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Transcript

Drivers Only: Episode 7 with Broc Feeney, Tim Slade and Aaron Love · Rusty's Garage

0:02
listener production.
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G'day, it's Rusty here, about to hand over the keys to the people who really drive this show, a Supercars official podcast hosted by the drivers, not journos or broadcasters, the athletes who actually live it, breathe it, and are best geared to talk about it from a perspective you don't get in many other places.
0:24
Welcome to another ep of Drivers Only, which lives here in Rusty's garage.
0:29
I basically get out of the studios and leave it to them.
0:32
They're in charge of the convo, where it goes.
0:34
Of course, there's a bit of a plan.
0:37
We call it a reminder list.
0:38
Stuff they've done recently, what's coming up.
0:40
Lots to cover off off the back of the second last round of the season.
0:44
How good was the turnout for the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500?
0:47
They hit it out of the park again with that event.
0:51
Another street party with lots of history is just around the corner.
0:55
The 25th anniversary celebrations of the Velo Adelaide 500 at another iconic track.
1:00
The season finale, the title decider, it's got it all.
1:04
November 14 to 17.
1:06
Fittingly, Brock Feeney is in the big chair today, ahead of a battle royal that he'll be part of as he fights to put his name on the championship trophy.
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Joining him for this one, Tim Slade.
1:16
Adelaide will be an emotional weekend for Sladey, his final full-time drive.
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And the third member of the panel today, a bright young talent in Aaron Love.
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from the Blanchard Racing Team, whose teammate in James Courtney did a ripper job last time out with the Bathurst edition, along with Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood, the winners of the great race.
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Enjoy the eps for free here at Listener.
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Please tell your mates about it.
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You can also watch them on the Supercars YouTube channel.
1:44
This is the Gold Coast debrief Adelaide pre-brief edition of Drivers Only.
2:02
So we're here, Supercars Drivers Only Podcast, our first time on the show, episode seven.
2:07
We've seen all the clips, a Gold Coast local, a couple of imports.
2:11
We're not too far from home, so what's going on, lads?
2:15
Just trying to stay awake after that big, big drive up the M1, to be honest.
2:20
Yeah, I was hoping they were going to offer a coffee when we got here, but... No helicopter?
2:24
Not to be.
2:24
Definitely no helicopter.
2:26
What's yours on today?
2:28
Um, it's actually not a bad drive.
2:30
It was like 55 minutes up here.
2:31
So for me, I'm doing the trip a bit.
2:33
I get there.
2:34
We do Friday afternoon debriefs.
2:36
So we finish at like three o'clock and it's like two hours home.
2:39
Yeah, that's not ideal.
2:41
They're not thinking about you.
2:42
No, no, exactly.
2:43
So anyway, that's, um, that's another problem.
2:46
But how are you going, Aaron?
2:48
Yeah, we're good.
2:49
We were all recovered after Gold Coast.
2:51
It was a pretty rough weekend for everyone, regardless of the results.
2:55
Yeah, it was hard.
2:56
So on that, coming out of GC500.
2:59
Had everyone go.
3:01
She's a big week, especially after Bathurst.
3:03
I found that was pretty hard getting actually recovered and ready for probably what's one of the toughest races of the year.
3:09
Yeah, we're only saying before, like, it's kind of weird where you have most of the year with a month in between races, and then you have, like, two of the essentially biggest races with the most risk of carnage, the closest together.
3:20
So, yeah, like, Bathurst is always, you know, a big week.
3:26
And then, you know, you do that big stint at the end of the race, which is...
3:29
Not easy.
3:30
And then, yeah, I guess the one plus for us with Gold Coast, that it's a home race, get to stay in your own bed, which is nice.
3:37
And it's a bit cruisier, like getting to and from the track and whatever else.
3:41
But, yeah, it's obviously a lot harder, that race,
3:45
now than what it used to be, two 300k races with a co-driver, and now you're doing only a little bit less by yourself.
3:52
So yeah, it's pretty physically and mentally demanding.
3:57
For me, it wasn't, I wouldn't say I raced, I'd say I participated.
4:01
Yeah.
4:02
Did you get a participation award?
4:04
No, not even.
4:05
Didn't deserve one.
4:07
So, yeah, I mean, we just struggled for speed and a bit of crash damage on Sunday was a part of, well, I think half the field was a part of that shunt at, what was that, turn 11, I think.
4:20
Yeah.
4:21
So, yeah, it wasn't ideal, but, yeah, it was disappointing.
4:25
So hopefully I can finish the year off a bit nicer and my full-time career in Adelaide in a couple of weeks.
4:34
Did you all say at home?
4:35
Is that?
4:36
Yeah.
4:37
Yeah.
4:37
It's good, isn't it?
4:38
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
4:39
Yeah, it's awesome.
4:39
I think any time you get the opportunity to stay at home, definitely take it.
4:44
Like a lot of the teams stayed in the Rhapsody apartment actually, which is like on the inside of Turn 4.
4:52
Yeah.
4:53
I don't think our rooms were as flashed that the boys stayed in.
4:56
Will was complaining on the first night.
4:58
I'm like, I've got a bed here, mate.
5:01
I'll lock you in your room and won't let you out.
5:03
Yeah.
5:05
What about you, mate?
5:06
I saw you dodging some stuff on...
5:08
I got lucky, hey, like two times in a row qualifying with your mate, Will.
5:15
I got so lucky there.
5:16
I'd just come around the corner and the seeds had parted and there's a perfect-sized hole for a couple of years.
5:21
Actually, I was in that, so you should have finished him off, mate.
5:25
I'd had a bit going on that turn open.
5:26
You probably made the hole for me.
5:28
You need to pay me a bit to finish him off properly.
5:31
So why'd you get back into the throttle?
5:32
We should have been on the break.
5:34
So yeah, I got lucky there and then, yeah, and the race got lucky as well with that as well.
5:40
It was just like stopped and then I was trying to find a way through and then just looked up and then there was another hole.
5:47
So then I picked up a few spots there.
5:48
So that's probably about as good as it got and then made a bit of a mistake on pit lane entry.
5:56
and then, yeah, we got a drive-through penalty, so that kind of made us a bit of a participator for the rest of the race.
6:02
You sped coming in?
6:03
Yeah.
6:04
Did you like the rears?
6:05
Yeah, I lost a little bit of time going in the race before, so I was like, oh, I had a bit of a dip going in.
6:10
We're actually racing a few cars now, and then it was about when I plucked third on the way down.
6:15
It's like, oh, this thing's not pulling up.
6:19
So, yeah, we had a drive-through for that, which kind of,
6:23
Ruined the race a bit, but yeah, we had relatively decent speed from the day before, but just couldn't convert it into anything after that.
6:32
How about you?
6:34
I nearly did the same as you.
6:36
I nicked the fence actually coming in.
6:38
I'm just braking, and I suppose you're just looking at your speed going down, and the rear's just full chirp, and I'm like, oh, and I look up, and I'm like, and then got under 40 just.
6:47
It's hard actually getting in there.
6:48
You've got the fence.
6:50
Yeah.
6:50
Did you say?
6:51
Yeah.
6:51
What, like on the?
6:52
On the wall.
6:53
Like I'm just looking down at my thing and as I'm like, and then I look up and I'm like, oh, okay, well, good.
6:59
Shit.
7:01
It's hard though because you, I don't know, you look after the race and you look at your times.
7:06
You're like, I'm half a second down coming into pit lane, but you're tapped.
7:10
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
7:11
But it's a hard one.
7:12
Yeah.
7:12
Yeah.
7:13
And what about your weekend as a whole?
7:15
Yeah, good.
7:16
Like, good.
7:17
Two thirds, couple of surfboards.
7:19
Happy with that.
7:20
But yeah, I suppose if you said that at the start of the week and I'd take that, I've really struggled there the last couple of years.
7:27
I'd only got one top 10.
7:29
So, a couple of podiums is good.
7:31
But I felt like we had the potential maybe Sunday to try and battle for the win.
7:37
Even Saturday probably could have been a bit better.
7:39
But my last few rounds, I've qualified good, but then my shootouts, I've been like fourth or fifth.
7:44
I thought at Gold Coast I might have a chance from fourth, but no chance.
7:47
You know, it's just, it's quite hard.
7:49
I'm sure as everyone knows, but it's bloody hard passing around there.
7:52
Yeah, it was crazy the gap that you guys had on, what was it?
7:55
It was Brodie and then you, Will, Cam, and I think it was like 16 seconds back to like Randall or something.
8:03
Yeah.
8:04
Yeah, it was mental.
8:05
It's nuts.
8:05
It was just flat out.
8:07
Yeah.
8:07
That's something I enjoyed about Bathurst is you could just drive flat out, and I probably didn't expect that at GC.
8:12
Yeah, yeah.
8:12
And with the chicanes now, like, man, it's fast.
8:15
If you're passing someone into turn four, you're just going flat through there nearly.
8:19
Yeah.
8:20
It's crazy.
8:20
Yeah.
8:21
Yeah, I thought that was pretty good without the- Chicanes, yeah.
8:25
Yeah, what they did with the chicanes this year.
8:28
I kind of, I don't know, do you reckon they could turn the sensors off on the other ones?
8:33
Completely.
8:33
Because I still think it could be like self-policing, really, if you take too much.
8:38
I think it is.
8:40
I think on Sunday you saw a lot more four-wheeling, like on the beach chicane once we got around it.
8:45
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
8:47
I don't know if we put the bundles back or not.
8:49
Like, it's getting pretty fast.
8:50
Yeah.
8:51
It's the only thing.
8:51
Like, after practice one, we were three tenths up through quali last year at turn one.
8:56
Like, it's...
8:57
I liked it because I hate driving around not knowing when you get a centre.
9:00
I think that sucks.
9:01
Yeah.
9:02
And people probably like, oh, it's like double folding in ten as well.
9:05
It's very hard for us to actually feel or see...
9:07
That's the only thing that I would like in the race is to know when you trigger a sensor.
9:13
So then you know where as well.
9:14
Yeah.
9:16
Did you get warnings in the races?
9:18
Yeah.
9:19
I actually got a penalty Saturday, but that was just a bit of a miscommunication because it was like, oh, we got a bad sportsmanship flag for a curb hop.
9:28
But then it was like, oh, no, it's a cut.
9:30
And then it was like, no, we got a penalty for a hop.
9:32
So I was like...
9:34
Okay.
9:35
And then I don't think I did Sunday, but yeah.
9:41
I think the majority of people...
9:43
Turn one, two is pretty self-policing.
9:45
I reckon every time you went out there, at some point you've gone through turn two and you've taken too much and it picks up the whole front and you think you're just going to absolutely turn the thing into a bike and wipe two wheels off the thing.
9:58
But the back one's a bit different because I feel like if you kind of don't quite get your rhythm, you just commit to just launching over turn nine.
10:07
So I don't think anyone pushed it hard enough, but at the same time I think you're going to get to a point where it's just going to self-police, so you just turn the rest off.
10:17
I don't know if we'd bring the bundles back.
10:19
I don't know.
10:21
There's pros and cons to it all, I think, but it's a hard one.
10:25
Yeah.
10:26
I think, what do we have?
10:28
We had the, yeah, without bundles for the first time last year, wasn't it?
10:31
Yeah, and it was a disaster.
10:33
Yeah.
10:33
Yeah.
10:35
I think, though, the footage that we got from last weekend is probably the coolest stuff we've got.
10:39
It's just four-wheel supercars flying.
10:41
That's sick.
10:41
Talk about spectacle.
10:43
You're seeing race cars probably a good two feet in the air or four wheels off the ground.
10:48
It's pretty cool.
10:49
It is actually one of the best places to watch.
10:52
I remember watching co-driver session over at the beach game.
10:57
I reckon it's probably one of the best places you could watch a supercar on any track.
11:01
Like, just...
11:04
It feels like you're so close to the cars and they're like so fast and flying through the air.
11:08
It's pretty cool.
11:09
Yeah, that is sick.
11:11
The bundles, I think they worked up until the shunt.
11:15
Yeah.
11:15
And then ever since they're taken away, there's probably been like four or five times where people have run...
11:21
through them and cut it completely, whereas if they were there, it would just be monumental.
11:27
So is it like people running through them because they're not there or is it... To be honest, there actually hasn't been a shun in the beach chicane or properly at turn one since we've removed them.
11:39
Yeah.
11:39
Like not a proper big one.
11:41
No.
11:42
At least.
11:42
No, you're right.
11:43
I think you can afford to, like even in practice as well, it's like if you make a mistake and you...
11:49
you think you're going to make it and then you don't.
11:50
You can at least cut it and, you know, you still put a fair bit of risk into it, but you don't then have the dilemma of a tyre bundle staring you square on.
11:59
Yeah, for sure.
12:01
Rightio, well, Waters Saturday smoked everyone and then Brodie Sunday.
12:07
It flipped around.
12:08
Like on Saturday, there was a lot of Fords up the front and then Sunday, there was a lot of Chevys up the front.
12:13
It was interesting.
12:13
It was kind of weird as well because I think last year, it was kind of the same few people in the top four consistently.
12:21
Like you knew kind of who was going to be in the top three, whereas on the Saturday, Brody wasn't.
12:28
Really fighting for a race.
12:29
Yeah, I think he was fifth, but he wasn't super quick.
12:31
Whereas then Sunday, he's converted it massively.
12:34
It was a big shootout lap.
12:35
Yeah.
12:36
He's had two crackers.
12:37
You know, Bathurst was a big one, but that lap, which he put up on his socials, that was on.
12:43
In the micro sectors, so he split it into eight, as you guys know, into eight.
12:47
He was pretty much purple in all of them.
12:49
Yeah, it's impressive.
12:50
Yeah.
12:51
But Waters was still fast on Sunday, actually.
12:55
It's a hard one.
12:56
I was a bit caught up in it as well, but late in the shootout...
13:00
I don't know.
13:00
They certainly said it.
13:01
Lots of sun come out and us last three got quite slow.
13:04
But Cam's still out of the speed.
13:06
He destroyed his car in that last year.
13:08
Those Tickford things were fast all weekend, though.
13:11
Yeah, they were fast there last year as well, though, weren't they?
13:14
Yeah.
13:14
Lap one, practice one.
13:16
He rode at his tyres and then come in first lap P1.
13:20
Yeah.
13:20
Like he's on it there.
13:21
Yeah.
13:22
Yeah, I suppose he's just the usual.
13:23
And then Randall had to start back a bit.
13:25
He was here like 11th or 12th Sunday, but still got back through to 4th.
13:28
Yeah, 4th.
13:29
Yeah, would have been interesting to see if he started, you know, where his car pace was.
13:35
Yeah, exactly.
13:36
He's still... Yeah, I think the whole battle up the front for sure.
13:40
Bumping and moving, fair play.
13:42
What do you reckon?
13:43
What's that?
13:44
Well, I suppose I didn't really see too much, but there's a bit of bumping and grinding at Gold Coast.
13:51
I don't think there's anything wrong with...
13:54
getting someone in their door and, you know, at a street track and that.
13:59
A lot of people have talked about getting rid of like five and ten seconds penalty.
14:02
I think if you turf someone, you should get penalised.
14:05
Yeah.
14:05
Do you reckon?
14:06
Yeah.
14:07
But kind of, yeah.
14:08
I haven't really put too much thought in it, to be honest.
14:11
I think it depends on how bad it is.
14:13
Like, if you kind of just move someone out the way, then it's like maybe we should look at, like, you can just do a return serve pretty much and just move them away, straight away.
14:23
Or, like, but if you kind of spin someone or kind of fence them or something, then you probably should cop something because you've ruined their race and, like, potentially their weekend if it's bad enough.
14:36
Yeah, I mean, I think the system's pretty good at the moment.
14:42
No, I agree.
14:43
Yeah.
14:44
I'm all for it.
14:45
It's not an easy job and I think, you know, yeah, Beto's doing a pretty good job of it.
14:52
I reckon they're having a crack at the moment and I'm all for it.
14:55
We cop, I think Supercars cops a lot of flack, but the last two events have been pretty cool.
15:01
Like to go to, I mean, Bathurst, the street party and everything like that, Gold Coast.
15:06
a light parade.
15:07
I think even how they approach the curbs at Gold Coast, they talk to pretty much all of the drivers, got everyone's opinion on it and stuff like that.
15:16
I genuinely think it's heading in the right direction.
15:20
Yeah.
15:20
Calendar and all that, you know, everyone's going to have their own opinion, but I think as a category, everyone's actually having a crack at the moment, which I felt like we probably haven't seen for years.
15:30
For a few years we've been pretty stable for what we've been doing.
15:33
Yeah.
15:33
Well, I think, you know, everyone a part of it wants it to be successful.
15:37
So I think if they can sort of communicate, yeah, between the teams and drivers and supercars themselves and also the fans as well, I think that's important to, you know, listen to what they want.
15:50
But, you know, no matter what it is, someone's always going to, you know, someone's going to say it's good, someone's going to say it's shit.
15:56
Yeah.
15:57
I think, yeah, if you can somehow snag what the majority want and, you know, mix it up, then, yeah, I think if you are mixing it up, it always, you know, creates a bit of that unknown, which, you know, creates the excitement.
16:14
Like the sprint races, I think that's called it.
16:16
They're having more of them because they always tend to have pretty good racing, the sprint races.
16:20
Just go flat out.
16:21
Yeah.
16:22
The only thing is having two on the one day might just be a bit,
16:27
funky because like you're gonna like not want to just dive on someone in case you stuff it up because then the boys are gonna repair the car we have um like last year we had even this year isn't it do we have no last year i don't know i've lost track but yeah last year one on saturday yeah two sunday yeah it's pretty like it's a busy day like some of them uh oh no that was a sad day
16:51
Like Tassie last year, you do two practice sessions, qualify and race on Saturday.
16:55
It was actually fun.
16:56
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:57
It was fun.
16:57
Yeah, you just need to be on top of things.
16:59
Yeah, yeah.
17:00
Until you get to the end of the weekend, you're like, oh, yeah, we missed that one.
17:04
Yeah, exactly.
17:05
We can go on.
17:06
Well, on that, next year's calendar.
17:08
Unfortunately, you're not going to be a part of it, Sladey.
17:10
No, you got the wrong person here to talk about next year's calendar.
17:14
Well, it's time for you to unleash on it.
17:15
What are you...
17:17
I haven't even looked at it, to be honest.
17:19
Yeah, I didn't go to the meeting in Bathurst and then I haven't looked at the booklet.
17:23
So, what have we got?
17:25
Yeah, look, 13 events, QR to Ben Barak.
17:30
Yeah.
17:30
Well, that's a good one.
17:31
You going to drop any bombs for us today?
17:33
No, no.
17:33
No bombs.
17:35
Look, I think when we all saw it first in the media, it probably wasn't explained right.
17:39
And I wasn't a fan at all.
17:41
But I think when they actually sat us down and explained it and the concept of how everything's going to work, I think it actually has potential.
17:49
And I think it's going to be super exciting for the fans.
17:51
Yeah.
17:52
I still think a traditional championship, like I don't know if you guys watch MotoGP at the moment, like Bagnia and Martine are genuinely going to the last round, like both with a chance.
18:02
It's pretty universal.
18:04
Heaps of all the championships around the world now, they're really close now.
18:08
Like you look at MotoGP like you just said, and it's going down to the last race and Formula 1's down that path again.
18:14
Yeah.
18:15
Even this year where it's still going to the last round.
18:18
It's pretty tight and you throw finals into that.
18:22
next year, like even if it was this year as well, then it makes it even tighter.
18:26
They said something like it doesn't usually change who ends up winning when they've looked at it previously, but I think it opens it up because no one can just like take a rest and not push it too hard like you have to.
18:40
Yeah, and I guess, like, obviously that format of finals is typically, you know, more so, say, with a ball sport, whereas, you know... Yeah, the field don't change.
18:52
Yeah, with motor racing, you can have a failure.
18:55
It's none of your doing.
18:57
It is obviously still a team sport, but...
19:00
Yeah, so it's...
19:02
It's interesting.
19:03
I mean, someone put it out.
19:05
It'd be Will leading, myself second, Cam in third, and Matty Payne in fourth.
19:11
So Chas has had a...
19:14
one of his best years, I suppose, as a championship of a whole and he's going to miss out on a chance at winning.
19:20
And you could say Matty Payne, who's had a good year but could come out as a champion.
19:27
It's an interesting one.
19:28
Like if you're in Will's position, you'd be pretty pissed off if you got to Gold Coast, had a bad run and don't fight for the championship.
19:35
Yeah, it's kind of weird as well.
19:36
I guess we've all grown up doing championships.
19:39
We've not done anything different.
19:45
it'd be a lot different to be a part of, I would think.
19:49
It's going to be exciting.
19:49
Like, I totally get the excitement factor.
19:52
Yeah.
19:52
Adelaide's going to be off the charts.
19:53
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
19:54
Like, going down to the last race.
19:56
And I think you're going to see a lot of risk taken.
19:59
Like, if you're in second or third, you're already at 10 tenths.
20:03
But, you know, I think you're going to see big quality laps.
20:06
You know, you're going to see some big moves and stuff like that.
20:08
It should be pretty fun, I reckon.
20:09
Yeah.
20:10
And then format or QR, the bend.
20:13
Yeah, I think it's good having QR back.
20:16
Like we've got a massive crowd demographic out there.
20:19
Like I did an appearance in Flagstone before Gold Coast.
20:24
And for somewhere that kind of felt like it was in the middle of nowhere and just for like a free entry show, it was really busy.
20:32
And I think they're talking about doing some other cool stuff around the same time as QR, which would be really cool.
20:38
What have you got for us?
20:39
I can't spill the beans.
20:40
Can you?
20:41
Oh, come on.
20:42
I don't...
20:44
Oh, right.
20:44
I think it's going to be unreal.
20:45
I think it's going to be a huge event.
20:49
It's like the NASCAR oval.
20:50
You can see the track from anywhere.
20:51
I think it's going to be awesome.
20:53
The bend is a Nijiro.
20:58
I like the track.
20:59
I love driving the track.
21:01
It's really fun when you put together a nice, fast lap, but I don't know.
21:07
It's an Enduro.
21:08
500km's around there could be a long afternoon.
21:10
I think people complained about no safety cars at Bathurst this year.
21:15
Ben's probably pretty unlikely to have a safety car, I think.
21:18
Maybe they should do like 250km's of the full track and then like halfway through do the short track.
21:24
I love it.
21:25
I really enjoy driving there, but it'll be interesting to do an enduro there, I think.
21:32
Enduro track or in general, what are you going to add?
21:34
Like, what would you add if we could go anywhere or we could do for you, Slady, for next year, another enduro, where would you do it?
21:42
I don't know.
21:45
It probably just makes sense to make Gold Coast.
21:48
Yeah.
21:49
You can't now, though, because it's finals.
21:50
Yeah.
21:51
Isn't that a tricky one?
21:52
Yeah.
21:52
Yeah, I don't know.
21:55
It's got to be Gold Coast or Sandown.
21:58
Yeah, like it should be cool to have Sandown.
22:00
Just obviously there's a lot of history with that race.
22:02
Yeah.
22:02
But I don't know, every year it's like, oh, this will be the last Sandown.
22:05
And then it's going to, you know, turn into houses or whatever.
22:08
But I don't know.
22:08
We keep going back.
22:09
Yeah, we keep going back.
22:10
So, yeah.
22:12
But it would be cool to...
22:15
you know, keep it how it was, send our bathers and add the Ben.
22:19
Yeah.
22:19
But yeah, other than that, I haven't really thought about it.
22:23
It's going to be interesting.
22:25
I reckon Perth, the street circuit they're talking about there.
22:28
Oh, yeah.
22:28
That's going to be sick.
22:29
Like, take the part out of it that I'm local there.
22:33
But the fact that they've kind of now got the chance to build a street circuit, almost purpose built, so you can go through the whole design stage and figure out what's going to work and what's not and then turn it into something rather than just try and –
22:47
put something together with permanent land that's already there.
22:50
I feel like that would be cool.
22:52
You seen, like, you obviously know the area that they're looking at?
22:55
Yeah, it's supposed to be around the stadium.
22:56
Yeah.
22:57
So from what I've heard, they're supposed to be doing something, like, similar-ish to Albert Park and Adelaide in the sense that it's,
23:06
They're going to build the roads as a racetrack that then turn into roads outside of it, but still have that street circuit element like Gold Coast and Adelaide where you've got big concrete walls and stuff like that.
23:19
And I think Crown are wanting to get behind it as well.
23:22
So it'll be a big event, I think.
23:25
Yeah, it'll be sad to see Barbagallo go, though.
23:27
Yeah.
23:29
I forget what it's, Carco Raceway, as it's called now, but street races.
23:33
I think when you go to Gold Coast, I'm always one for you forget how good supercars is until you get to Bathurst.
23:39
Bathurst, Gold Coast, Adelaide.
23:41
We're getting 200,000 people a weekend.
23:43
Pretty good way to finish the championship off.
23:46
Yeah.
23:46
I think you end the year going far out.
23:48
Our sport's unreal.
23:50
You have 600,000 people over three events.
23:53
It's out of control.
23:56
Another one.
23:56
I'd love to start at one, though.
23:58
I'd love to start at Perth.
24:00
Ideally, yeah, I reckon start and finish with street races.
24:04
Yeah, because I think...
24:06
Maybe, I mean, this year's Bathurst 500 wasn't the world's biggest starting event, I suppose.
24:11
But if you get the atmosphere that we had at the last few now, I think to start the year, just try and get the momentum going a little bit throughout the year.
24:17
Yeah.
24:18
Yeah, there's definitely, you know, thinking back to Newcastle or Adelaide, like a lot more hype and excitement.
24:25
Yeah, definitely adds a lot more to the championship, I think, starting with one.
24:29
But I also think you need to end with one too.
24:31
For sure.
24:32
Yeah, it could be a good opportunity with Perth.
24:34
Yeah, for sure.
24:42
Should we open our bag that we've got some fan questions?
24:45
Open the bag up.
24:46
Is that one here?
24:47
Apparently, some people sent us some DMs on Instagram.
24:54
Let's see what they got for us.
24:55
From Josh, who were your idols growing, I presume, growing up, and do you still take inspiration from them?
25:02
I suppose my dad originally, well, still is, of course, but he's the one that I got into motorsport, so he raced motorbikes, so I grew up doing that, but...
25:13
Mark Marquez has been, I suppose, my idol.
25:15
And I got to meet him a couple of years ago, which was pretty cool.
25:18
He signed me a couple of knee sliders and that.
25:19
So proper little fella.
25:23
That's pretty awesome to meet someone like him.
25:25
Yeah.
25:25
Be cool to just on that note, cool to see him next year, I reckon.
25:28
I know.
25:28
Factory Ducati.
25:29
I'm excited.
25:31
I reckon...
25:33
Jamie was probably starting his real high peak when I was a kid.
25:38
So that was someone that I always watched and now you get to work with him.
25:42
Yeah.
25:43
Outside of that, I guess being from Perth and we're similar age, Dan was kind of an Australian coming in, supposed to be the next kind of greatest thing in F1.
25:54
So he was probably one that I always kind of followed and watched when I was a young kid, like stepping out of carts and into cars.
26:00
It was...
26:01
it kind of showed you what was possible, I guess.
26:05
Whereas like years leading to that, I guess coming from Perth and Australia as well, there wasn't really anyone in that kind of timeframe that kind of you had someone to look to and see what was possible as well.
26:18
So, yeah, they were probably my two that I picked from.
26:21
Another question?
26:25
Do you remember?
26:25
It just sparked me then.
26:27
I remember racing you at Darwin in Cadets and you used to run your steering wheel upside down.
26:30
Do you remember that?
26:32
Yeah, no, I did do that because I used to grab the spokes of the steering wheel.
26:36
and doing that so he spun it upside down but yeah i've never seen someone run that was a that would have been like a flat top wheel wouldn't it yeah it was flat top wheel but that turned into a flat bottom wheel yeah right um a bit of knee clearance did you do bunderberg the weekend before or not you see darwin no we just did darwin darwin is always good for us because it's kind of an easier place to get to which supercar is doing next year as well i think they're doing like the whole parade that goes up there yeah but yeah
27:03
Did you win that weekend?
27:04
I did, yeah.
27:06
Nathan Hearn got taken.
27:07
Who?
27:07
Benito and Nathan Hearn got taken.
27:08
Yeah, they shunted on the last lap, second last corner.
27:11
Were they one two?
27:12
Yeah.
27:12
What was that in?
27:13
Cadet.
27:14
Yeah, we were in.
27:14
Cadets.
27:15
Yeah.
27:15
Mate, that's when I was at its open state titles.
27:18
Just hustling in some comas, going round and round with the pool start.
27:22
What about Brycey Fullwood?
27:24
Is he the same age as you guys?
27:26
No, he's a bit older.
27:27
He's Darwin.
27:27
He would have been there, though, I reckon.
27:29
Yeah.
27:29
He was... Local, wasn't he?
27:30
Similar age as my brother.
27:31
Junior National Lighter.
27:32
Yeah.
27:33
Oh, okay.
27:34
Mate, he looked the part.
27:35
Holy, didn't he?
27:36
He had the black, yellow, and blue.
27:39
He had the custom suit, the custom helmet.
27:41
Yeah.
27:42
Lucky design helmet.
27:43
Back in my day, if you had a painted helmet, you were pretty special.
27:48
Yeah.
27:49
Ran the AGV and then an egg arrow for quite a while.
27:56
I remember looking at like the Revolution article in Auto Action, like every week it came out looking at like a Arri GPK or three or whatever and then the Bell Vortex, oh, one day.
28:08
Did you have side pods when you used racing go-karts?
28:10
Yes, mate.
28:12
I think JC didn't at some point.
28:17
Yeah, probably when he started.
28:19
He loves a bit of a post for like vintage car photos.
28:22
Mate, he was a weapon though, wasn't he?
28:24
Yeah, actually when you talk about idols before, I've told JC this.
28:28
I used to have a poster of him in my bedroom.
28:32
Factory Tony car.
28:32
Was it on the ceiling?
28:33
Just like laying there standing up?
28:34
No, I was off to the side.
28:36
But he was a two-time world champ.
28:38
Yeah, pretty impressive.
28:39
He was good.
28:40
Yeah, very impressive.
28:42
Next question from Ryan.
28:44
How do you think Brodie will do at DJR?
28:48
Well, we're going to find out, aren't we?
28:51
Yeah.
28:51
I tell you what, it's going to be interesting because it's probably – because obviously he's kind of the staple driver being the champion from last year and then Bathurst winner this year and switching brands, it'll be interesting.
29:04
Yeah.
29:04
What are you trying to say, Aaron?
29:05
I'm not saying anything.
29:06
I'll just be interesting to see if he has any input.
29:09
Because previously, he might even jump from a Mustang to a Mustang or a Commodore to a Commodore, and it feels different.
29:18
Whereas now, they're all supposed to be the same thing, but you're still going to get a bit of that feeling different in how teams prepare the car, the setup, and even brand to brand.
29:27
Are they going to...
29:28
So you're going to be able to say, oh, yeah, it does this a bit different and that a bit better, but that's a bit worse.
29:33
I don't know.
29:33
Has his engineer been announced?
29:36
Is that...
29:37
Common knowledge or not?
29:38
I was about to say something.
29:40
Sounds like you just announced something there, Sladey.
29:43
No.
29:44
Well, we'll obviously wait and see.
29:46
I think if it's what it's going to be, yeah, I don't think there'll be any questions.
29:54
No.
29:54
I think it'll be strong as it has been.
29:57
I think the new championship will favour Brodie.
30:01
You've just got to be good for the last three rounds of the year.
30:04
He's obviously going to be top 10 in the championship.
30:06
Without a doubt, but when you get to Gold Coast, you just get through.
30:11
He's got to get a team good for the last three rounds of the year, which I think they're going to be fun.
30:16
He's still going to have a good start to the year, but for him it gives him the opportunity to not have to come out gun blazing straight away.
30:23
He will.
30:25
He will, but you don't have to.
30:27
Yeah, yeah.
30:28
to then get you in the running for the last part of the championship.
30:32
You've just got to be there in the points.
30:34
And he's always going to be strong at the last three rounds.
30:36
You're going to get to Bathurst.
30:38
You're going to get Gold Coast Sandown.
30:40
He's going to be good there.
30:41
So I got no doubt he's going to be one of the guys fighting for the championship and certainly to get there.
30:48
True.
30:50
On that, do they, like say in NASCAR with that similar system, do the tracks like in the playoffs or the final three tracks, do they ever change?
31:03
Yeah, every year the last race is a different track.
31:05
Yeah, so that's, I mean, I know it's easier said than done.
31:08
But it should happen.
31:09
And we were just saying that, yeah, you want to finish with the street race.
31:11
But I kind of think that would change.
31:14
help even it up as well.
31:16
You know, if there's one guy that just is a freak around that track and that's the last track, well.
31:21
I totally agree.
31:22
It's good to mix it up.
31:23
I think, I think especially.
31:24
It's a lot easier said than done.
31:26
Everyone's like, yeah, football final, like the field, I'm sure it does change in grass, but you know, it's, it's not changing what they're actually doing.
31:33
They're still playing the same game where for us, it changes so much.
31:36
And as you said, some guys, like you could go to, you could go to Sydney this year and Chaz is.
31:41
He's going to smoke us, you know.
31:43
But, yeah, I think something like that.
31:46
The hard thing is Adelaide's tipping in so much money and doing such a good job.
31:50
You wouldn't want to really finish anywhere else at the moment.
31:52
Well, yeah, and that's the thing.
31:54
Like, yeah, it makes a massive difference, I think.
31:57
Like we said before, starting and finishing the year, you know, for the category and everyone involved at Street Circuit.
32:05
So, yeah, maybe not.
32:09
Brock, who's, oh, this is from JD.
32:11
Brock, who's taking Brodie for a hot lap?
32:14
Don't know.
32:16
I'd say he'll go with Will.
32:17
They were obviously teammates last year.
32:20
If he goes with me, I'll just drive around at 40Ks for the whole lap.
32:24
Does anyone know how much he paid for it?
32:26
Wasn't it like five or something?
32:27
Five grand.
32:30
You want to give him a good lap for that.
32:33
Yeah.
32:33
What is it, the QR ride day?
32:35
QR ride day.
32:36
He's paid the money.
32:37
He's put the effort in.
32:38
Did Will not do it not too long ago the other way around?
32:42
Newcastle last year with Waters.
32:43
Would you let him change gears?
32:46
Do you reckon you'd trust him?
32:48
Yeah.
32:50
I think I've only let my dad change gears.
32:53
And even he didn't get it that good.
32:54
It's nerve-wracking, though.
32:55
I think even I'd nearly struggle doing it.
32:57
Yeah, yeah.
32:58
I think the lights sneak up pretty quick.
33:00
It's always a short shift, I reckon.
33:02
Yeah.
33:02
Just like any time I've done it.
33:03
Or just hangs up on the limiter and doesn't go to clutch it, so you get through.
33:06
Get your hand off.
33:07
Let me do it.
33:08
Yeah, I think he'll go with Will, I reckon.
33:10
Do you want to do one more?
33:11
Yeah.
33:11
From Aidan, what do you think of the first street race?
33:14
We've done that.
33:14
We've covered that.
33:15
Yeah.
33:15
It'd be pretty awesome if it all goes ahead.
33:19
From JD, Brock, what can you take from driving with Will this year and apply to next year?
33:25
Look, he's been very consistent, I think.
33:30
One more race has got more pole positions, but, man, he's got a lot of podiums.
33:34
I think he's got 17 out of 21 or two podiums.
33:37
So, obviously, we try to do that anyway, but he's been super consistent.
33:42
A lot easier said than done.
33:44
I'd obviously love to – he hasn't had any bad rounds, I should say.
33:48
You know, he had Townsville, he had a tough round, but apart from that, he's just been there all the time.
33:55
What's been your worst round?
33:56
Yeah.
33:59
Um, Taupo, I had a 23rd.
34:01
Oh, yeah.
34:03
I think.
34:03
Saturday, yeah, yeah.
34:04
You know, I've had that.
34:08
Tasmania, Randall got me.
34:10
And then a bit of a tough one at Sydney.
34:11
So that's what's put me back a bit.
34:14
But, yeah, he's had one bad race pretty much.
34:17
Yeah.
34:17
I think all the others, he's been right in the mix.
34:20
I actually had someone ask me that question on a radio interview.
34:22
They're like, so...
34:24
How is Will Brown winning the championship when Brock Feeney's won more races?
34:28
Yeah, it shouldn't work like that, should it?
34:30
No.
34:30
Consistency.
34:31
Out of that, who do you reckon has been the most impressive this year?
34:36
I think him.
34:36
Current drivers, rookie drivers this year.
34:38
Who do you reckon?
34:39
Him.
34:40
Will Brown.
34:41
Yeah.
34:42
I think he's made a big step up.
34:45
Yeah.
34:45
I'd almost have to agree as well.
34:47
Like, it's pretty tough.
34:49
I would say coming into a new team and expect to perform.
34:54
And I think it's something that not many people understand how tough it is getting a team behind you.
35:00
Yeah.
35:01
Especially when you're coming in with a driver that's been there for such a long time.
35:06
It's not an easy thing, I don't think.
35:08
No, he's done a great job.
35:10
I think Chas as well has had probably his...
35:12
Arguably one of his best years.
35:16
They've been bloody, like, Perth and Sydney has just demolished us, you know.
35:20
So, he's had another great year.
35:23
Rightio.
35:24
We've got a few more to go through.
35:26
Championship, obviously, I don't really want to talk about that too much.
35:29
But, look, it's...
35:32
It's wills to lose.
35:33
You know, it's not really mine to win at the moment.
35:37
I'm a very long shot, but I'm one that it's not over until it's over.
35:42
So, it's 180 points.
35:43
So, it's outside a race.
35:46
I'll try and get through Saturday, try and have a shot on Sunday and then see what happens.
35:50
Could be roles reversed from last year.
35:52
Maybe he gets taken out by someone.
35:54
Well, he took Shane out last year.
35:56
Yeah.
35:56
That's it.
35:57
So don't worry, I'll remind him.
35:58
But look, I think going down to Adelaide anyway with a decide is cool, even though it's probably not as tight as what I would want or the fans would want, I think it's still going to be.
36:09
You've generally had pretty good weekends there.
36:11
Yeah, I've had a win and a second there the last couple of years.
36:14
For me, I just want to win the 500.
36:15
That's big for me.
36:18
Yeah, it's like it's Bathurst and Adelaide, isn't it?
36:21
Yeah, they're the big ones.
36:22
I think they're the big ones.
36:23
Especially coming second last year after, like, so close.
36:26
It's like, damn.
36:27
Two trophies that you want to win throughout the year.
36:29
Yeah, exactly.
36:29
Yeah.
36:31
And then on to the big dog, hey?
36:32
Last full-time round.
36:34
It's your 450th race and 350th round.
36:37
Is that right?
36:38
I don't know.
36:39
I actually thought it was a few more races, 460-something, but yeah.
36:47
Yep.
36:48
Oh, maybe we're referring back to that.
36:51
Yeah, somewhere around that.
36:53
Last one.
36:54
Yep.
36:55
How are you feeling?
36:56
Are you excited, nervous, upset, sad?
36:58
No, no, just normal, to be honest.
37:00
Like I said, the last, you know, Gold Coast was pretty average, as was Bathurst, so I just want to desperately want to try and have a bit of speed and finish off with a decent weekend, so just treating it like any other weekend, to be honest.
37:16
Is the dog in you going to make one last appearance?
37:20
Are you talking about the Monday or Sunday?
37:22
No, the Slade Dog.
37:23
Yeah.
37:23
Are you going to get angry over the Saturday and Sunday?
37:26
Get what?
37:27
Get angry, you know, hustle and bustle a few cars out the way if you need to.
37:31
Got to be near him first.
37:32
We want to see Slade Dog on Monday night.
37:34
That's what we want to see.
37:36
I got an early flight Tuesday morning and two kitties to get back to.
37:39
So never say never.
37:40
Oh, mate, I hope so.
37:42
I hope so.
37:43
I've heard some good stories.
37:44
Yeah.
37:45
Favourite racing memories, mate?
37:48
It's not coming to an end.
37:49
You know, I suppose that's a good thing.
37:51
I suppose you've been through it before now, but...
37:54
you're still going to be here with us next year for a couple of races.
37:57
Yeah.
37:57
Yeah.
37:57
No, like, to be honest, I'm happy with where I'm at.
38:02
And, you know, I've been in the sport for a long time.
38:05
I'm genuinely looking forward to and excited, you know, to what's next.
38:09
It's not like I'm...
38:11
Still there, hanging on and, you know, I wish I could stay in there or whatever else.
38:18
Like I'm done.
38:19
Like that's me and I'm happy with where I'm at, like I said.
38:23
So favourite and, yeah, again, like you said, it's not like just cold turkey stop at least with us.
38:30
Yeah, keep in the game.
38:31
I guess like in a lot of other sports as well, you know, you get to –
38:35
keep on playing if you want to.
38:37
Like football, you just go down a few divisions and play locally or whatever else.
38:42
Whereas racing is probably the hardest one actually because it's probably the most expensive and someone's got to pay for it at the end of the day.
38:48
Exactly, it's hard.
38:49
But at least, yeah, as a co-driver doing the Enduros, it's still a job and I think
38:57
Yeah, I'll still try and, you know, put together, you know, some other racing just to stay sharp for the Enduros because I think that's what you need to do.
39:07
Back to your original question, favourite racing memories.
39:09
It's probably just for me like all the firsts.
39:13
Yeah.
39:13
So back in like Super 2.
39:17
Like I ran my own team and, yeah, so the first race and round win at Wakefield Park.
39:23
At Wakefield?
39:24
How was that?
39:25
Yeah.
39:26
I joined recently.
39:26
Yeah, it was good.
39:27
Yeah, I saw that.
39:29
It was quite cool.
39:30
Obviously they've been through, yeah, some dramas down there.
39:34
It's cool to see, you know, you never like to see racetracks taken away, but I actually had no idea that they were...
39:40
doing what they've done to the track as far as the changes.
39:43
So yeah, it looks really cool.
39:44
But yeah, it was pretty, I'd say, tight and technical in the supercar.
39:53
Probably, yeah, a bit better suited to something a little bit smaller.
39:58
Yeah.
39:58
But yeah, well, that was 2008.
40:01
And then, yeah, like I remember my first shootout 2010 at Darwin with SBR,
40:07
podium, Queensland Raceway with SBR, and that was like three podiums and three races, which was, yeah, pretty awesome.
40:14
And then, yeah, first pole, first win.
40:17
So, yeah, probably just – and Bathurst as well, like that, yeah, your first shootout there was pretty awesome.
40:22
That's cool, isn't it?
40:23
Yeah.
40:23
Yeah, I think it's just, yeah, you kind of –
40:27
you grow up and, and we get into, into supercars.
40:30
Then you wonder, you know, is it, am I capable and, and is it going to happen when it, when is it going to happen?
40:38
And then, yeah, when it does it, it's, it's pretty cool.
40:40
So there's probably, yeah, probably not, not one standout.
40:43
It's just, just all those, all those firsts.
40:45
Yeah.
40:47
That's good.
40:49
If you, what advice would you give us?
40:51
Like if you could go back, well, if you could go back, would you change anything?
40:56
Uh, yeah, yeah, you definitely, you'd love to go back.
40:59
A bit of rear spring or something like that on the weekend?
41:02
No, just, just, yeah, knowing, knowing what you've learned over, well, this is my, yeah, 16th year in, in supercars, so, um, and, and you just, the funny thing is you never stop learning, like there's still things.
41:12
No, exactly.
41:13
Your last race meeting, you're like, oh, you know, yep, learnt this, learnt that, so, um, probably just, um, yeah.
41:23
Probably not sort of put so much pressure on yourself and try so hard.
41:29
Yeah.
41:30
Just keep things simple.
41:32
Enjoy it.
41:33
Yeah, enjoy it and, yeah, just not be – like you've got to make mistakes and then just, yeah, not be as hard on yourself for making mistakes.
41:42
Yeah.
41:43
So you told us you're not going to tell us where you're driving next to you.
41:47
Well, I haven't – nothing's done.
41:49
I suppose for you –
41:51
Well, I'm in the same place next year.
41:54
But I suppose for someone like you...
41:58
Like with the rule changes next year with only two test days, it gives you guys a lot of value, like coming straight off a season.
42:07
Good.
42:07
And more so like... Mate, you'll be on the big box next year.
42:10
Like I'm... Like now that the rules have been said what they're going to be, what they are for next year, like I'm like, I've got six test days this year.
42:19
Whereas like someone like Kai, I don't know how many rookie days you get.
42:22
I think you still get three rookie days.
42:25
Hmm.
42:26
But even like, yeah, it's still a bit tougher because like you can't,
42:32
like choose when you're going to do them and stuff like that, like with the VSC days and stuff like that.
42:37
So taking those days away for a rookie will be hard for someone like Kai coming in and Cooper, I think.
42:43
I think it's just going to be the one.
42:44
Like I think you'll just lose the one.
42:47
I think it's still three days.
42:48
Do you still get your rookie days next year?
42:49
I thought it was only two.
42:50
I thought there was one that had to be done before the first round and then just one more.
42:55
Which is a QR.
42:55
Oh, do you mean rookies?
42:56
But then I mean you get three rookie days a year, I think.
42:58
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
42:59
Copy.
42:59
Yeah, I'd...
43:01
I think maybe.
43:02
Yeah.
43:03
But I think I – well, I haven't been told officially, but I think I got told two.
43:08
Okay.
43:10
So then that's four, which kind of makes sense because it's like three VSC days and then another three rookie days.
43:16
So you essentially get double.
43:19
So if they changed it to two, that would make sense.
43:22
So like if it's that, then you're losing two days, which I think in –
43:27
Coming from Super 2 to supercars now I think is tougher than it's been before because the cars are so different.
43:36
Like speaking to Jack this year when they were trying to race Bathurst and Sandown, he didn't actually want to do Bathurst because he's like you almost hinder yourself because they're so different now.
43:47
I'd nearly rather race a Porsche and a supercar, I reckon, than a Super 2 and a supercar on the same way.
43:52
Yeah, just because they're so far different so that you don't get things.
43:55
I've done a couple laps at a test day and hold it.
43:57
Yeah.
43:59
I've struggled.
44:00
I've done the same.
44:01
Actually, it was... Actually, I drove your ZB at Winton.
44:07
Did you?
44:07
Yeah.
44:08
Yeah.
44:10
Yeah, obviously after you were finished with it.
44:13
And you're just like, wow, yeah, it's crazy.
44:17
But it's just funny how, you know, you still get asked the question, you know, well, what are the new cars like?
44:22
And you kind of forget what the old cars are like until you drive one and then you realise, you know, how different they are.
44:27
And then trying to, at one of our test days driving Cam McLeod's car and I literally did like, I think I went out, passed, and I just went straight back in because, you know, on the main car, like you do...
44:39
three laps and then you make a change for half an hour and then you're expected to jump back in and, you know, do a lap time within a tenth of a second and give, you know, obviously accurate feedback.
44:47
I'm like, no, I don't want to, you know, mix things up here.
44:50
So I guess like the one thing though for those guys at least, you know, they've done, obviously Cooper's done wild cards and enduros and then, you know, a lot of testing this year.
45:03
And then, you know, Kai's done enduros for, you know,
45:05
for a couple of years as well and test days and ride days and whatever else.
45:08
So at least they've got that under their belt.
45:11
It's more so, I guess, just them going to tracks in a Gen 3 car for the first time, which you're not going to get with testing anyway.
45:19
You rock up at tracks, you've never been to it.
45:22
I've been to Gold Coast before, like in Porsches, but, man, the first time I went through the chicane, it opened my eyes because a Porsche kind of yet so far.
45:30
Would have felt like a limo, wouldn't it, in the supercar?
45:33
It was like Porsche, you get a certain angle and then you end up just running wide or whatever.
45:38
Whereas the supercar felt like you take more curve and it just keeps on going sideways and sideways.
45:43
You feel like you're going to roll over.
45:44
So that was probably my biggest eye-opener for the year in terms of differences I felt between the cars.
45:50
I was like, wow, this is different.
45:54
My first time there, I'd done it a few times.
45:56
It was out of control.
45:58
I was like P25 straight up.
45:59
I'm like, well, what am I doing here?
46:01
It's nuts.
46:04
Yeah, no, it's good.
46:05
But I suppose for you, Aaron, rookie year, what have you learned?
46:12
What's been the biggest... What are some fun things, actually?
46:15
What's been the most exciting part of it?
46:17
Been teammates with JC.
46:18
Yeah, JC has lots of fun being around with.
46:21
But also the...
46:23
Yeah, it's like you kind of get to a level where you almost feel like it's your full-time job.
46:29
Whereas, especially Super 2, like the year before when I was in supercars, I was like really busy still.
46:36
Like I did 14 races, I think.
46:39
So, busier than this year.
46:41
Whereas last year in Super 2, you do six races a year, which I think...
46:47
It's tough because at the end of the day, motorsport's expensive, but I think it's something they need to try and improve on because like six races a year.
46:54
They're very spread apart.
46:55
Some of them.
46:55
Yeah.
46:56
Like it's sometimes it's like nine, 10 weeks between races.
47:00
It's tough.
47:00
So yeah, I suppose like having the year where you're like, Oh, I get to go racing every two, three weeks is pretty cool.
47:08
Um,
47:09
But yeah, it's been a tough year for the team and myself.
47:14
I had a shocking first round, which definitely didn't help.
47:18
But it's definitely been tough where both me and JC are down the back and we're trying to fight to get these things far forward.
47:27
And that's probably been...
47:29
I guess the biggest challenge for myself to accept, more so in supercars, you can't just wheel the thing forward.
47:35
Whereas in something like a Porsche or a Formula Ford or something, you can drive them kind of almost beyond a bit more of what the setup gives.
47:44
Whereas a supercar, you kind of get to a stage and you're pretty limited, which is,
47:49
probably the challenging part.
47:51
But when we've had like a half decent car and we've kind of been able to maximize that, that's probably been rewarding is like, oh, like I know the car was only good for here and I did that job.
48:03
So that was like you kind of go, okay, like I did a good job that week and it's not just me that's making mistakes or it's not just the car or whatever.
48:13
Like you feel like you've achieved something.
48:14
So that was probably...
48:16
I think Tasmania was probably my best round with qualifying and stuff like that.
48:21
And being such a tight, close track as well.
48:24
It's so full on in qualifying.
48:26
It's outside of the street circuits.
48:28
It's probably, I would say, the most hectic because you've got so many cars in such a small space.
48:34
going past cars that are doing 40k's an hour, warming up for a lap, and you're blazing on at 12.10, trying to put together a lap.
48:41
So, yeah.
48:42
How about you?
48:43
What are you... What's your favourite race this year, weekend?
48:46
Oh, my favourite weekend would be Darwin, just because I had good success there.
48:52
But...
48:53
I reckon Bathurst was my best drive that I've had, which sucks because I didn't win, but I think that's one that I'll look back on hopefully when I'm older and probably be nearly most proud of, well, up to date so far.
49:05
Like, it was a hard, it was a bloody hard race.
49:09
I was knackered for a week.
49:10
Like, I was rooted and I spoke to Brodie Gold Coast.
49:13
I'm like, how did you pull up?
49:14
And he's like, yeah, no, I was cooked for a week.
49:16
So, that was a hard one just going flat out the whole time.
49:19
But look, there's been plenty of good moments this year, but
49:23
Yeah, it's hard.
49:23
You still have your bad days.
49:26
You know what I mean?
49:27
Like, it all looks sort of sunshine from the outside.
49:30
You still have your weekends where you're scratching at the barrel.
49:33
But, look, it's been a good year for us, I think.
49:36
So, you're still in the fight going to the last round.
49:38
So, everything's sort of not too bad.
49:42
What else we got, lads?
49:44
I suppose it's been a pretty big year for everyone.
49:47
But what's happening over the off-season?
49:51
Any cool stuff?
49:51
You running?
49:52
You got any running races?
49:53
No, nothing.
49:55
No events planned.
49:57
I mean, I enjoy my fitness, so I'm always doing something.
50:01
But no, no events.
50:03
We're actually just going to go a bit of a road trip.
50:06
Oh, yeah.
50:07
Where to?
50:08
Adelaide.
50:09
For the race or after the race?
50:11
No, after.
50:11
Yeah, just over Christmas.
50:15
Yeah, that's all that's planned at this stage.
50:17
Yeah.
50:18
I always get intimidated when I see Strava's made, don't I?
50:23
Half the pace that I'm doing, you know.
50:25
Are you going to break the go-kart out over summer?
50:28
I will, yeah.
50:29
I've had it.
50:29
It's been sitting in my shed for like 18 months and I haven't used it.
50:32
Well, have you got a KZ?
50:34
X30.
50:35
KZ's a bit full on for me.
50:37
I can't.
50:37
Mate, around Ipswich in an X30, I can do about four laps and then I do a cool off and do four again and then I'm done.
50:43
That place is the worst though.
50:45
Yeah.
50:46
If we had somewhere that was like easier on the body, I'd be like – and the worst thing is there's nothing you can do to prepare yourself for – Just got to do it.
50:56
For how bashed up you're going to get.
50:58
Like it's literally – it's conditioning.
50:59
So, you know, to not get as bashed up driving around Ipswich in a go-kart, you've got to do it more.
51:04
Yeah.
51:06
Oh, man.
51:06
That brings you back down to reality, doesn't it?
51:08
Yeah.
51:09
Oh, mate.
51:09
There's these little kids banging around all day and I do five laps and –
51:13
You're toast.
51:13
I'm on my hand and knees rolling out of the thing.
51:15
It's pretty embarrassing, to be honest.
51:17
Yeah, I remember when I drove with Scotty in 2020, like the Enduros, I'm like, oh, yeah, I'll do.
51:25
Because that was like the COVID year, so you couldn't really do any other racing.
51:29
Well, I had a heap of other racing lined up, but overseas and, yeah, nothing happened.
51:33
So I was like, oh, I'll do three or four days in a go-kart, just get a bit of match fitness, get the eye in whatever else.
51:38
I got like three sessions into the first day and I was like, no, I'm done.
51:42
My ribs.
51:43
And I never had any problems with my ribs throughout eight years of go-karting and wore a rib protector and everything.
51:50
Didn't break anything but must have just been like a bit of cartilage or whatever, like finished I think the third session.
51:55
And on the in-lap I was like, oh, I feel a little bit there.
51:58
Rolled out for the next session.
51:59
I'm like, I'm done.
52:01
I did the same.
52:02
It was before sand down in my first year.
52:05
And I did two days in one week, like a few days apart went out.
52:07
And I went out and the first turn, I'm like, oh, that hurts.
52:11
And I'm like, I'm here.
52:12
Like I'm going to bang around.
52:13
I couldn't sleep on that side for a week.
52:15
I rocked up to race weekend like, oh, I hope no one hits me.
52:20
It's hard work.
52:21
Yeah.
52:21
It was good when, what was it, Pimpama?
52:24
Yeah.
52:25
That was open.
52:25
A bit easier on the body.
52:26
Yeah.
52:26
It was probably like...
52:28
One of the toughest things, I think, as a kid when you're in go-karts is no one quite understands what you're doing and what you're trying to achieve and stuff like that.
52:38
To put it into perspective, I had caught up with Liam Lawson when I was over in Europe over dinner at Silverstone.
52:46
And like to put it in perspective for people that don't quite understand how full on those things are, like he reckons that the KZ at its like a track that's full on is not quite as an adrenaline rush as a Formula One car.
53:01
but is probably the closest you can get to it.
53:04
Because like around Ipswich, it's like 38 or 40 gear changes a lot.
53:10
At least they can do something that's pretty similar though.
53:13
But for us, what's like a go-kart still miles away from even, you know, a go-kart that doesn't have the power or grip of a KZ, like it's,
53:24
it's still chalk and cheese compared to supercar, whereas those guys, you can literally go and, you know, that's kind of the next best thing is a KZ car to a Formula 1 car.
53:34
I did a car swap with J-Dub, so he's got a KZ and I had an X30, so we swapped.
53:39
Mate, I haven't really drove a KZ.
53:41
I'm like, what the hell is this?
53:42
Like, I was just out of control, falling out of the seat, you know, like, and the down changes are so quick.
53:47
And I think we both got out and I'm like, yeah, no, I don't want to drive that again.
53:50
And he's like, I want to drive yours again.
53:51
You know, I think the KZ probably, everything's a bit too quick maybe for supercar drivers.
53:57
You've got to be quite, I suppose, slow on all your movements and late on your gear changes and that.
54:01
It was quite the opposite.
54:02
It's funny that I remember being a kid and just, I just want to change gears.
54:05
Like when you're driving go-karts, like I want to drive a KZ or I want to drive a Formula Ford or whatever.
54:09
Yeah, exactly.
54:10
Exactly.
54:10
Saying that though, the new tyre next year, that's supposed to be pretty full on.
54:15
Like I think the kind of story they're running was Perkatt's average heart rate or something was 118 on the old tyre and on the new tyre it was like 180.
54:26
So you're working pretty hard on the new tyre from what I understand.
54:31
Yeah, I'm...
54:32
So is there definitely a new tyre for next year?
54:35
Well, I believe so.
54:36
I think that's a tyre.
54:37
I don't think they've really spoken about it too much.
54:39
And just the one compound or is... Yeah, I don't know.
54:45
I think they've talked about on race weekends doing some different tyre stuff, but I don't understand it yet.
54:51
I think it's like the new tyre is going to be like the soft tyre.
54:55
And then, because I think they were talking about from Saturday to Sunday will be different tyre batches.
55:00
Yeah.
55:00
So, you run like the soft tyre all weekend.
55:03
And then come Sunday, it's like, boom, super soft tyre.
55:06
Figure it out.
55:07
But I think the soft is pretty quick.
55:10
Yeah.
55:10
They did some demos.
55:11
They've done some demo stuff over the years and they did some at Bathurst and it's fast.
55:16
Jamie did like a five or something.
55:18
Yeah, he did a low five when we were all running around at seven.
55:20
So, I think it's... We'll probably be back to a 203 or a bit.
55:24
You know, like a 204, 203 next year at Bathurst, which would be cool.
55:28
But, yeah, it's a hard one.
55:30
Like, I don't know.
55:32
I think you still need Degg because I think if you just all go flat out, maybe...
55:40
Maybe just the fastest car is going to win and if that car qualifies on pole, maybe it just wins.
55:45
It's a hard one.
55:46
It could change it though because then people, they have to push to be fast and then maybe people might make mistakes and stuff like that and it's kind of
55:56
How hard do you want to push?
55:57
Like, say you're going to Adelaide or Gold Coast, like, how much do you want to risk every lap, you know?
56:02
Yeah.
56:03
I think, like, for me, Bathurst, I just drove flat out every single lap.
56:07
You know, at the end, I degged, but... And Gold Coast wasn't too bad.
56:12
Like, you can still drive pretty hard there.
56:13
You degged, but not...
56:16
Yeah, I mean, the only thing you're really sort of pulling back on is the throttle out of the two slowest corners pretty much.
56:23
Well, not yet.
56:25
The throttle out of the slow corners, but you're still pushing pretty hard in the high-risk areas.
56:30
No, exactly.
56:31
I don't know.
56:32
It'll be interesting.
56:32
Well, I still don't really know what's happening next year.
56:34
I don't think anyone does, but we'll find out in due course.
56:37
Yeah, come the first test day, we'll know what's going on.
56:40
Yeah, a couple of days before round one.
56:42
Yeah, yeah.
56:42
Who do you reckon is the hot tip for getting a bit...
56:45
Up and about at the Gala, you reckon?
56:47
We've had old Jake the Snake.
56:50
He got up at one year.
56:51
Dave Davo got on it last year.
56:54
We had our driver's lunch last year.
56:56
So everyone got on it pretty big there.
56:58
Will Brown, he's going to hit it hard.
57:01
Especially if he wins, he's going to be.
57:03
Yeah, but I guess you've got to keep yourself.
57:05
I don't think he will.
57:07
I think he'll go pretty hard.
57:09
I reckon the Wills will have a crack.
57:13
hopefully someone does someone needs to get rowdy take the spotlight off of me it's always good entertainment exactly exactly righty-o we've done our due course on this podcast so off to the next guys to the next one thanks lads good luck out of the lads thank you good luck see you in a couple of weeks sounds good