BigBlog

Please be advised that i’m no longer blogging here but you can find my new, improved and “very exciting” blog at http://andrewjones.beinvolved.com.au/  Hope to see you there soon...!!

Well, you can bid for one as we continue to support the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal.

Fancy a V8 Supercars ‘hot lap’ experience with us at Brad Jones Racing? Singing a song with Adam Harvey? Getting some swimming tips from Brooke Hanson or training with Nathan Hindmarsh? You can bid on these and two other exciting, unique experiences in the ‘Kochie’s Business Builders’ Telstra Charity Auctions running in conjunction with Kochie's Business Builders. By special arrangement, Telstra will donate the proceeds to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal. To bid for your once-in-a-lifetime experience visit: http://tradingpost.com.au/charityauctions

The full prize is a hot lap at the Norton 360 Sandown Challenge, Sandown, Victoria. Plus, 4 x 3 day general admission tickets to event, a grid walk for 2 people and signed merchandise pack.
 
The ‘hot lap’ will be on Friday July 31 and dates for the event are July 31 to August 2.

Jonesy

I think Jamie Whincup has delivered new meaning to the term ‘driving the wheels off the car’. Jamie’s performances in the points paying rounds of this year’s championship have been nothing short of remarkable.

In the last 6 months Jamie has recorded 16 wins from 20 races! The only real blips on the radar which I can think of came at Oran Park, when he suffered from an engine failure and since then it has been smooth sailing.

This year he has the same car as not only his teammate Craig Lowndes, but also the guys at Dick Johnson Racing and Paul Cruickshank Racing and he is blowing them away.

I can’t see things changing as we head to Winton and think you would have to be silly to tip against Jamie there. He won the round in 2007 and was a joint round winner last year.

It hasn’t always been an easy path for Jamie and I take my hat off to him for his performances and his continued popularity amongst all fans.

The sport hasn’t seen this level of dominance since Mark Skaife or Marcos Ambrose were winning, but neither of those had the popularity Jamie does, due to their more serious demeanours. Mark would be the first to admit he was very serious when it came to racing, Jamie seems to have learnt a lot from Craig Lowndes about how to be personable when interacting with fans.

With dominance comes the question: is it bad for the sport?

There are arguments for both sides, but I’m going to take the glass is half full approach and say it’s good for the sport. After all, his dominance has people talking about the V8 category.

Perhaps if Jamie was driving for a team like HRT who have been so dominant in the past, it wouldn’t be a great thing, but as it is with Triple Eight never having dominated in the past, I think it’s great.

From number one to number two and I think Lee Holdsworth is doing a tremendous job. Having said that, Lee’s team are often good at street races and whether they can continue the form is yet to be shown. One thing is for sure, if they don’t keep it going it will be through no fault of Lee’s. He is very talented.

Having a look at how Brad Jones Racing went at the weekend and it’s clear it wasn’t a great weekend, but both Cam McConville and Jason Richards did admirable jobs as they were tested by the conditions.

I thought the new qualifying format worked well. Sure, there were drivers who were unhappy with the red flag and having a lack of tyres, but that’s racing and things like red flagged sessions and using your tyres play a part.

I think it means there will be more variety as teams who don’t use so many green sets of tyres in qualifying before the first race have an advantage before the final race.

It also places an emphasis on teams going out and using their time early in final qualifying.

Having a look at the F1 as they go back-to-back-to back this weekend and I think it’s going to be one hell of a race in Bahrain, but what an effort from Red Bull.

Red Bull got wings in Shanghai as Sebastian Vettel continued to show why he is thought of as a future World Champion and Mark Webber had his best finish ever with second.

I had a conversation with a man who was armed with all sorts of facts as to why Webber isn’t much good the other day, but the truth is you don’t survive in F1 as long as Webber has without being talented and good at what you do.

Hopefully the Red Bull boys can continue to perform this weekend, before the F1 circus heads back to Europe and the top teams begin to splash out all their cash in an effort to improve their cars.

Jonesy

Stupidity seems to have ruled the V8 roost of late. Firstly, V8 Supercar Australia came out with what can only be described as an absurd qualifying system, whereby you are stuck with the one grid position for the entire weekend, no matter how well you go in a race.

Then after just one points paying round they give in to criticism of their supposedly ‘great’ new system and scrap it, allowing a 20 minute qualifying session on the Sunday morning for that day’s racing.

I think it makes the category come off as amateurish when the governing body is changing rules after just one race. Set it all down in November the previous year and then stick to your guns!

With the Hamilton street race on this weekend it will be interesting to see what the drivers think of the new qualifying format, but I would wager they will like it more than the last.

There have been some changes to the Hamilton circuit since last year, which will change the way drivers attack it. The left, right combo into turns three and four has been flattened right out. It was very bumpy and uncomfortable last year, but I thought it made racing interesting.

The lead up to turn eight through the double chicane has also been changed and will now be a faster section of the track.

As for the race itself I find it hard to go past the Triple Eight machines. They have blown everyone away at Clipsal and the Grand Prix. They look good.

If Jamie Whincup or Craig Lowndes manage to grab victory, they will be the first Falcon to win a round in New Zealand. Marcos Ambrose won a race at Pukekohe, but that’s all the success the blue oval has managed there.

The Holden pressure, based on form, will be coming from Will Davison in his HRT machine and the rampaging Jason Richards in the Team BOC Commodore. They have both performed very well in the early stages of this year and will be looking to continue that form. Particularly JR, who will be racing at home, on a circuit tailor made for him, in front of his family and friends.

I’m going to tip Jamie Whincup to win the round and have JR as my dark horse.

Having said that, don’t discount the other HRT Commodore of Garth Tander. Garth seems confident and will be determined to get one back on his teammate. He’s also the only man to win a race at Hamilton, after sweeping the weekend last year.

From the V8s to the Formula 1 circus, which travels to China this weekend as Jenson Button looks to make it three out of three for Brawn GP.

I’m happy the investigation into the rear diffusers of Brawn, Williams and Toyota indicated they were legal. The FIA gave a whole new set of rules and changes for this season and the men at these teams simply interpreted them differently.

They deserve reward for their effort, particularly Ross Brawn, who is a master at engineering F1 cars.

I think it will be yet another win for the Brawn machine this weekend in Shanghai, but I’d love to see it be Rubens Barrichello taking the chequered flag. I think Rubens has done very well in practice sessions this year and I have been surprised to see Jenson pip him when it comes to qualifying. 

I never knew F1 had half points if the race didn’t go half distance. I guess it may have always been on the cards with the current trend for twilight races in the Asia/Oceania leg, but surely the heads of F1 must have known it was likely to dump rain late in the day in Malaysia?

The other issue enveloping F1 is the debacle surrounding Lewis Hamilton and McLaren lying about Jarno Trulli passing him under yellow flags at the Aussie GP.

I think it would be stupid of the FIA to kick Hamilton (the reigning Driver’s Champion) out for the year and the uproar it would cause certainly wouldn’t be worth it and I don’t think they will do it.

Having said that, Hamilton’s statement ‘being branded a liar is the worst thing that has ever happened to me’, was melodramatic, reeked of spin and is one which makes him seem out of touch with the current goings on in the world.

Easter weekend was enjoyable. I got to spend time with Mish and Koby, which seems rare these days. I’m almost on the road more than I was when I was racing, which is weird.

We headed to Beechworth with Mish’s family for Easter lunch and then for me it was back off to some Audi drive days.

I did enjoy them at Eastern Creek as I piloted the Audi R8 around the circuit, clocking up to 230kph. The handling round corners was amazing and if anyone can afford one, I recommend the car.

Jonesy

I guess it’s been a while since I posted and first up I want to explain the decision and circumstances which led to me not driving in the V8 Supercar series this year.

That decision wasn’t made lightly. I felt it was best for me and for the team for me to step away from racing and figure out what it is that I want.

The first 6 months of last year were really good and I was enjoying my racing and being able to race in the top half of the field. Then in the second half of 2008 the performance level dropped away and with it went my enjoyment of racing.

Having said that my career is by no means dead in the water, even though I am exploring other opportunities.

Whilst I am still working with the team at Brad Jones Racing I am also doing some media work and giving that avenue a try. It’s something I have always been interested in and am enjoying.

You can catch me on BigPond Sports Weekend providing analysis of the V8 Supercar series and I’m also doing commentary for Channel 7’s coverage of the Fujitsu series. So far I am enjoying both.

I’m also completely happy for my mate Jason Richards and how well Jase has gone since he joined BJR in the Team BOC Commodore. I feel I made the right decision as it has helped the team and Jason. I have a huge amount of respect for Jason both on the track and off it and hope the opportunity he has will really help to launch his career further.

Going to Clipsal and the Grand Prix was not easy and I think in a way that told me that I’m not through with the V8 series and that when the time is right I will be getting back into a car. I want to improve and get to where I feel I should be with my driving.

The limited racing I have done this year has been very enjoyable. I contested the Bathurst 12 hour event for the first time this year, driving a Holden HSV R8 Wagon with Nathan Pretty and Russell Ingall. That car was double wide and the meanest looking thing on the mountain.

I really enjoyed the race weekend and racing with those guys was great. Nathan Pretty started, I came in for the second stint then Russell. We were sitting sixth after my first stint, but then ‘The Enforcer’ got in and we had some mechanical problems which forced us to stop for about an hour and drop to 32nd spot before eventually coming home to finish 16th.

I’ll still be driving the enduros this year and will get to take part in half hour co-driver sessions on Fridays at Winton, Tasmania, Sandown and Ipswich.

As for my blog this year I think I want to give motorsport fans a broader view of what is happening and my thoughts on events which occur. Seeing as I’m not driving regularly I should be able to have better info on things which are not happening directly around me.

Phenomenal is one word I would use to describe the action at the Australian GP. It was certainly a phenomenal result for Brawn GP. A lot of people are describing them as having risen from the ashes of Honda.

It’s not a statement I agree with. The drivers, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello have that’s for sure, but Ross Brawn has been developing the cars since last June and is a very smart man who knows what he is doing, so I would stop short of saying the team has risen from the ashes.

It was great to see Jenson Button win the race. There was so much hype around Jenson when he first began his F1 career and lately the gloss had gone off, which in a way was probably a price he paid for being too loyal to Honda.

As good as that was it would have been even better to see Rubens Barrichello win the race. Rubens is the oldest man in the field and proved once again that when he has the car and he is able to drive for himself, instead of someone else (Michael Schumacher) he is capable of anything.

It was disappointing to see Mark Webber suffer through another incident on a disappointing day for Red Bull after Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica tangled late in the race.

The stewards slugged Vettel with a penalty after the race but I think he was just fighting hard and if Kubica hadn’t of been so bullish about pushing so hard and stuffing it down the inside of turn 3, he would have got Vettel anyway.

In the V8s I was astonished to see how dominant Jamie Whincup was at Clipsal and think if he drives with that commitment all year the field will have trouble beating him.

Having said that Will Davison was trading lap times with him at Clipsal and is a genuine threat in the HRT Commodore. I bet he has made Garth Tander stand up and take notice of him.

The third guy I want to mention is the much maligned Steven Johnson. Stevie has copped a lot of grief in the last few season with people questioning whether he should be driving but he has put together some very fast times this year and is looking good.

I’ll write again soon, so keep the comments rolling in and I’ll get to answering them.

Jonesy