This weekend has secured such success, TeamVodafone won the Team’s Championship and is now guaranteed first and second in the Driver’s Championship.  I have grabbed the most pole positions for the year on 9, and Dutto my Head Engineer celebrated his 50th race win yesterday which I am also very proud to be part of.

Regardless of our success, I can’t stress enough that this Championship is far from over.  The most important thing right now is to try and recharge the batteries in the next few days before we start preparations for Homebush.  We need to be smart and make sure we score enough points to secure the Driver’s Championship.  If a TeamVodafone car can win the Telstra 500 it would round off an already fantastic season.

Sorry for the slow delivery time with the report.  Straight after the race I juggled media, fans, family time and then had to pack up and travel to the airport to catch my flight home.  I got to bed at 2am this morning and decided to have a little sleep in before a long pool session in the sun to try and straighten my body back out after a few thousand gear changes and brake applications.

No post race video this time but I will make up for it at Sydney.  I hope everyone is enjoying the racing as much as I am and I look forward to updating you on our preparations for Sydney – 13 days to go!

As I mentioned on Sunday, we are thrilled with our results from Tassie and we’re hoping to replicate a similar performance again this weekend. A clean run would certainly make our lives easier, but in saying that we need to make sure our heads are down and the focus is kept.

Sandown is a track I know very well, as I grew up in Melbourne and have raced there many times in my Formula Ford days. I guess I could say it is one of my favourite tracks as I love its history.  I get a real kick out of driving around on a circuit that Formula 1 cars have raced on since before the 60’s, not to mention the fact that many legends have made their name there.

The track is fairly simple with its two big long straights and it is also relatively low grip. We are going to run the soft tyres again this weekend, same as Tassie so no changes on that front.  All in all we are ready to roll and I am looking forward to the weekend.

Other than all things racing, my schedule has been pretty busy with media etc, and on Monday I attended Vodafone’s Hobart Call Centre that employs a massive 700 people!  It’s amazing how huge the corporation really is and it was great to see most of the same familiar faces.

I didn’t end up heading home to the Gold Coast after Tassie as I am spending some quality time at home with my family in Melbourne, it’s really nice to have this time with them, especially my little 2 year old nephew Mitchell.

As always I will update you on Sunday, I hope you have a great weekend!

A big happy birthday to my Head Engineer, Dutto who turned 33 yesterday, we all got a good laugh when they announced on the podium that is was his 40th, ha ha.  I think our Team Manager ATB may have lined that one up.

Also, as always, a huge thank you to all the TeamVodafone crew for not only fast cars but phenomenal pit stops all weekend.

Bring on Sandown!

To see a full preview on today via video click <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uurp-h9ZjVs”>here</a>

Till now, my focus has been on taking one event at a time. Since Adelaide the media have inundated me with questions on my thoughts towards the championship. I have continued to reply with “let’s talk after the Gold Coast”. Now the GC is over we find ourselves in a position to challenge for the grand prize and plan our run home!

There is always much debate over the strategies we choose to take from now until the end. While there are many paths to follow, some of which are easier than others, I find it important that we stay true to what Car 88 is known for – keeping our foot down till the final lap of the final race. In saying that we need to be smart, and aware, of the position we are in and much of that management will be taken care of by Dutto.

The stabbing pain of losing last year’s championship and the vision of watching Courtney receive that trophy, is still considered as one of the most painful moments of my life. It has always been a goal of mine to win a Championship for both Ford and Holden and that still sticks.

While we are in the leading position the next three races are by no means simple events. Symmons Plains, in particular, has always been a bit of a hit and miss circuit for most drivers with its short track and tricky nature. Even if you qualify on pole and are leading, you can still find yourself spending half the time driving around lapped traffic which is always a dangerous situation to be in.

To be honest, last year we lacked outright pace at Symmons Plains and we have to remember that. We are also very aware that my teammate Craig (and main Championship rival) can be very dangerous on this circuit, this track has been around a long time and it is one he knows very well.

Who knows what the next three events will bring, all I know is that whatever happens we will leave no stone unturned and fight hard till the very end.

I am not sure what was said over the broadcast but there was lots of discussions this weekend regarding the bollards and curb cutting, with issues like these it is always debatable and I guess you just need to accept it sometimes.

Seb was great and as I have said he is a full pro! With only three races left of the championship I am keen to keep up the pace and am looking forward to Tassie in a couple of weeks.

I have just gotten back from attending the Volunteer Party with the Minister of Sport, Phil Reeves and the Premier to thank them for their help over the weekend, they do an amazing job! Now, I am off to have dinner with the Vodafone guys to have a nice cold XXXX and chill out!

I have attached a video which will give you a bit more of a rundown of the weekend.

Hope you enjoyed the Gold Coast 600 and I am sure I will be talking to you very soon.

Thanks for all your support!

Click <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bav15K98gNU”>here</a> to see the video.

Coming off a very disappointing Bathurst I obviously want to fight back and reclaim the championship lead this weekend and I can’t think of a better place to do it than on my home turf at the Gold Coast! Going back 12 months, winning at home was one of the best of my career and that feeling is still with me. I am hungry to have that feeling again!

I am also looking forward to teaming up with Sébastien Bourdais. Seb is an absolute legend of international motorsport and did a solid job today at testing which of course we expected. We focused heavily on driver changes and made sure Seb was comfortable in the car. All was achieved today.

On another note, Thommo and I did a pitstop activation in Brissy last week. The crowds went wild and it was a great experience. I have attached the YouTube link below if you haven’t already seen it.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the race. I will talk to you Sunday!

<a href=”http://www.youtube.com/user/V8SupercarsOfficial?feature=chclk”>Click</a> for the official V8Supercar YouTube channel

<a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz-8EOUkpoI”>Click here to watch</a>

This weekend sure presented us with challenges. Thommo got smashed in the press about his wet weather driving, we ended up in the wall on Friday after pushing hard then the rain came down just as I drove out for the top 10 shootout.

While it certainly wasn’t our weekend, I want to specially mention my team mate Thommo, his performance this weekend was outstanding and I couldn’t be happier with the way he conducted himself (the boss even gave him a wrap which I have never seen before! Just joking).

That’s motorsport for you… next up Gold Coast!

Hope you all had a great weekend, talk soon.

PS. Video is coming soon… Having a few technical issues.

Bathurst is the race that everyone wants to win, not just myself personally as a racer but every V8 fan, sponsor and team.

There is always a lot of talk of whether winning Bathurst or the championship is more important. For me, it will always be the championship but Bathurst is “the” race and we are going to go out there and give it absolutely everything we have to secure the win!

Thommo and I had a great test day last week. We practiced a lot of driver changes and all of the componentry run in well. Since Phillip Island I have stripped a couple of kilos and feel super fit. We are ready to take on not only this weekend but the full run home.

The past couple of races haven’t resulted in a win for us which has been disappointing. If I was to award the honour to anyone it would of course be my team mate Craig but at the end of the day he is my biggest rival and I am going to try and up my performance to get back on top and beat car 888.

Weather wise, from what I have seen it still has a question mark over it but is predicting rain over the Thursday, Friday and Saturday…. but that could change….and we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

If you can’t make it to the race this weekend I hope you can tune in from wherever you are and enjoy the pace.

Today’s results have put us in good shape leading into Bathurst, which is by far the biggest race of the year. Thommo and I weren’t overly happy with our pace late in the race today and so we will be doing out homework to find out why.

As some of you might have seen on the telecast, contact was made between car 888 and us during lap one which resulted in our door jamming so we struggled to open it when we did the driver change over. We ended up losing four crucial seconds which isn’t ideal but we continued to fight hard all day. You may also be wondering why I dropped back to fourth in the later part of the race. This was part of one of our many strategies for the day, while all the cars around me changed over to four new tyres at the second last stop Craig and I decided to put on only two, we then waited until the final stint to use our four best of the weekend. This strategy proved to be the right thing to do.

I have been asked if I feel lucky to have passed Shane Van Gisbergen right at the end, I wouldn’t call it luck but it has been twice now we have been at the receiving end of tyre issues at Phillip Island and 2008 was definitely proof of that, so I guess some could say what goes around comes around!

Whilst we are thrilled with today’s outcome there will be no celebrations for me tonight. I will be taking it easy over the next few weeks as my whole focus is on Bathurst and I want to give ourselves the best opportunities possible to succeed.

To see a quick video brief on today click on this youtube link; JWhincupTV link.

Following QLD Raceway I have been really busy, in the short time I’ve had off the track I ventured down to the Hunter Valley, did a promotion in Perisher and then headed straight to Melbourne for the Ken Block Tour. Whilst I had a great time and lots of fun I did end up feeling tired and drained and that’s not going to help me go fast on the track!

On a positive note, although I felt rundown at testing last week we did have a solid day and nailed the driver changes and pitstop procedures which are imperative for success this weekend. I also got a chance to relax over the past few days and gave myself a long weekend. I even surprised myself yesterday when I decided to have a crack at fishing. I have never been a fan of fishing as I have always considered it slow and boring but I gave it a go to try and relax and it actually worked a treat! It was a great way to get my head right for the weekend, even though I only caught a few undersized Bream. (I gave one a kiss Rex Hunt style before throwing it back).

Back to Phillip Island this weekend, last year was really strong for us, both cars were fast and Craig went on to win the race. To refresh everyone’s memory it would have been a great battle between us but my front splitter (bumper bar) fell apart due to the repair job from VE1 to VE2 while leading the final stint and I ended up finishing 29th. There is no reason whatsoever that we can’t show that pace again this weekend and have another go at the top step of the podium.

Thomo and I are working well, the joking and stuffing around has started to dry up and we are now concentrating and hungry to put in a good performance. This year’s format will be the same as 2010 with 2 qualifying races on the Saturday with only 1 CPS (compulsory pit stop) between them which we will strategise on the day.

Sunday of course is the big one and we are looking forward to it. No doubt Craig and Mark will be fast again but I am expecting a big fight back from the factory teams HRT/FPR. Don’t be fooled - we are absolutely going down there for the win but if that isn’t possible on the day scoring as many points as possible is really important for the Championship.

The weather is looking like it is going to be pretty cold and wet, fingers crossed that it turns around but I have packed my winter woolies ready for all conditions.

Just like Ipswich I will try my best to get you a full update on the weekend after the race this Sunday night.

While I have had a good long break (from actual racing) it has still been full-on as this part of the year is when a lot of work happens off the track. As you might all be aware I have appointed International Quarterback as my new management company and we have been hitting the social media scene in a big way. I have had my Facebook, Twitter, Email Signature and general branding completely revamped. If you haven’t seen it yet please take a look at www.facebook.com/JDWhincup. I will also now endeavour to keep you up to date on a regular basis through these pre-race reports and a wrap up after each Sunday’s race.

As for this weekend, I feel fit and healthy and am ready to go! Qld Raceway is, as most of you know, our test track. This is a great thing as we know it better than any other circuit. Unfortunately though, for a reason we are still trying to figure out, we have struggled to achieve our best results here, but we are working hard to ensure we perform this weekend on the track we should know inside out.

Last year at QR I felt like we were robbed when my engine expired whist leading Sunday’s race so it would be great to make up for that this coming weekend. Saturday’s format is unique as the race is split in half with a 15 minute gap in between. This means the points are also split. Whilst the race has a break it will continue to be broadcast live which will provide fans with a great insight into exactly how intense it is for the mechanics and engineers to service the cars in such a short period. Viewers will be able to not only see the tyres getting changed and the fuel being topped up but will also get to watch some major set up changes such as springs and shock absorbers.

All in all, although the weather is not looking that flash for the weekend, I am feeling confident and hope we round off what has been a very good start to the season -especially as this is the last round of the first chapter before we start the season of endurance.
I think the biggest competition (other than my team mate) will be the DJR Cars and the Holden racing team which seem to always go well up here, so they will be the ones I will be watching!

As always, thanks for your support and I look forward to updating you on Sunday night after the race.

Hi guys,

Here we go again.  I flew into Abu Dhabi last night ready for a big weekend and another massive year ahead.

In some way it only feels like yesterday when we finished last year’s championship in Sydney but at the same time I had a fantastic break with friends and family on the Murray River water skiing over Christmas and the New Year.  The batteries are fully charged and ready to go!

For the first time in a long time we go into a Championship with a known car underneath us.  Think back, the last few years we have started with either a new model or manufactured car. This time we have a full set of data and information on our VE Commodores which will no doubt help us maximize our setup package. The trick here will be not to get too comfortable, we still need to keep exploring the variables and strive for innovation with fresh ideas.

We also have a fresh new feel with new personal from Management right through to Mechanics and Endurance Co-drivers, all while keeping the core strengths that have made TeamVodafone competitive in the past.

This weekend Roland ‘The Boss’ Dane will continue as Team Principal calling the shots from the front of the garage but after Abu Dhabi he will take a step back and let new Team Principal, Adrian Burgess formally Dick Johnson Racing (DJR) take the reigns. Adrian and I have spent plenty of time together at the Workshop and on the bike getting to know how one another works. He being a local Hope Island boy confirms he must be a good, hard working bloke!

I also welcome Kris Goos to TeamVodafone as my new Mechanic. Also ex DJR, he is officially my number 1 but do consider both himself and Andrew Atkins as equal - both extremely good mechanics and great people to be around.  My previous mechanic, Ty Freele has decided to take a breather for 12 months and is now heading up the Ride and Development Series cars for Triple Eight. I think he will find it won’t be much of a breather but at least he won’t have to worry about the right mixture of blue Gatorade in the drink bottle which should be nice change for him.

Roland has definitely engineered a great new situation for TeamVodafone for 2011 with new, fresh faces full of exuberance while the existing experience is still there to offer support when needed.

I personally feel great. Tell me to get over it but I am still a little angry about last year, which could be a good thing.  It may sound stupid however I believe slow and steady doesn’t always win the race, but generally wins the battle.  Thank you all for riding my wave again in 2011.  Let’s go get our number back!

Jamie

Just a quick note to say that we are down in Tassie and all ready to go.

This is the start of the crazy run home with 3 race meetings in 4 weeks.

The Team and I feel good. We of course carry some confidence into the weekend from Bathurst and the Gold Coast and have also had some great results down here in the past.

The main focus this weekend it to set the car up well on Friday and really try hard to claw some points back on James Courtney. Although it is only 71 points with a potential 900 still up for grabs, we aren’t in the position we want to be in at this part of the year.

After looking at the weather forecast I probably should have brought the jet ski down. There is an 80% chance of rain with10 to 20mm on all 3 days of competition.

But the weather and track conditions are the same for everyone. Whatever is thrown at us this weekend we need to focus on doing a better job than everyone else.

Look out for the big hairy “mo” on the bonnet of the car for Movember. These crazy Vodafone ideas are getting out of control!!! Ha.So here we go, let’s forget about the rest of the year.  We have 3 race meetings to beat our opposition by 72 points.  I know we have the car and the team to do the job.  It just comes down to who wants it the most.

Jamie

5 kilometres from Bathurst, Steve and I crested the hill that revealed Mt Panorama for the first time this year. Every time I see the famous track for the first time I get that feeling of hair standing up on the back of my neck.

For me Mt Panorama has been the place that I have experienced some huge up’s and down. From big crashes to three wins in a row it’s always an extremely tough day.

Like always, we come into the weekend with confidence. The team have gone through the front bumper bar with a fine tooth comb and we are 100% confident that what cost us the race in Philip Island won’t happen again.

For the first time in a long time I come to Bathurst not teamed up with Craigy Lowndes. Like Philip Island I am teamed up with Steve Owen who did a phenomenal job. I had high expectations of Steve but he delivered beyond that and if he does a similar job this weekend I will be very happy.

The format for the weekend is a day longer than usual. The best thing for all the drivers and me is that we have plenty of practice around Australia’s best race track. Thursday is 3 long practice sessions where we dial the car and our eye in to get what we call (in the window). Friday has more practice where we try to fine tune the car for the afternoon qualifying run. More fine tuning Saturday morning and if we are lucky enough, a shootout run in the afternoon. Sunday morning it’s out of bed at 5:30am for a very early morning warm-up before the main event. The 1000k race starts just after 10am and at 5:45pm hopefully we are one of the first cars crossing the line.

After a few days of talk and over 1000 laps in my head, I can’t wait to get the weekend started. I hope everyone where ever you are enjoy there Bathurst weekend with a few beers over the barby. I know one thing, there won’t be a replay next week!!!

Jamie

This weekend is round 9 of our championship at one of my favorite tracks, Philip Island.

I had a great break and got an opportunity to slow down a bit, have a rest and recharge the batteries for the run to the flag. I also got the chance to step back and take a birds eye view on the start of the year and work out what our strengths and weaknesses were.

The format for the weekend is the same as 2009. So just to remind you, it’s a duel driver endurance event. With the new rule stating that the main drivers can’t pair up together, I have a new team mate in Steve Owen for the first time since 2006. Steve and I have spent some time together in the last 6 weeks going over the data, watching video footage and generally getting to know each other. Like Lowndesy, we are both the same height and weight and enjoy a similar style car.

Practice all day Friday, qualifying Saturday. This is where it gets a bit confusing. Both Steve and I each have a 40 minute qualifying run to determine the starting positions for the qualifying races. Then we have a 13 lap qualifying race each with only 1 compulsory pit stop. So that means we have to make a pit stop in only one of the two races. So if we are quick enough someone will have a good chance to win and the other is going to have to do a painful pit stop and drop back to mid pack. However, we are both in it together as a team and the combined points from both race determines the starting position for Sundays 500 kilometer main race.

I have used the break to really work on my fitness. I feel good and last week we completed test day 3 of 4. The car felt great and we made some really good improvements with the brakes and tyre pressures. These are improvements that the engineers have found while looking over the data now they finally got a breather.

So we are all ready to go and looking forward to the weekend. The weather map is looking dodgy so fingers crossed that rain stays away most of the time. The plan is like always to go hard or go home but we need to be a little bit mindful of collecting points to bridge our 120 gap to James Courtney.

Thanks again for your support and I’ll do my best.

Jamie

After putting his TeamVodafone Commodore on pole and winning the first of the twin 200km races on Saturday, Whincup was the only driver in the entire field all weekend to post a sub-1:13min.

He did that in this morning’s all-in 20 minute qualifying session which easily got him pole position again.

Whincup led the field for the first eight laps and was on course to replicate yesterday’s domination of the field until the brake line went.“Something flipped up and busted the brakeline,” J-Dub explained.

“But the car was a bullet.

“I thought it was almost perfect yesterday and then we improved it today so we were out of there but as Brocky (the late, great Peter Brock) said and many people after that, that’s motorsport.

“We understand that when we get involved that a $2 part and things like what happened today can go wrong.”

Even though the back-to-back Champ has maintained until now that the Championship is too far away to worry about, he admitted to BigPond Sport that his race 16 result was not what he wanted.

“It’s disappointing - really, really disappointing,” J-Dub said.

“I’ve been busting my arse for four races to try and bridge that gap (to James Courtney), we get so close and now we’re back to square one again.

“But at the end of the day the car was a rocket. There was another win there up for grabs and it didn’t happen.”

Although the team was able to get Whincup back out on to the track to salvage some points, Courtney’s Championship lead has blown out from a mere 18 points at the end of yesterday to 120 today.

But if past form is anything to go by, TeamVodafone will come out with guns blazing at the L&H 500 to bounce back from today’s disappointing result.

By Briar Gunther, 5:55 PM Sun 11 July, 2010. Source: BigPond Sport

May 16, 2010

Ford driver James Courtney has taken the V8 Supercar championship lead after winning Sunday’s race at Winton while defending champion Jamie Whincup crashed out.

Courtney beat home Holden’s Craig Lowndes to open up a 114-point series lead over Whincup.

But there was despair for Holden star Whincup, who was punted off the track in an incident with Ford driver Jonathon Webb - Courtney’s Jim Beam Racing team-mate - on lap 45.

His car was bogged in a sand trap and left with broken steering, though his team managed to fix the problem and he completed the race in 24th position to pick up a handful of points.

Courtney, who also won Saturday’s opening race at Winton, drove brilliantly on Sunday and had a great tussle with Lowndes during the second half of the race.

The two cars came together on lap 53, with Lowndes being nudged off the course but recovering to come out ahead of Courtney.

Eventually Courtney passed Lowndes in a far neater move four laps later and went on to win comfortably, with Holden driver Lee Holdsworth third.

The time-defined race was also shortened by several safety car periods to 64 of the scheduled 67 laps.

Courtney’s fruitful weekend allowed him to snatch the overall title lead from early frontrunner Whincup, while third-placed Lowndes has closed the gap on his Team Vodafone team-mate to 105 points.

Earlier Rick Kelly had clocked the fastest lap ever around the northeast Victorian track during Sunday morning qualifying.

His one minute, 21.849 second lap lowered the mark set by Courtney during Saturday qualifying and gave him pole position for Sunday’s race.

The next races in the championship are scheduled for June 18 to 20 in Darwin.

Guy Hand

 Sunday 16 May, 2010

AAP

After securing a front row start for today’s race Jamie Whincup leapt to the lead and controlled the opening 26 laps of the race. A mid-race jostle for position left the V8 Supercar Champion beached in the gravel trap at Turn 4 and he was forced to pit for new tyres.

“It was certainly not the day we were after,” Whincup said. ”Ultimately we struggled for pace.

 
“We tried to change our strategy to give us a late race advantage but the safety car came out at the wrong time and then I got a small touch which sent me off track and way down the order.

“We came here to win the race and be competitive and at the end of the day we were not fast enough. I now have five weeks to work out what went wrong before Darwin,” he stated.
 
The next event on the V8 Supercar calendar is the Sky City Triple Crown which will be held at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway on June 18 - 20. 

2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series - Races 11 & 12WINTON MOTOR RACEWAY V8 SUPERCARS - Race 12   64 LapsStart Sun May 16   13:08Elapsed Time    01:37:31  

DNF:     14 Trading Post                        Jason Bright                Holden            12 Triple F Racing                    Dean Fiore                   Ford            11 Rock Racing                        Jason Bargwanna         Holden

            24 Bundaberg Red Racing        Fabian Coulthard         Holden