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I feel like a black cat must have crossed my path on the weekend, because my luck certainly wasn’t in, but looking on the bright side of life I know the weekend could have been much better.

I put the car in 16th spot on the grid, which was four tenths of a second from pole in an effort I was reasonably happy with.

The major problem we had in qualifying was a change we made on Friday night unsettled the car really badly under brakes. This made it difficult to control and I flat spotted a tyre on my first run as I locked them up.

That was one set of green tyres done and then we used two more sets just to get to the second stage of qualifying, so to finish 16th on an older set of tyres was actually quite an achievement.

I was happy with that and ready to get stuck into racing. Then on lap one of race one Greg Murphy gave me a couple of taps and then whacked me hard in the back at turn five, instantly putting me eight seconds behind the rest of the field.

Murph’ got a drive through, but I honestly would have expected better from such an experienced driver. It’s not like it’s his first time at the dance.

Because of what happened in race one I was on the back foot for race two, starting from 22nd on the grid, when I once again was caught out by someone else’s mistake.

Jason Bright went for a passing move on Craig Lowndes and got it all wrong, slamming into Craig at speed. I slowed down to avoid their incident when Michael Patrizzi hit me slightly and badly damaged my car. It wasn’t all Michael’s fault though, he may not have expected me to slow down.

The lack of justice was amazing as Jason went on to finish in 12th despite having a heavy impact with Craig.

At the end of race two I was extremely frustrated at how the weekend was panning out but none of us in the team saw how I could have avoided either of the accidents. When you get hit from behind you are basically a passenger as there is nothing you can do about it.

Race three wasn’t really looking like being a good one as I only had two good tyres left, but the car performed really well and, without an incident in sight, I was able to move up eight places from 24th to 16th, which I think was a reflection of how good my weekend could have been.

As far as the championship goes it looks like Mark Winterbottom is in a purple patch and I would say Ford Performance Racing have come to grips with the tyre compound quite quickly and are getting plenty of pace out of them. As for us we are still working on our strategy with them, but we are getting there.

When the tyres first came out the view was they would be quicker in qualifying and more durable during the race, but looking at the timesheets from Queensland 07 to Queensland 08, they actually appear to be slower in qualifying and I don’t think they are more durable.

From a Holden point of view it was great to see Russell Ingall up on the podium.

When I first started out in V8s I didn’t have much to do with Russell, but having had the chance to sit down and talk with him more in the last year I have gained a lot of respect for him and have a lot of time for him as a person and a driver.

On the track I feel like he is hard but fair, even though he tends to polarise some fans.

After the race weekend the team had a night in Brisbane before heading home to Albury and for me home to Mish and Koby.

In just five days it was amazing to see how different Koby has become. He is opening his eyes a lot more during the day and is just awesome. While he was doing that I was showing everyone who would look photos at the weekend.

Back on V8s and I see the calendar is going to be littered with 2-3 week breaks next year, which is not only great news for the drivers but also the fans who will have a more regular schedule to look forward to.

It’s interesting to note the sudden improvement of McLaren in F1 with Kimi Raikkonen admitting they have stepped up after Lewis Hamilton has won the last two Grand Prix’.

With le Tour coming into its last week it was great to see Simon Gerrans win his first ever stage. Simon actually rode in Albury’s race back in 2003 and to see him five years later winning a stage in the Tour de France is fantastic.

What was impressive was the way he rode to victory in the breakaway. Two other riders dropped him off and he was able to ride across the gap and power over the top of them at the finish. What a ride!

Speaking of Aussies I think it’s a good thing Cadel Evans has dropped the yellow jersey.

Silence Lotto is not the strongest team in the field and having to protect the yellow jersey for so long has taken a toll on them. Cadel is better off chasing it and Phil Liggett seems to think he could be down by a minute and still claim it in the time trial before the Tour hits Paris, such is his ability in the time trial.

Jonesy

Last week Mish and I welcomed our own little bundle of joy Koby Durston Jones into the world and I want to thank everyone who congratulated us either on the blog or on the phone.

Quite a few people have said they like the name which is funny as it was the only name Mish and I had set out for a boy and we settled on it in December.

We had a couple of name options for a girl and they were Grace Lilly or Ruby Grace.

Anyway the last week has certainly been exciting with the arrival of Koby and both he and Mish are doing very well. Being there for the birth, I have a whole new respect for what women do and how they handle it.

Certainly I would say they have it tougher than us males, but to Mish’s credit she handled the pregnancy and birth like a real trooper.

Koby and Mish came home on Sunday and so far everything is going very well. I haven’t lost too much sleep and if I have it’s been because of the Tour de France.

It’s actually going to be quite hard to go away to race this weekend, but at the end of the day that is my job and I love it. So while I say it’s hard it’s not too bad because I knew it was coming.

As for Koby, he had his first visit to the BJR garage during the week and was doted on by Kim and Brad in particular. He has also been well and truly spoilt with affection from both sets of grandparents.

He is the first grandchild for both Mish’s parents and mine so he is a very popular boy. We have also had plenty of our friends around the house to see him and I want to thank them for all the gifts.

As I said I will have to tear myself away this weekend as we head to Queensland Raceway at Ipswich where we hope to improve on our effort at Darwin. We are really still learning about the cars and at Darwin we made some choices which didn’t work out, but if we learn from them we can definitely improve.

The last time we had a bad weekend was Eastern Creek and we came out the next race at the Grand Prix and turned in a great weekend. Hopefully we can do that this weekend in Ipswich.

A lot has been said about the circuit at Ipswich and on paper it doesn’t look great and it does look like a paperclip, but that doesn’t mean the racing won’t be good.

Yes the circuit has six corners but the qualifying and racing is always tight. I would guess this weekend there may only be 7-8 tenths of a second between the whole field, making for some good racing.

The keys to Ipswich in my view are the braking ability of your car and the ride quality.

There are a couple of heavy braking spots at turn 3 and turn 6 which allow you to make sneaky passing moves and can provides good moments. So brakes are important

There are also some dips and troughs in the circuit at turns 1 and 3 where the circuit has suffered degradation and they can make the ride very bumpy, but also make the circuit a little bit more interesting from a driving perspective.

Obviously the aim for the team is to improve and be in the top group in qualifying as we have been inconsistent all year with our speed, but also to string three good races together and get some good points out of the weekend to give us some momentum.

As for who I think will be the top contenders I would say Mark Winterbottom as he is in great form, Jamie Whincup as he tests there and won the round last year as well as the usual suspects of Garth Tander, Mark Skaife, Rick Kelly, and hopefully Cameron and I.

In the wide world of sport I have been watching a lot of le Tour and was pleased to see Cadel Evans take over the yellow jersey last night.

It is very interesting to see he took it in the stage he predicted he would prior to the race. It also will set Cadel up for the part of the race he has obviously targeted and I think he might put some time between himself and the field now.

I was also happy to see Casey Stoner has won three MotoGP races in a row now and he and Ducati have really improved their bike. Although it doesn’t seem to be working for his teammate Marco Melandri, who is struggling.

The same thing happened to Loris Capirossi last year who was subsequently crucified, but he was closer in times to Stoner than Melandri has been.

If you see me at Ipswich say g’day - Jonesy

While the race weekend wasn’t great for me, I know this week will be. Mish is due to give birth on Thursday and both of us are incredibly excited to welcome little ‘Nacho’ into the world!

We’re both fully prepared and should ‘Nacho’ not want to sleep when he or she gets home I think I can handle it with the Tour de France on TV.

It’s now been two race weekends in a row where we have struggled for pace and I don’t think we have been doing anything different to the rest of the Walkinshaw Performance group.

Of course the only member of the group who has been performing really well and had pace over that time is Garth Tander. There could be a number of reasons for that but most likely is that Garth has been driving this car for a long period of time and knows how to come to grips with any issues it may develop over a race weekend quicker than the rest of us.

After Sandown all the Walkinshaw teams sat down as a group and tried to iron out the problems in the cars, but it appears it was to no avail as there wasn’t a lot of improvement in Darwin and we do not share information during a race weekend so that couldn’t help us.

I actually thought I had a decent car throughout the first practice and then through to the third practice on the Friday. However when we put the green tyres on for qualifying the car developed a lot of understeer, which was strange because we had used green tyres on Friday as well.

We then changed the tyres and I had a bit more speed in the car and was looking good for the second qualifying session until eight guys overtook me in the rankings in the last 30 seconds of the session. I know at least two of them, Greg Murphy and Paul Dumbrell, gambled by putting on their third set of green tyres for that run.

Ultimately the result was I was stuck in 21st position on the grid and not for the first time either. To be blunt about it there is nowhere worse to finish than 21st after the first session with a set of tyres up your sleeve and I am sick of it.

The races themselves were quite disappointing which is how I would sum up my weekend. In race one we didn’t have much speed. In race two we tried a few things with the car but they had little effect and it wasn’t until race three that we were able to drag some speed out of the car.

I actually did a 1m11.9 in race three and I know the fastest lap was a 1m11.5 so the car really picked up some speed, but I was hampered by my muffler exploding on lap four. That had a flow on effect as it started burning the paint off on the side of the car and I had a fire going, so to get back to 21st after that was good.

Hopefully we can maintain the pace I had in race three when we go to Queensland.

While I had my issues, so did Cameron McConville in his WOW racing machine. Basically Cam had similar problems to me. He really wasn’t happy with how his car was behaving under brakes, to the point where he lacked braking confidence.

The upshot of the bad weekend is we really need to get some momentum back and I hope Queensland can be the beginning of that.

While the week wasn’t great for us I am sure it was worse for other teams, particularly Dick Johnson Racing. I simply can’t believe that Ford have decided to sever their backing of a man who has long been a Ford icon, even if they believe it is good for business.

For as long as I can remember, or back to the rock incident at Bathurst, the names Ford and Dick Johnson have been synonymous with one another and to see the day when corporate dollars come in between that is sad.

I understand there were reasons behind Ford’s decision to back just two teams, but surely they could have given a lot to two teams and a little to the others as a good will gesture instead of nothing?

As I mentioned earlier there is plenty of sport on the box at the moment and with le Tour cracking along at a frantic pace I will be enjoying that, especially as Cadel Evans is a huge chance to win the race this year.

I also take my hat off to SBS for their coverage; they always do a great job with their sporting events.

As I was on a flight at the time I didn’t catch the British Grand Prix but I have heard about it and read the quotes.

My quick thoughts are; it was a shame for Mark Webber that he spun as he had been quick all weekend and deserved to be right up there. I wonder when his bad luck will end?

Also Lewis Hamilton won his home GP which is great for him, but I am increasingly disliking his demeanour and the air of confidence he carries with him. Even when he makes a mistake in a race and is out he seems to brush it off with the attitude of I’ll win the next one.

Looking forward to becoming a father - Jonesy

As always I am rapt to be at a race weekend, this time in sunny Darwin. It’s also good to get out in some warm weather, although whether I maintain that mindset during the races is yet to be seen.

Since we jumped off the plane yesterday it has been non stop. We’ve been out to the local WOW and BOC stores, then to ‘Territory’ radio for some interviews and on to handing out a cheque to Moulden primary school on behalf of a working relationship with The Smith family.

It doesn’t stop there as this afternoon all the Holden drivers are off to a signing session in the Mall and after that I will be off to conduct my track walk before getting ready for the commencement of action tomorrow. In short it’s been a pretty hectic time up in Darwin but well worth it.

There has also been plenty happening off the track in the world of V8s including the annual Drivers’ Poll.

I’m not sticking up for Mark Skaife by any stretch of the imagination but I don’t share the sentiment that he, or Russell Ingall for that matter, should retire and I don’t understand the motivation for anyone to say they should.

While Mark isn’t the force he was a few seasons ago when he was winning everything he is still a very competitive driver and I honestly believe we should not be looking to see the end of his career but rather lengthen it. Other sports honour those who have achieved and attempt to keep them in the game for as long as they want. I believe we should do the same, especially with Skaife and Ingall still performing.

I also read today that a race at Homebush is back on the agenda for V8 Supercars and, while I think new initiatives are a good idea, I still don’t think that having a major street race in every city benefits anyone.

It seems to be the big trend to have a street race everywhere but I can’t agree with it. I think we need to look at the big picture and that involves looking at what could happen if these street races cease to exist or the funding evaporates?

The answer could be that we have failed to develop new circuits or improve the facilities at old ones and the result would be that as a series we lose out, as do smaller groups who rely upon true race circuits for their racing.

In other bad news it appears Ford has pulled it’s backing of some teams for 2009 and is simply going to back FPR and SBR, leaving some teams out in the cold.

They appear to be putting all their eggs in one basket there and it could backfire on them. Apparently they are also looking at putting more money into sports like tennis and cricket, but if you are a car company surely your number one concern is motorsport.

Ultimately it makes me happier Brad and Kim made the move to Holden.

However what I do think is great to see is that V8 Supercar are looking at condensing the calendar for next year. It’s been no secret I haven’t enjoyed the long breaks between rounds and feel a race every 2-3 weeks would be ideal.

Looking to this weekend I would like to have more qualifying speed in the car. It seems we have lost it a bit from early in the season but improved on our race pace. We need a balance of the two to have a successful weekend.

As regular readers know Mish and I are expecting the arrival of baby ‘Nacho’ and while I hope he doesn’t arrive early, if he does it’s something we have planned for and I will be on the first plane home after the race weekend.

Regarding your comments – thank you all for the birthday wishes and to Ryan and Karen I appreciate your comments in regards to more test time being given to enduro drivers. I will try and elaborate more in my next post.

Jonesy

I know plenty of people have been leaving comments on the blog asking whether we have decided on driver pairings for the enduros yet, but I can’t say until the official release is put forward naming our pairings.

That release will come after the Winton round, during the six week break, which if you asked me is too long, but that’s the way the schedule is.

Speaking of the enduros, Brad sent out a press release asking for irregular drivers to be given more time to test the cars before the big races. I think it’s a good idea, especially with our test days being cut from six to four this year.

I would be interested to know what the fans think about this so feel free to leave your comments.

It was my 28th birthday yesterday and I was quite spoilt on the day. I spent a bit of it with Mish (who is now off work) and then headed to BJR where they had a decadent chocolate mud cake in waiting for me. I think the sugar is still flowing through my system.

I spent some of the night at the local playing trivia as we do every Tuesday and we had our best result finishing second. It was good to get on the podium!

I watched the French F1 Grand Prix on Sunday night and was pleased to see Felipe Massa come away with another win and the lead in the Drivers Championship. To me the race showed the continuing dominance of Ferrari.

It is now three race weekends in a row they have had the best cars, highlighted by Kimi Raikkonen busting an exhaust and yet still managed to finish second. I think they had the best car in Monaco as well, but conditions got the better of them.

I thought the other great drive of the weekend belonged to Jarno Trulli, who got on the podium in his Toyota. I think Trulli is a guy who seems to work incredibly hard and never get the credit he deserves. Hopefully this is the beginning of the rise of Toyota after a few years of trying to get the car right.

I also feel like Trulli proved something to commentators who have said he can only qualify a car. Sometimes you can get a great lap out of a car by going really hard, but getting the car to race well can be an entirely different proposition.

Mark Webber once again performed well and I would say Red Bull have come a long way from their countless DNFs last season. Webber, despite not getting on the podium, would be happier with the car and I think he might be looking a couple of years into the future, especially with legendary designer Adrian Newey on board with the team.

Jenson Button reckons he is crashing too much and needs to take a good hard look at himself. I hope some good performances are to follow because he does have talent.

Continuing on my motorsport Tour de Force it was great to see Marcos Ambrose qualify well at the Infineon raceway. He looked like he may have got pole instead of 7th until the last corner of qualifying when he had to fight understeer.

He performed admirably in the race until he hit Juan Pablo Montoya, who as usual got hot under the collar about the incident. You have got to love the fiery Columbian and his personality!

I think it may be just the tip of the iceberg for Ambrose though as he seems to be highly thought of in the US.

This week The Driver’s Poll will be coming out in The Sunday Telegraph with our thoughts on most overrated, most underrated, who will win the Championship and who will win Bathurst. So make sure you have a read. I know I will.

Mish is going well and is due on July 10, so just a couple of weeks to go. I hope ‘Nacho’ doesn’t arrive during the round in Darwin, because I really want to be with Mish when our child arrives.

As an interesting aside, I found the Derryn Hinch/ Mick Gatto verbal quite interesting and wonder if there will be any follow up, aside from Hinch’s ratings spiking.

Jonesy