business end of the V8 year I’d like to change the subject for something a little bit different and let people know about how I’m planning for my summer break.
Pic: J-Dub looking for a smooth run at Sandown
Credit: Justin Deeley
...
3 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...GT
For something a bit different I competed in the famous Noosa International Triathlon a week after the Gold Coast 600. It was physically the hardest thing I’ve ever done with the race itself comprising of what they call an Olympic distance triathlon with a 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run to finish. It was good to put that sort of thing in perspective as far as where we are at as racing drivers....
October 2010
4 posts
3 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Frosty
All eyes zoom in on the Gold Coast for the inaugural running of the Armour All 600, which has brought together a hugely talented field of international drivers, many of whom will be steering a V8 Supercar for the first time. It’s an interesting format and is going to be tough for a lot of the new guys. You saw at Bathurst two weeks ago guys like Ryan Briscoe, who is one of the most experienced...
3 tags
In the Driver's seat with...Murph
We have to shift focus from the biggest event of the year - Bathurst - to the Gold Coast Event which in itself is going to provide a huge challenge given the new format with the international drivers. It’s hard to adjust going from Bathurst with only two weeks until the Gold Coast and even harder if you manage to win the Great Race because you are not given a chance for it to sink in. As I’ve...
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...GT
We are at Mount Panorama for the biggest week of the year - the Bathurst 1000 - a race I’ve been lucky enough to win for the second time last year. A lot of people ask the question as to what it takes to win the greatest motor race in Australia? Well it’s a long, long race, a long week so you need all the obvious things. You need a really good co-driver and a really fast car, pit stops, good pit...
September 2010
1 post
6 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...J-Dub
I’m having a bit of an unusual build up to Bathurst on a couple of fronts. Firstly I’m off to the Denny (Deniliquin about 3.5hours drive north of Melbourne) Ute Muster this weekend which I’m sure is going to be a bit of a hoot as I’ve never been before but heard plenty about it. It’s going to be a bit of a laugh and they tell me its pretty rowdy. I’m flying into Melbourne and then I’m going up...
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Frosty
Since my last column we had a nice break in China. We were at a place near the border between China and Hong Kong so we weren’t going to run into anyone motorsport-related and it was just good to get away from it all for a while. It’s now back into re-focusing on the Championship and my team Ford Performance Racing used its fourth and final test day of the year at Winton last Monday. It was a...
August 2010
4 posts
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Murph
I guess there is a lot of interest in my progress at the moment following my back injury a couple of weeks ago. The recovery following the operation is going good and I’m quite surprised at how quickly it is coming right. But still it is not 100 per cent by any means. I think I’m probably about 75 per cent right at the moment. Unfortunately its one of those things where you have to be 100 per cent...
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...GT
One of the things that we’ve been able to step up quite a bit during the big winter break is the physical training side of our preparation. Traditionally you tend to taper your training going into race meetings and then recover on the other side of the race weekend with your training. Whereas with this two-month break we don’t have to worry about tapering, we just keep smashing the training week...
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...J-Dub
We’re halfway through the mid-season break and for me it’s important. I started the year not being completely ready to go to be honest. It sounds stupid as we had a great start winning all four races in the Middle East but we weren’t completely prepared with our new Holden Commodores. So we’ve been hanging out for this mid-season break to finally catch our breath and generally catch up on things....
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Frosty
At Ford Performance Racing it’s been announced that I’m with Luke Youlden for all three endurance races. It’s good to go into Phillip Island, Bathurst and the new format at the Gold Coast street race with experience. We’ve got a bit of a mix in our team with experience and youth as well with James Moffat driving with Steven Richards. Our priority is to try and win Bathurst which is one that has...
July 2010
4 posts
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Murph
We haven’t found ourselves in the ideal scenario that we had planned leading into the endurance side of the season. As many of the fans would be aware now, I have three different co-drivers for the three consecutive long distance races alongside me in the Castrol Commodore. On a lot of cases we are not in an ideal situation but as far as co-drivers go we’ve been very late getting this organised...
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...GT
We are heading into a two-month mid-season break and we are quite happy to have finished off the first half of the season pretty strongly. I think for the Toll Holden Racing Team it was important, given that our year has been up and down, to finish on an up. And really to bounce back at the Townsville street race from an average Darwin meeting in June was a prime objective, so from that point of...
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...J-Dub
I’ve lost the lead in the Championship and it’s been something like 500-odd days since I wasn’t on top of the point’s standings. We had a tough run at Queensland Raceway and then at Winton and it’s the first time since Bathurst 2008 that we lost the Championship lead. So since then for me life has revolved around motor sport and when I’m not winning it’s not that much fun.
To be honest I haven’t...
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Frosty
Coming off some nice results in Darwin it feels good to finally go to a track feeling happy. It will make a nice change going to Townsville next week compared to last year. We’ve had a couple of bad runs and it’s good to turn it around with a win in Darwin and get some more runs on the board for Ford. Our Ford Performance Racing team is full of confidence and I know the car will work well up in...
June 2010
3 posts
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...GT
I think the two weekends, Queensland Raceway and Winton, where the soft tyre was used full-time were a huge success. They showed exactly what the sport needs from a spectacle point-of-view. While James Courtney won all the races, the battle in the mid-pack was exceptional. So I would welcome any push to introduce exactly the same format at the back-end of this year. Believe me, I’ll be happy to...
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Frosty
Things have been pretty full-on since the Winton round last month. In fact, my team Ford Performance Racing and I have gone back to Winton Raceway twice in the last couple of weeks to test, in a bid to get a better understanding of the car and develop it further with new components. We’re not happy with our results of late and know we can do better. I won’t bore you with my tales of woe, but the...
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...J-Dub
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. More than 500 days on top of the V8 Supercar Championship points table was a fair old run. So I can’t get too upset about giving up the series lead to James Courtney at Winton. Especially as I’ve won half of the races this year. Now I’m determined to get back on top.
Pic: The moment Jamie limped to the pits and...
May 2010
2 posts
5 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Murph
Best laid plans… I was so looking forward to this year. Moving into a Triple Eight-built car, being back with Castrol and having them as naming rights sponsor, things couldn’t have looked better! After a few years in the wilderness, watching everyone else win races, especially Jamie Whincup, I couldn’t wait to get into a car the same as his. So it’s fair to say the year hasn’t gone to plan so far...
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...GT
Anyone who happened to tune into the Queensland Raceway round would have seen that we all ran exclusively on soft tyres across the two races. I think it was a success in that it did everything it was supposed to do and nothing it wasn’t supposed to do. I’m of the opinion that other than the big races being Phillip Island, Bathurst and the street races, we should be using that format for the rest...
April 2010
3 posts
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Frosty
I found a new thrill the other night. In the days leading up to the Queensland Raceway round we had a night out at the Brisbane International speedway at Archerfield courtesy of our team sponsor Orrcon Steel. My team-mate Steve Richards and I went for a ride in the passenger seat of former Australian champion Robbie Farr’s sprint car. I’ve got to say that it is real blokes racing. I was just...
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...J-Dub
I’ve got to say the old social life is starting to suffer a bit these days. It’s all been racing lately. But having said that I can’t be happier with the way its going on the track. It has been an unbelievable start to the year for me. Six wins from eight races and without being greedy I can’t ask for much better than that. To win both races at Hamilton last week in New Zealand and be on the...
5 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Frosty
Car Of The Future is still very much on everyone’s lips at the moment after V8 Supercars officially unveiled the concept the day after the Grand Prix last month. As a driver my first thoughts are that it looks very impressive. For starters trying to reduce the cost of building a chassis down to $250,000 is an ambitious target but it is less than half of what the build cost is today and that can...
March 2010
4 posts
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Murph
We are coming up to the fourth round of the Championship at Hamilton next week and it’s always a big one. It’s a big deal for all of us Kiwi guys as it is for the New Zealand fans. We haven’t been successful there for quite sometime and it’s well overdue. Hopefully we’ll have all our shit together by then. It’s being a trying start to the season but we are starting to see some encouraging times....
4 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...GT
What a different a few weeks and a different country make. We returned to Australia and the Toll Holden Racing Team were back to their best on the streets of Adelaide. A clean sweep was just what we needed to strike back after the two rounds in the Middle East. To be honest, winning the pair of 250km races at the Clipsal 500, was the perfect scenario, no secrets there. I’d kind of forgotten what...
5 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...J-Dub
We’ve arrived at Clipsal and already it seems like we’ve had a non-stop schedule this year. For most teams they had a couple of weeks in the Middle East for the first two rounds at Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. For me I’ve had more than three weeks in the region this year because I went to Abu Dhabi in January with a few other drivers for a promotional trip for our opening round at the Yas Marina...
3 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Frosty
It’s great to be back on home soil. The bizarre thing is that after over two weeks and two rounds in the Middle East, the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide still feels like the first round of 2010. Having said that we had a good run over in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. I’m back with my first engineer who I started with in V8 Supercars, Campbell Little, and it’s just like getting back on a bike. Campbell was my...
February 2010
1 post
11 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...Murph
As a lot of V8 fans would be aware, I’ll be an absentee from the historic Abu Dhabi round at the brilliant Yas Marina circuit. I’m going to miss the first round for my new team Paul Morris Motorsport in the Castrol Commodore because of a prior booking to do the Top Gear Live show in New Zealand. The show is held in Auckland and it’s pretty full on because there are nine shows stretched across four...
January 2010
2 posts
6 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...GT
We are starting our racing year off with the big double-header in the Middle East in February. The opening round at Abu Dhabi will be an eye-opener for all of us and then a week later we go to Bahrain - a circuit we have been to three times in the past. But this time we will be racing on the full circuit at Bahrain which will be interesting after having to race on a shorter version of the F1 track...
9 tags
In the Driver's Seat with...J-Dub
My summer was a pretty bright one. I did what I’ve done since I was born and that was spend time on the mighty Murray River with my family. It was a great time of wakeboarding and spending time with everyone down there. I was pretty lucky when I got down there because there was a big truck with a Malibu hitched to the back so we were able to go and play in the water. It was also a chance to hone...