Jamie Whincup » News

On the road and relaxing at home

Jamie Whincup — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:59:02 +0000

We are smack bang right in the middle of the big Olympic break. I think this time is going to go faster than I first thought. On the Monday straight after Winton I had a great day snow boarding on Mt Buller. We had an amazing day and boarding is probably a sport that I shouldn’t do but I figure I can come back from a few broken bones with a 6 week break.

After that I spent the first 2 weeks after Winton doing promotional activities for the sponsors. The first week I was around Brisbane and Sydney. We did an amazing XBox gig at Luna Park, as part of a quest to find the fastest cyber driver to compete in the Xbox cyber games later in the year. I was down there with Ricko, Skaifey, and Courto. Courto seem to be the fastest around Silverstone, probably because he has raced there before and spends most of his day on the Xbox anyway!

Then the second week we went on the far North Queensland road trip. This was a crazy experience and a lot of fun. We started off flying into Emerald, and then drove through to Mackay, then finished up in Townsville, which is the home of the very much talked about street race. The best part of the trip was getting the opportunity to drive a huge dump truck and excavator (check out the video section to see what I’m talking about). The excavator was actually scary. Not that I get scared much but standing below it watching it demolish hills of rock was quite intimidating. I must admit after 5 days of signing (around 15 hours) and being away from home since the Tuesday before Winton I was ready for a break.

So last week I decided to take some time off. Apart from a quick trip down to Sydney to make up for a Sonny Bill no show at a charity event, I had a relaxing week. Everyone asked me if I went away, but the thought of getting on another plane or living out of a suitcase made me sick. So I spent the week at home doing normal stuff, which I just loved.

For me there is nothing better than sleeping in, having a nice breakfast and then going down the footy oval for a kick. I was able to spend a bit of time in the cricket nets, had a round of golf, and hired out the flow rider at Dreamworld for an hour. What’s the flow rider? It’s like a big rubber speed hump and water is blasted across it by high pressure jets. You can use a body board but I was trying to master the surf board. It was hard work to stay upright and not spin out due to there being no fins on the board. It was all part of a fun, cruisy week and as silly as it sounds, by Sunday I was keen to get back to work, which tells me I had a good break.

So this week I am back into the swing of things. I spent all day at the workshop Monday, signing merchandise that had been there from before Winton, so if you are someone that is waiting for merch and it’s taken awhile, sorry and it will be there soon!

As far as the cars go, the boys have almost cleaned off most of the mud from Winton. I speared off a few times on the Friday in the wet session and you have no idea how much mess it made. Every single component on the outside of the car needed to be scrubbed because once the car gets hot it all seems to stick.

So Craig and I will be teaming up again together in chassis #14 (Betty). Mark Dutton will be engineering the two of us. We already have our cockpit setup from what we had last year and we will soon start practicing driver changes.

I enjoy reading through your profiles and don’t forget if you do anything cool to make sure you post the photos on your page for me to see.

Cheers,

Jamie.

Jamie’s Courier Mail Column, August 21st 2008

tobes — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:25:19 +0000

The hot topic this week is the Olympics.

As I watched Usain Bolt saunter to victory in the 100 metres sprint I was in awe. He only really had to run for 70 metres and could then show-pony on the way to the line.

I’d love to have that sort of speed, that sort of ability and to be able to do it so easily, particularly when we get to Bathurst in October.

We’re still in the Olympic break for V8 Supercars but this week there has been more talk about parity between Ford and Holden.

Switching back to the Olympics, there is a parallel with the consistency in some of the judging events. It’s parity for the athletes in some ways.

They are both touchy subjects. I’m not wanting to sit on the fence on either front, but I’d rather leave it to the experts.

We’re not testing or racing at the moment but I’ve still been busy, and on Monday night I was in Sydney for a charity event when I got talking to Steve Menzies, who plays for Manly in the NRL.

We were discussing the right time for a sportsperson to retire. And it’s a tough one, giving up something you love.

Steve is about to finish up here in Australia and is going to England to play one last year. It’s fair to say he’s topping up the bank account for his retirement.

My opinion is that retirement should be up to the athlete, as only they know what’s going on with their heart and head.

There are so many factors involved in calling time. When you get older you lose reaction time and that can be critical.

Our sport, really any sport, is massively focussed around results. Some older guys don’t get the results, and other priorities take up a lot more of their time.

But, even though there is a massive focus on results, a lot of senior athletes have a lot to contribute.

James Tomkins is perfect example. There he was at the Olympics, 40-something and in a men’s rowing eight which didn’t get close to a medal, but he was an inspiration and carried the flag for Australia in the opening ceremony.

And look at Michael Voss. He was struggling in his final year, could hardly run, but as far as the team goes he was making a massive contribution.

The media give these people a fair bit of stress once they come off their peak. There are lots of questions about their results and when they plan to retire.

So now I’m talking about Mark Skaife. There has been a lot of pressure on him this year about when he is going to retire.

Someone like Skaifey is a legend and I reckon the decision should be entirely up to him. And people should give him some slack because of the icon he is.

Young blokes get some slack when they are doing it tough, maybe not getting the right results, and it should be the same for Skaifey.

There are people who say that older guys hanging around past their peak are taking a place which should be for one of the younger blokes.

Look again at Steve Menzies. He loves playing footie, and he has got to make his money during a relatively short career in his sport, but doesn’t want to block anyone trying to come through to take his place.

So, at the moment Skaifey might not be at his absolute peak but he still has a lot to offer. He is not really blocking a spot for a young guy coming through.

All in all, it’s important - just like the Olympic team - to have a good mix of youngsters and people with experience.

We need the older guys for their experience and also because they can still set an awesome example for the young guys to feed off.

Jamie’s Courier Mail Column, August 14th 2008

tobes — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:01:28 +0000

MARCOS Ambrose’s exploits in the United States helped give the reputation of Australian race drivers a massive boost last weekend.
In the dog-eat-dog world of NASCAR, Ambrose climbed some big mountains all in the space of 24 hours.
A day after becoming the first Australian driver to score a victory in NASCAR by winning the second-tier Nationwide series race at the famous Watkins Glen road circuit in New York, he finished third in the NASCAR Sprint Cup main game race at the same venue.
To describe just how significant those achievements are is not unlike the deeds of some of the Aussie superstars currently beating the world at the Beijing Olympics.
The sacrifices Ambrose has made, the work he has had to do behind-the-scenes which people do not see, and then to compete against and beat the best competition in your chosen sport is monumental.
Ambrose has now joined a super elite club of Aussies who include Casey Stoner (MotoGP), Chad Reed (Supercross), Troy Bayliss (Superbikes) and Jason Crump (Speedway) doing great things in the motor racing world internationally.
I think those of us in V8 Supercars are immensely proud of what Ambrose has achieved in such a relatively short space of time in what really must be a hostile environment for an outsider.
American stock car racing is a tough gig to crack and for someone like Ambrose to come in with no oval racing background makes his efforts to win even sweeter.
It was only two-and-a-half years ago that Ambrose decided to end his V8 Supercar career where he won back-to-back championships in 2003-2004 and take a massive gamble and have a crack at NASCAR.
In the time he has spent in the US based at Mooresville in Charlotte, North Carolina, Ambrose has earned a massive amount of respect from some of the best NASCAR racers in the business.
Just the same as Ambrose’s involvement in NASCAR has lifted the profile of that series in Australia, I think the same can be said for Ambrose helping to lift the profile of V8 Supercars in the US.
All of a sudden more American’s in NASCAR land are paying a lot more attention to V8 Supercars.
Ambrose is off and away now that he has achieved the all important first victory.
And it must be said that his drive to come from 43rd and stone motherless last on the starting grid in the Cup race on Monday morning our time and finish third was just as big a drive as his win in the Nationwide race on Sunday.
He had former grand prix driver Juan Pablo Montoya hounding the rear bumper of his No 21 Ford.
It’s easy for some people to say that Ambrose was entitled to race well because Watkins Glen is the type of course he knows best but that is not paying the effort the justice it deserves.
To finish within reach of Kyle Busch, who has been so dominant in NASCAR this year, and Tony Stewart was simply stunning.

Jamie’s Courier Mail Column, August 7th 2008

tobes — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:59:04 +0000

WINTON was one crazy weekend.
We went to one of the shortest circuits on the calendar and as I outlined leading up to last weekend, it always provides crackerjack racing.
As it was Garth Tander, Will Davison and myself all ended up on 272 points at the end of the three-race format.
It hasn’t happened before in the history of the Australian Touring Car championship so the three of us are a part of history.
To stand on the second step of the podium was good and anytime you can do that in the V8 Supercar series is special but it does question whether the rules to determine the round winner are correct.
Should the round winner, as was the case with Tander, be determined on the finishing positions of the last race?
I really don’t think it should be.
The other debate is should it go back to the most heat wins which would have meant three of us, Tander, Davison and myself, had one each?
Or we could go back to qualifying which is another competition in itself?
What happened at Winton was that Davo used his tyres in the first and second races which was all educated whereas Tander used his tyres in the first and third races.
So Tander was always going to have a strong third race.
Like Davo, Team Vodafone was hoping to secure enough points in the first two races to win the round so for me I don’t believe the winner of the round should be the driver who finishes the highest in the last race.
I know Holden were extremely happy to come away with their second round win of the year out of eight which was desperately needed for the red side.
To miss out on winning the round by nothing through an interpretation of the rules is pretty hard to take.
And I don’t know what it is with losing these close battles with Tander – two points in last year’s championship - and to be beaten on a rule technicality at Winton is tough.
Overall I was happy with the weekend and we performed at a high level.
It sounds pretty crazy but the championship is a rollercoaster as was the weekend because you never knew what was around the corner.
For me I enjoyed that and it was the fun part.
The other thing which is interesting is that we are only one round beyond the halfway point in the Championship Series and Tander and Mark Winterbottom are really getting into each other.
They are both talking about who is going to win the championship but one thing I’ve learnt from last year is that it is not over until the last lap of the last race.
The Championship now goes into a recess because of the Olympics so we are not back in action until the L&H 500 at Phillip Island from September 12-14.
So in the next couple of weeks I’ll be like the rest of Australia watching the Aussies in action at the Olympics in Beijing.
I want to wish all the Aussie athletes all the best and hope they can come home with swag of gold medals.

V8 Supercar drivers migrate north during mid-season break

tobes — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:03:31 +0000

They may be just starting a six week break but there will be no rest for TeamVodafone’s Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup with the reigning Bathurst 1000 champions packing their bags for a week long road trip throughout North Queensland.

During the journey, Lowndes and Whincup will be joined by FPR Castrol driver, Steven Richards who will meet up with the TeamVodafone stars at 8am on Tuesday August 12 for the official launch of the V8 Supercar road trip at Komatsu’s Emerald branch.

Here, fans will get the chance to delve into the inner sanctum of V8 Supercars, mingling with the drivers, experiencing the V8 Supercar racing simulator and taking part in a Pit Stop Challenge.

The entire road show will then head to the site of the soon to be open Blackwater International Coal Centre to meet with residents of the local community before the drivers head to Emerald State High School where they will meet with students and deliver the V8 Supersafe schools road safety presentation.

The following day, the V8 Supercar convoy will travel more than 200 kilometres, stopping along the way in Clermont and Moranbah as they work their way towards Mackay.

On Thursday August 14 the three drivers will again head back to school, with students at the Whitsunday Anglican School the recipients of the V8 Supersafe Program. Mackay residents will have the chance to meet Lowndes, Whincup and Richards at Komatsu’s Mackay branch from 11am before they head to Vodafone Canelands Central three hours later.

With less than 12 months until Townsville makes its entry on the V8 Supercar calendar the V8 supercar road trip will conclude at Reid Park where Lowndes, Whincup and Richards will view the site for Australia’s newest V8 Supercar event. The three ford drivers will get behind the wheel of billy karts and test the new track layout.

Lowndes said he is looking forward to the chance to meet with fans while inspecting the site for the Townsville race which was announced earlier this year.

“It is going to be a couple of full on days and we will cover just under 1000 kilometres over the course of four days,” said Lowndes who finished fifth at the eighth round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship at Winton last weekend.

‘It is always great to get out there and meet our fans and the guys at Vodafone and Komatsu have planned some great activities for this road trip,” said Lowndes “We will be making a number of public appearance each day and fans will the chance to experience V8 Supercars through the pit stop challenge and racing simulators.”

“At the moment fans in Northern Queensland have been pretty starved of V8 Supercar action so we are going to give them a taste prior to the championship coming to the region next year. I can’t wait to inspect the site for the Townsville race and get a feel for the event which will make its debut in 2009.”

During the course of the road trip the drivers will also visit the Blackwater International Coal Centre, Clermont Coal and Macarthur Coal checking out some of the Komatsu mining equipment at work.

CATCH UP WITH LOWNDES, WHINCUP & RICHO AT THE FOLLOWING STOPS

TUESDAY 12 AUGUST 2008 – EMERALD AND BLACKWATER

8.00am – 10.00pm
Komatsu Branch - Public & Media Event
91 Macauley Access Road, Emerald

11.00am – 1.00pm
Blackwater International Coal Centre – Public & Media Event

4.00pm – 5.30pm
Reef City Ford - Public & Media Event
24 Gregory Highway, Emerald

WEDNESDAY 13 AUGUST 2008 – CLEARMONT AND MORANBAH

12.30pm – 2.30pm
Moranbah Town Oval – Public and Media Event
Cnr Appleton Street & Mills Avenue

THURSDAY 14 AUGUST 2008 – MACKAY

11.00am – 1.00pm
Komatsu Branch – Public & Media Event
137 – 143 Conners Rd, Mackay

2.00pm – 3.00pm
Vodafone Store – Public & Media Event
Shop 2024b Canelands Central, Mangove Rd, Mackay

4.00pm – 6.00pm
Powerhouse Ford - Public & Media Event
21 Nelson Street, Mackay

FRIDAY 15 AUGUST 2008 - TOWNSVILLE

11.15am – 12.00pm
Vodafone store Appearance – Public & Media Event
Craig Lowndes – Townsville Aitkenvale Stockland Shopping Centre
Shop 95, 310 Ross River Road, Townsville
Jamie Whincup – Castletown Shopping World
Shop 85, Cnr Woolcock Street and Kings Road

4.00pm – 6.00pm
Reid Park, Public Event – Public & Media Event
Reid Park, Boundary Street, Townsville

SATURDAY 16 AUGUST 2008 – TOWNSVILLE

10.30am – 12.00pm
Carmichael Ford – Public & Media Event
77 Charters Towers Road, Townsville

TeamVodafone return to the podium at Winton

tobes — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:31:46 +0000

History was made today at the eighth round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series at Victoria’s Winton Motor Raceway when all three podium finishers were tied on the same amount of round points.

TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup, Jim Beam Racing’s Will Davison and Toll HRT driver Garth Tander all won a race over the weekend and coincidentally ended with 272 points each.

With the winner of the last race declared the overall victor, Jamie Whincup who finished second in the final race behind Tander was also second overall for the round.

“Any podium finish is a good finish,” said Whincup. “I am very happy for both myself and the team to be back on the podium especially ahead of the endurance season.”

“Coming into this round we were keen to return serve given it is the Victorian teams home track and we came pretty close.”

“Overall it was a good all round effort but we are still yet to get a handle on this new tyre which is going to be crucial at Phillip Island,” he added.

Teammate Craig Lowndes was fifth overall for the round with a fifth and sixth placing in today’s two 40-lap races.

“I am happy with where we ended up,” said Lowndes. “I had a great car and we made a good comeback following our average result yesterday.

“Race three was tough, I was caught behind Rick (Kelly) and even though I had better pace I just couldn’t find a way past him.”

“As a team, we collected some good points this weekend and have strengthened our position in the Team’s Championship,” Lowndes continued.

Despite the Championship now having a five week break TeamVodafone has an extensive list of to do’s that will keep them busy. These include… moving to their new workshop premises in Banyo, Brisbane, a rookie test day on August 6 for Fabrizio Giovanardi and Marc Hynes and a tour of North Queensland with drivers Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup.

Top Ten Round Results

1. Garth Tander 272pts
2. Jamie Whincup 272pts
3. Will Davison 272pts
4. Rick Kelly 194pts
5. Craig Lowndes 190pts
6. Lee Holdsworth 184pts
7. Todd Kelly 160pts
8. Paul Dumbrell 152pts
9. Jason Bright 142pts
10.Mark Winterbottom 138pts

Top Ten Championship Standings

1. Garth Tander 1844pts
2. Mark Winterbottom 1832pts
3. Jamie Whincup 1758pts
4. Rick Kelly 1506pts
5. Will Davison 1426pts
6. Steve Richards 1383pts
7. Craig Lowndes 1365pts
8. James Courtney 1343pts
9. Lee Holdsworth 1200pts
10. Russell Ingall 1189pts

Whincup picks up from Winton success last year

tobes — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:30:41 +0000

Even the weather couldn’t dampen TeamVodafone’s enthusiasm today, with Jamie Whincup winning Race 1 at Round 8 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Winton Raceway.

Teammate Craig Lowdes also enjoyed good race pace finishing 12th but gaining places throughout the 40 lap contest, after suffering a slid back to 18th position on the opening lap.

Whincup, who qualified second was consistently quick throughout the race and took control after a slick pitstop placed him in front of Will Davison and Garth Tander.

“It’s good to be back up the front,” said Wincup. “It has been a couple of dry rounds since my previous victory.”

“Both Craig and I have good fast cars, yet we believe tonight we can still find a little bit more for tomorrow.”

“But remember, Winton always throws up plenty of variables so Races 2 and 3 are by no means a foregone conclusion,” he continued.

Lowndes, who had a brilliant start leapfrogging at least four cars was unable to capitalise due to being pushed wide at Turn 2, forcing him onto the gravel and back to 18th position.

“I got a ripper start but I was on the outside and got run out onto the gravel,” Lowndes explained.

“I feel like I and the team have worked hard this afternoon but we have only got two spots to show for it.”

“Overall the car is a good package at the moment and I am feeling pretty positive,” Lowndes said.

The Winton round of the Championship will conclude tomorrow with the final two 40-lap V8 Supercar races to be held at 10.55am and 1.35pm.

V8 Supercar Top Ten Race 1 Results

1. Jamie Whincup, 100pts
2. Will Davison, 92pts
3. Garth Tander, 86pts
4. Jason Richards, 80pts
5. Steven Richards, 74pts
6. Lee Holdsworth, 68pts
7. Todd Kelly, 64pts
8. Russell Ingall, 60pts
9. Michael Caruso, 56pts
10.James Courtney, 52pts

Bold setup move steers TeamVodafone in the right direction

tobes — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:29:24 +0000

Torrential rain, hail and gusty winds all made an appearance on Day one of the V8 Supercars at Victoria’s Winton Motor Raceway today, delaying the start of the second practice session to allow for the excess water to drain from the circuit.

Teams enjoyed all four seasons in one day and after an entire session running on wet tyres, the third practice session saw sunshine and a dry line, allowing drivers to test both and wet and dry setups on this windy afternoon.

TeamVodafone, searching for an improvement on previous years qualifying turned to a new suspension setup that has shown promising indicators.

“We tried something in the suspension department that we have never tried before and it gave us quite a positive result,” Lowndes explained.

“We still need to finesse and fine tune the settings a bit more but we now have some good data to compare with Jamie’s car which was running on a different setup strategy.”

“I am very encouraged ahead of qualifying,” he added

Finishing the day in seventh position teammate Jamie Whincup acknowledged the unpredictable weather could really mix things up tomorrow.

“What can I say,” said Whincup. “It was a typical day at Winton for me – wet, dry and even some dirt action.”

“The local drivers are quick at the moment but we can see where the time is and we will make the necessary changes overnight.”

“Tomorrow’s race will be a bit of a survival for those who can keep it on the bitumen. With all the rain we had today and what is predicted overnight, you will need a Komatsu dozer to get out if you run off track,” Whincup continued.

The V8 Supercar action will continue tomorrow with qualifying at 11.15am and Race 1 (40 Laps) at 3.30pm.

Top Ten Practice Results

1. Garth Tander 1.23.6947
2. Mark Winterbottom 1.24.0633
3. Fabian Coulthard 1.24.0933
4. Rick Kelly 1.24.0982
5. Craig Lowndes 1.24.1183
6. Russell Ingall 1.24.1510
7. Jamie Whincup 1.24.1902
8. Mark Skaife 1.24.2428
9. Steven Richards 1.24.2999
10. Lee Holdsworth 1.24.3245

Whincup steps up to fill Sonny Bill’s boots

tobes — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:41:20 +0000

Dual Bathurst champion and 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series runner-up Jamie Whincup has stepped up to replace Sonny Bill Williams at a high-profile children’s charity function after the league star’s recent public split from the sport.

Whincup will be a guest of honour at the ‘Take a Walk on the Wild Side’ dinner, a fundraising function for the Essere charity in aid of living skills and self-esteem programs for young people who also aim to prevent bullying, teasing, depression and youth suicide.

The 25-year-old TeamVodafone driver graciously accepted the invitation to attend the event, alongside Friends of Essere guests NSW Premier Iemma, Treasurer Costa and Karl Stefanovic as well as a host of media personalities and sporting greats.

Whincup said it was an honour to be involved with the event, which also receives major support from the Vodafone Australia Foundation.

“To be part of an event with such a worthy cause is a privilege, I’m more than happy to step up and take the place of Sonny Bill at this time and lend my support to Essere,” said Whincup.

“Essere provide a unique service to the community and are paving the way for a brighter future for today’s kids.”

“The opportunity to meet with such esteemed guests is a very valuable one and I am very pleased to be the face for Australian motorsport at this event.”

Fran Dobbie, CEO and founder of Essere, said Jamie’s addition to the event would add valuable insight from the perspective of a young role model constantly in the spotlight.

“To have Jamie on board for the event certainly is very exciting. In his short time in the sport he has achieved so much and is a role model to so many young people,” said Dobbie.

“Behind his career is an incredible story, he has put in the hard yards to get where he is today and has importantly surrounded himself with a network of support.”

“We need strong leaders to stand up in our community and encourage a sense of belonging, and Jamie has a strong affiliation with a very relevant group of supporters.”

“I was especially excited to learn of Jamie’s online community and the way it connects users from across the country – this is an incredibly important network in itself.”

The fundraising dinner will be held on August 19 at Doltone House in Pyrmont Point.

For further information on the event visit the Essere website or contact Kelly Wong on 02 8306 9555. Tickets are $200.00 each with Corporate and VIP packages available.

Jamie’s Courier Mail Column, July 30th 2008

tobes — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 06:49:04 +0000

IN one sense V8 Supercars comes back to reality this weekend.
We head to Winton which for many drivers regard as their least favourite round.
I see it a bit differently to a lot of those drivers.
This weekend is about getting back to basics, back to the grassroots of where motor racing is bred.
What we must not lose sight of is that you can’t play every game at the MCG.
It’s important to play a game in the Northern Territory and take the game to the people and that is exactly the case with V8 Supercars.
What’s great about our category is variety and to have a good mixture of street circuits and purpose-built racetracks like Winton strikes a nice balance.
I’ll comment more on that in a later column.
We’ve got our glitz and glamour events like the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide and the Gold Coast Indy.
So I think it’s nice to have events like Winton which is out in the middle of the country in north-eastern Victoria, 200km from Melbourne.
We are not taking over a city here. We are going to the people in the bush and to a region of Australia which is real heartland V8 country.
Winton is a touch of Australiana and we can get to have a play around in the mud and have a bit of fun.
Team Vodafone has had some success at Winton in the past and there is no reason why it can’t be any different this weekend.
Things went a little sour for me last year in qualifying and I had to come from 20th on the grid but through some great pit strategy we managed to come through and win the round.
A lot of variables will still come into play this weekend across the three-heats.
The weather always plays a role so it’s really important that the engineers combine with the drivers to make the right pit call.
The other point is the new Dunlop tyres which all the teams are running face their first real cold test.
We have only run them in the extreme heat of Hidden Valley in Darwin and two weeks ago at Queensland Raceway which was relatively warm.
But now we will get a really good indication of where this tyre is at because we’ll get a really cold track temperature at Winton.
Of course all the Queensland teams that test at Queensland Raceway have an opinion on how it is different to the previous 17-inch Dunlop slick.
For those who didn’t follow it earlier, Dunlop have issued V8 Supercars with a new tyre that now uses a synthetic binding agent that replaces an oil-based one so it will be better for the environment.
We weren’t impressed that the Melbourne-based Ford Performance Racing stole our silverware a couple of weeks ago when Mark Winterbottom won at QR.
So we are looking at going there and doing the same to them with a return serve that can hopefully deliver Team Vodafone three consecutive round wins at Winton.

Lowndes and Whincup agree clever strategy is a winner at Winton

tobes — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:28:24 +0000

TeamVodafone is eyeing a return to form at this weekend’s Winton Motor Raceway round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series, gunning for three wins on the trot at the rural Victorian circuit.

The Brisbane-based squad has enjoyed exceptional results at Winton in the past, masterminded by car speed and strategy.

In 2007, Jamie Whincup recovered from a lowly 20th on the grid in qualifying to storm through the field, with the team expertly managing an onslaught of wet weather to take a hard-fought round win.

Both Whincup and teammate Craig Lowndes are aiming to return to race-winning form this weekend after a frustrating outing at their home track a fortnight ago.

Whincup acknowledged that the new Dunlop control tyre compound was taking some time to get to grips with and said getting a handle on setup in practice would be paramount this weekend.

“The reality is we are not at our peak at the moment and to win races we need to be at our peak,” said Whincup.

“We have encountered a few obstacles which we need to overcome like the new tyre compound, but in saying that we are not far off our best, it just goes to show how close this championship really is, as soon as you let your guard down there are a number of teams ready to pounce,” he said.

With cars evenly matched on track and the sub one-minute lap times at Winton, Whincup said stepping up his fitness routine was another important factor in preparation for the event.

“I personally have changed my approach and training to ensure I am both physically and mentally fit for this weekend’s round at Winton and I know the team has been working extremely hard as well,” he finished.

Lowndes, the round winner in 2006, said Winton presented a variety of challenges to teams.

“This is potentially the coldest track we go to, so getting temperature into the tyres when its needed is a big issue,” said Lowndes.

“Passing is another factor - it is a notoriously difficult circuit to pass on so qualifying at the front is imperative. The new tyre compound has forced us to alter our approach to practice in order to secure a good grid spot.”

“Pit strategy will play a crucial role in the outcome of the weekend so a clever and flexible strategy, like the one which Jamie used to win last year, is needed,” he concluded.

Round eight follows the season’s regular sprint style format, with three races to be contested across the course of the weekend.

Predicted forecasts suggest another chilly round, with temperatures barely climbing above 12 degrees at a maximum, and passing showers anticipated.

The team has begun its tour of the local area, with Lowndes and Whincup making various stops on the way at public and sponsor events.

Victorian V8 Supercar fans can grab the TeamVodafone round 8 Collectable Cards, supporting Red Cross, from the merchandise area via a gold coin donation.

Jamie’s Courier Mail Column, July 24th 2008

tobes — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:05:17 +0000

THINGS are happening thick and fast in V8 Supercar land with a raft of changes to our sport to kick in from next year.
It seems like there has been wave after wave of developments in the category that all points to ensuring a brighter future.
You have to ask what other sport has to go through the big calls which are being made in V8 Supercars?
As we mentioned exclusively last week which was confirmed by V8 chairman Tony Cochrane last Sunday, the category and the second tier Fujitsu Development series will move to run on E85 ethanol fuel from next year.
That is fuel containing 85 per cent ethanol blended with 15 per cent unleaded petrol.
This is a huge call and we can’t just be seen to be rolling along.
There are environmental issues to address.
We can’t just move the 50m line back to 60m and hope that is good enough.
These are not small steps. They are massive changes.
It’s easy for me to write in this column that this needs to be done and that needs to be done but we have the people in place to make the big calls happen and I’m sure the category will be all the better for it.
I understand that V8 Supercars have entered into a major five-year arrangement with suppliers of E85 with the crucial details set to be announced at Bathurst in October.
For the category to be proactive on things that effect the environment is something to be commended because it is so easy for many organisations to be reactive.
While the ethanol step is big enough in itself, to be able to get a street race up and running in Townsville (July 10-12) next year with the help of three governments (federal, state and local) is massive.
There is no question that the scheduling of our 14-round championship for 2008 could have been constructed with more thought because we started far too early way back on February 24.
But it looks like the calendar will be back to a more suitable time-frame next year which is a massive plus for the fans.
When the championship starts in 2009 it’s going to be an awesome rollercoaster ride to the end.
So there’ll be 15 events in 38 weeks which is much more condensed than this year, probably about a month shorter.
I’ve heard on the grapevine that the board meeting last week was one of the best in terms of ideas and changes.
And the good thing is that they are not changes for the sake of making change.
There are a lot of well directed and justified format changes which will become clearer by Phillip Island in September.
It’s good for drivers, its good for the teams and ultimately a big plus for the fans.
Some years you question what they are doing that for and some decisions seem to be all over the place.
But it looks like what is being proposed for 2009 has V8 Supercars headed in the right direction.

TeamVodafone accumulates useful points on final day of Queensland 400

tobes — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:27:08 +0000

In what was a relatively lacklustre day of racing TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes recovered from Saturday’s disappointing results to finish the weekend 6th and 12th respectively.

Today’s morning race showed both drivers had great speed and the ability to overtake with Lowndes gaining 16 places to finish 12th. A tremendous result given he started from the back row of the grid and was spun around on lap 3. Whincup also showed that Willowbank is a track you can overtake on, climbing six spots to finish third.

The afternoon race became a procession of sorts with both drivers following each other at various points but with Whincup finishing just ahead of his Lowndes in sixth place.

“After our positive result this morning I was really looking forward to Race 3,” Whincup explained. ” The car showed real promise in overtaking and I thought I would be able to challenge the leading cars.”

“I made a silly mistake on Lap 4 which slid me back to seventh, then after my pitstop I never really had the opportunity to challenge anybody properly.

“We have still gained 210 points which keeps me within striking distance of the Mark (Winterbottom) and Garth (Tander),” he concluded.

Teammate Craig Lowndes is hoping he has put the bad luck which has plagued him over the past few rounds behind him.

“I really had fun out there in the first race today,” said Lowndes. “In some ways it reminded me of my go-karting days.

“I had an awesome start in the final race, jumping four places which set me up well for a good result.

“Whilst I did not have great straight line speed we did recover from the engine misfire of yesterday and I hope I have now put all my bad luck behind me.

The Queensland 400 was won by Mark Winterbottom, Russell Ingall was second with James Courtney third.

The next round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series will see the teams head to Victoria’s Winton Raceway in just a fortnights time.

Top Ten Round Results

1. Mark Winterbottom 292pts
2. Russell Ingall 264pts
3. James Courtney 260pts
4. Garth Tander 240pts
5. Will Davison 216pts
6. Jamie Whincup 210pts
7. Mark Skaife 182pts
8. Steven Richards 176pts
9. Fabian Couthard 166pts
10.Cameron McConville 142pts
11.Lee Holdsworth 138pts
12.Craig Lowndes 124pts

Top Seven Championship Placings

1. Mark Winterbottom 1694pts
2. Garth Tander 1572pts
3. Jamie Whincup 1486pts
4. Rick Kelly 1312pts
5. Steven Richards 1299pts
6. James Courtney 1211pts
7. Craig Lowndes 1175pts

Tough day in the office for TeamVodafone

tobes — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:25:41 +0000

In a series of unfortunate events, Craig Lowndes struggled through the opening race at Round 7 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Queensland Raceway today with an ongoing engine misfire forcing him from the top three to ultimately finish in 28th position.

His teammate Jamie Whincup, fared slightly better finishing ninth, but was as high as fourth before yet another racing incident with Will Davison dropped him five places.

Lowndes who qualified fourth and started well to gain one spot said he was very disappointed to again not be able to compete against the top racers this weekend.

“My weekend is now about playing catch-up Charlie and I have never started this far back on our home track,” said Lowndes.

“Russell (Ingall) and I were having a great battle until the engine misfire started and then it was a race against myself to try and better 1min 30seconds a lap!”

“I salvaged 14 points and the team will rally tonight to determine what caused the problem,” he continued.

Whincup who was reflective on his disappointing qualifying result said he should have been on the second or third row of the grid not the fifth row.

“I clearly appreciate now that qualifying really is everything in these sprint rounds,” said Whincup. “I know we have good qualifying pace and I can string a quick lap together I just need to put it together in the last sector of qualifying.”

“Our pitstop strategy was good. After the stop I was in fourth position just behind Craig, so the race was there for the taking.

“Unfortunately I got involved in yet another racing incident which sent me back five spots. Tonight the guys and I will spend some time sorting out some minor handling issues so I can hopefully move forward tomorrow,” stated Whincup.

The Queensland 400 will conclude tomorrow with the final two 38-lap V8 Supercar races to be held at 11.00am and 1.40pm.

V8 Supercar Top Ten Race 1 Results

1. James Courtney, 100pts
2. Mark Winterbottom, 92pts
3. Russell Ingall, 86pts
4. Garth Tander, 80pts
5. Mark Skaife, 74pts
6. Will Davison, 68pts
7. Jason Richards, 64pts
8. Rick Kelly, 60pts
9. Jamie Whincup, 56pts
10.Lee Holdsworth, 52pts
28. Craig Lowndes, 14pts

TeamVodafone thwarted by changeable winds during V8 Supercar practice sessions

tobes — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:24:29 +0000

Unusually strong crosswinds have hindered the V8 Supercars practice sessions at Queensland Raceway with gusts reaching 45km throughout the day.

The high winds saw TeamVodafone drivers Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup both struggle to find optimal breaking points and throughout the session they had to manage an imbalance created by the crosswinds in the high speed corners.

Finishing the day with the fifth fastest practice time, Lowndes said the winds were another element the team would need to consider with car setup.

“That was an interesting practice session the winds really changed the characteristics of the car,” said Lowndes. “It was a lot different to what we would normally expect here.”

“Although this is our test track the reality is we have only had one test day here this year and we have not tested with this tyre compound.”

“What was good, was that despite the winds we were able to duplicate consistent lap times and also minimise tyre lap time drop off,” he added

Teammate Jamie Whincup finished the day in 14th position and admitted he was not happy with the end result.

“We struggled to find a good balance today,” said Whincup. “The high winds really played havoc with us.”

“Whilst we are also still coming to terms with the new tyre we have to be honest with ourselves and 14th just isn’t good enough at our home track.”

“Like always we will work hard tonight and aim for a much better result tomorrow,” Whincup stated.

The V8 Supercar action will continue tomorrow with qualifying at 11.35am and Race 1 (38 Laps) at 3.35pm.

Top Ten Practice Results

1. James Courtney 1.10.7210
2. Steven Richards 1.10.8965
3. Mark Winterbottom 1.10.9192
4. Will Davison 1.10.9362
5. Craig Lowndes 1.10.9529
6. Russell Ingall 1.10.9548
7. Mark Skaife 1.10.9575
8. Garth Tander 1.11.0993
9. Jason Richards 1.11.1106
10. Steven Johnson 1.11.1911
14. Jamie Whincup 1.11.2383

Jamie’s Courier Mail QR Preview Column - Thursday

tobes — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:51:14 +0000

GARTH Tander has been the man at Queensland Raceway for the last two years.

Tander has been consistently on the money so the rest of the field including the Queensland-based teams need to roll out of the truck for practice tomorrow on the front foot to have any chance of nailing the No 1 Holden Racing Team Commodore.

What will help other teams is the variables and we are not relying on the weather because, as they say, Queensland is beautiful one day, perfect the next.

The first big variable at Queensland Raceway is the track temperature which tends to fluctuate wildly.

And it tends to wash off some of the advantage that local teams hold at QR.

It’s the same at Winton, in Victoria where Team Vodafone, like Tander at Queensland Raceway, has won for the past two years with Craig Lowndes winning in 2006 and me winning last year.

The second variable is that it will be the second round for the newly constructed Dunlop control tyre which now use a synthetic binder rather than an oil-based binding agent.

In Darwin some drivers, and I was one, didn’t have a problem with them and others weren’t so happy.

It is far too early to make any kind of assessment on the tyres so I have no doubt that all the teams will learn more about the characteristics of the tyres this weekend.

And particularly when the track temperature will be relatively normal compared to the extreme heat we experienced in Darwin two weeks ago.

The third variable is the track itself, the 3.12km circuit, received a high-grip coating earlier this year.

They had some trouble with it back in February but it is fine now and I have no doubt that you will see the lap record tumble.

Incidentally Tander established the lap record at the first V8 Supercar round at the Ipswich track which took over from the much-loved Lakeside venue in 1999, clocking 1min11.0033secs.

So from what I’ve seen in our test time on the track, combined with the new tyre, it would seem a surefire bet that a new mark will be established.

I reckon the time I set to win my first V8 Supercar pole position last year, 1min10.16s, is looking pretty shakey as well.

Tander was unstoppable last year winning all three heats so we will be desperate to make sure he doesn’t complete a hat-trick of round wins in our backyard.

TeamVodafone confident ahead of home hitout

tobes — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:22:53 +0000

TeamVodafone is aiming to maintain its strong run of podium finishes at its home circuit when the V8 Supercar Championship Series heads to Queensland Raceway for round 7 of competition.

And while the Brisbane-based team has enjoyed success in the past, it has only once seen the top step of the podium, a statistic that drivers Craig Lowndes (Car 888) and Jamie Whincup (Car 88) are keen to re-write.

The duo finished third and second respectively last year, coming excruciatingly close to celebrating a win in TeamVodafone colours at the 3.12km circuit.

Lowndes, who won the 300km mini enduro at Queensland Raceway in 2006, said the weekend would provide an opportunity for a strong points haul at a track the team knows better than any other.

“Our form in the last couple of rounds has been good, so we’re looking forward to continuing that at Queensland Raceway,” said Lowndes.

“The circuit is more challenging than it looks when it comes to setup, but in recent years our cars have been strong there,” he said.

“Jamie and I were both on the podium last year; it’d be great to repeat that this weekend.”

Heading into the round he maintains a solid top 6 position, with 1051 points.

Last season’s event was a breakthrough round for Lowndes’ teammate Jamie Whincup, who recorded his first ever pole position at the Ipswich track.

He’s added a further two pole positions to his name in 2008, and said he was looking forward to backing up and taking his first win at the circuit.

“This is the team’s home track and where we base all our testing, we’ve got two very fast cars so are going into the weekend full of confidence,” said Whincup.

“There has been a few interesting changes since last year. The circuit has received a new treatment which should alter the grip levels, we have tested on this but have not raced on it yet,” he said.

“Adding to this is the new control tyre which was debuted at Darwin - these two factors will make practice and qualifying interesting and will make it even more important to get on top of setup early.”

One of the 2008 series’ most consistent drivers, Whincup is battling back gallantly from a zero-points round in New Zealand and sits third in the standings, on 1276 points.

The team’s test circuit is notorious for its deceptively complex series of corners, and Friday’s practice session will provide a good opportunity for drivers and engineers to tweak base setup for the track conditions.

Since last year’s event, the track has been entirely resurfaced, improving grip levels, but the notorious bumps into turn 1 and turn 3 remain.

The weekend consists of three 38-lap races; race 1 will be run on Saturday afternoon, with races 2 and 3 to be run on Sunday.

Jamie’s Courier Mail QR Preview Column - Wednesday

tobes — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:49:34 +0000

IT was another heart-breaking weekend on Queensland roads with the toll climbing last weekend.

More families torn apart by wasted lives in road crashes.

The carnage continues, seemingly unabated, and it is ripping the heart out of society.

So as a professional driver I feel we have a obligation to help push the road safety message.

There have been so many campaigns over the last few years but no matter what approach has been taken the message doesn’t seem to get through to.

Personally I feel as racing drivers we are under-used on the road safety front.

We drive race cars at Bathurst every year in a 1000km race than goes for almost seven hours and I believe there are no better people qualified to talk about fatigue, seat-belts and crashes than V8 Supercar drivers.

There are is so much involved with motoring aside from purely driving skill levels, awareness and road sense.

The V8 Supercar Championship moves to Queensland Raceway, Ipswich, this weekend and as part of the lead up to the round, our category launched a young driver training program for schools.

Called V8 SuperSafe, the initiative helps foster and educate the importance of safe driving practices, reasoned risk taking and positive choices.

These programmes which will run in all states and territories are aimed at year 10, 11 and 12 students.

The workshops include strategies to empower students in decision making, effective communication and understanding the potential consequences of action.

V8 Supercars has developed the Young Driver Training programme through a responsibility to the community to educate young people on road safety.

The workshops are designed to fit in with the various road safety messages which vary in the states and territories around Australia.

Workshops offer various options with 45-minute, 60-minute and 90-minute sessions.

Attached to the programs will be workbooks with relevant activities an educational DVD with messages from various drivers including my Team Vodafone team-mate Craig Lowndes while the dedicated V8 Supersafe Education Bus will be present where possible to show its mobile display unit and classroom.

These workshops and presentations will be under constant review to maintain best practice in delivering the road safety and young driver training message to school-age students.

I firmly believe that the more young people are educated on the importance of safe driving practices, the safer our roads will be.

This is an extremely worthwhile effort which V8 Supercars has put in place in order to make a highly noble contribution to the community.

Best of all the workshops and presentations are free and fully funded by V8 Supercars Australia as a community service program.

Readers can access more information at V8supercar.com.au and follow the tab through to the V8 Supersafe website.

Jamie’s Courier Mail QR Preview Column - Tuesday

tobes — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:43:39 +0000

V8 Supercars is in the middle of an upheaval with rules being reworked and cost cutting one of the foremost objectives in making the sport more economical.

Changes to the rules have helped to minimise the amount of adjustments you can make on the cars and that is good because there is more and more emphasis being put on the ability of the “nut” behind the wheel.

I’m certain that along with all these technical changes behind the scenes that the people who run our sport are considering modifications to the way sprint rounds will be run from 2009.

You can bet that instead of the three-heat format which is scheduled for Round 7 of the championship at Queensland Raceway at Ipswich this weekend, it will almost certainly change to two races next year.

Amid all of these proposed changes there is talk that the powers that be want to take away all of the sensors from our racecars.

Now in the interests of cost-cutting they want to dumb the cars down and take away the sensors which engineers use to monitor what a driver does on any given lap like how much steering angle a driver uses, the percentage of throttle used, g-forces and the amount of brake pressure applied etc.

It is all aimed at driving costs out of the series which is needed but from a driver’s point of view they have to be very careful how they go about it.

There is no doubt that some of the less fortunate V8 teams are struggling for funds so lowering the cost is important for the future health of the series.

The big question is how V8 Supercars goes about trimming costs.

The other point being driven is putting a salary cap on a driver.

So why is a driver singled out and not an engineer or a team manager or even a team owner?

Now there are probably engineers out there who are getting more than a lot of drivers.

The way I look at it is that we are all in this together to help our team’s win.

Okay there are salary caps in football but there is no such thing as caps on individual players.

Earlier we mentioned the possibility of getting rid of the sensors on the cars.

From my point of view when I arrived at Triple Eight Team Vodafone at the start of 2006, the way I learned was to study Craig Lowndes’s data.

That data is produced from downloading information from the sensors on the cars.

So in the pursuit of reducing the costs of going racing the sensors are under fire.

Those very sensors are what helped me develop to be a competitive driver.

No-one is saying it is an easy situation.

The costs must come down otherwise the future is not looking bright for any of us.

It’s imperative that whoever is charged with tightening the belts in V8 Supercars looks at the big picture and not make a rash decision for the sake of saving a few dollars here or there.

Jamie’s Courier Mail QR Preview Column - Monday

Jamie Whincup — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 22:42:15 +0000

AFTER what seems like a painfully long time, the V8 Supercar Championship Series reaches the midway point at Queensland Raceway this weekend.

Almost seven months of the year has gone and we are coming into round 7 of the series that started way back in February.

As we’ve said in previous columns there hasn’t been any rhythm to the 2008 championship with big gaps between rounds, and then bang, we are in the middle of two-week intervals between races which is brilliant.

Queensland Raceway comes two weeks after Darwin and Winton in north-eastern Victoria is two weeks after the “paperclip” track.

To be honest I think most people in the pitlane want regular rounds and I know the fans want more races with shorter gaps in between.

We’ve got to make hay while the sun shines because after Winton there is a six, repeat six-week break – an intermission because of the Beijing Olympics – until the next round at Phillip Island in September.

From there the back half of the season really takes off, pretty much from Bathurst in early October onwards.

So once everyone gets over their Olympics fix where there will hopefully be plenty of gold for the Aussies, all the V8 teams will be working absolutely flat biscuit until the end of the season at Oran Park in December.

For me, coming into the Ipswich round, I’m currently third in the points and that is a much better position than I was at this time last year.

When I look back at my pre-season targets, the goal for the halfway point was to be in the top three in the series.

Mission accomplished on that front and that is with the disastrous round at Hamilton, New Zealand, where my weekend was over before a race was run thanks to that huge crash in qualifying.

So to be still on track and in the championship hunt is quite satisfying particularly after a wipeout round.

Our Team Vodafone No 88 racer has had decent pace everywhere we have gone this season and that is really encouraging.

Craig Lowndes and I have upped our level of pushing each other at the track but it has all been really healthy competition and in the spirit of getting the team to the top.

At the last two rounds at Sandown and HiddenValley in Darwin, Lowndes and I have gone into the third and final heat level pegging on points.

The pleasing thing for the team is that it’s been super competitive between us two drivers.

We are both battling absolutely flat out but we’re still conscious of the team’s overall cause.

Lowndes having a shunt or as was the case at Hidden Valley when his engine exploded on the last lap of the final race is obviously not good for him.

But what some people may not consider is that it is ultimately no good for me at the same time.

Those things all have an impact on the team’s budget and it stops us from moving forward and developing.

I’m sure that Lowndes thought the same with my accident in New Zealand.

The way to look at it is that it’s really no different than a footy player pulling a hamstring.

It impacts on the whole team and it disrupts the whole momentum and preparation.

So let’s hope that the two Team Vodafone cars can make it through to the end of the third race at Queensland Raceway on Sunday afternoon.