Latest / Rusty's Garage / Drivers Only: Episode 3 with James Courtney, Anton De Pasquale and Matt Payne

Transcript

Drivers Only: Episode 3 with James Courtney, Anton De Pasquale and Matt Payne · Rusty's Garage

0:02
A listener production.
0:07
What a season.
0:08
It's turning out to be in supercars.
0:11
A variety of winners and the driver market silly season is really heating up.
0:15
Lots of good stuff to discuss in the garage with the latest edition of Drivers Only.
0:20
Hi, everybody.
0:21
Rusty here ahead of a listener studio takeover in Brisbane by Anton Di Pasquale, James Courtney,
0:27
and matt payne they'll debrief the sydney motorsport park night round talk about some of the stuff they get up to between events look ahead to the next meeting in tassie and the paris olympics is even on today's agenda we have had some great feedback on this new pod thank you and the panel will spend some time in this one tackling your questions too righto time to fire up episode three of drivers only as we say bonjour to anton jc and matt enjoy the show
1:11
Yeah, I can hear my voice.
1:13
The audio is fantastic.
1:14
I feel like my voice needs to be turned up a little bit.
1:17
No, you're loud here.
1:18
Radio check.
1:20
Give me a radio check.
1:21
Mic check, mic check.
1:22
Can we turn it up?
1:24
Hello?
1:24
I've got a lot of knobs here.
1:26
I'm happy to turn.
1:27
What are we actually doing?
1:29
I think we just talk shit.
1:31
Oh, okay.
1:33
Okay, this is going well.
1:34
I'm too loud now.
1:38
G'day everyone.
1:39
Welcome to the Drivers Only Queensland edition.
1:42
You've got Anton, Matt and James, myself.
1:45
So...
1:47
Here we go, guys.
1:48
What do you reckon?
1:48
We should probably start off with Sydney, I guess.
1:51
I thought you won the race, but it turns out you didn't.
1:54
I thought I was going to win too.
1:55
I said to you before we're getting changed.
1:56
I'm like, didn't you win last weekend?
1:58
Nah, nah.
1:58
I was damn close.
2:02
The guys went on the one-stop strategy and it was hard, man.
2:08
I heard after the race because one of our guys heard Chaz say, his team asked him if he wanted to do the one-stop and Chaz said, no.
2:17
He backed out of it, so I thought I was...
2:19
I also backed out of it.
2:20
Did you?
2:20
I will spin it on lap eight.
2:21
I was like, ah, I'm not making another 15 like this.
2:24
I got asked and I was like, guys, are you watching the same race I'm actually in?
2:29
Mate, when you finished or when whoever won, Chaz, I was coming out of turn three, so that was the most demoralized thing ever.
2:37
You come out, you see the fireworks, and I'm like...
2:39
Yeah, it's been a good day in the office.
2:41
Yeah, it's hard.
2:42
It's hard.
2:42
It's a while away.
2:43
Was there anyone involved in any craziness?
2:45
I half spun your teammate at the start of the second race.
2:48
Yeah, I think you spoke about that.
2:50
He was not happy about that.
2:52
No, he had a slight dig at me and I was like, come on, Richie, it's all good.
2:55
No, I didn't really get in.
2:58
Oh, actually, no, there was a bit of hard battling in the second race on Sunday.
3:02
Oh, Woody and Perkett were getting into each other.
3:04
That was big.
3:05
That was pretty intense.
3:06
That was, there was a lot of history.
3:09
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
3:10
Absolutely.
3:11
I saw that.
3:12
I was the one car in front of it.
3:13
I was just like cruising.
3:14
I'm like, oh, yeah, Woody behind me.
3:15
And look, there's no one behind me.
3:17
I was like, oh, okay, that's a big shit fight.
3:18
It's always a party time when that happens.
3:20
Yeah, you're like, oh, cool, I can just save the tire now.
3:22
I'm laughing.
3:23
It didn't work.
3:25
It was massive.
3:26
It was heaps intense.
3:27
The guys were just, as soon as Perkett tried to get past, Woody was like, nah.
3:32
And he just came over on him and he's just into his door.
3:34
And I'm like, oh, yeah, here we go.
3:36
Woody would never do that.
3:37
Yeah.
3:38
I feel like he races pretty clean most of the time.
3:40
He's probably going to text me after he sees us and be like, why'd you bag me out?
3:44
Yeah.
3:45
He's always been good with me.
3:47
I remember at the Grand Prix, I'd lunged him at turn one or something like that.
3:51
And then out of turn two, down to turn three, he was sort of out on the outside on the left of me.
3:56
And I'm like, oh, yeah, I'll just back off and hold him out there.
3:59
Anyway, and then he was sort of looked and he was beside me.
4:02
And then all of a sudden, when I went to turn him, the little bastard was down the inside.
4:05
I was like, damn it, he's done my own move on me.
4:07
Yeah.
4:09
He actually races really well.
4:11
I've raced him for years on the sim, and he's actually – we have some really good battles a lot of the time, but it's obviously different racing someone, one of your mates in real life.
4:20
So it's quite funny.
4:21
They do race pretty hard, these.
4:22
Yeah.
4:23
You're a young bloke too.
4:24
The racing's flat out.
4:25
Yeah.
4:26
It's good.
4:26
But even Aaron, my teammate, we're –
4:28
Doos and Ferb last weekend.
4:32
And I was watching him with, what's the guy that did the wild card?
4:35
You love wild cards.
4:36
Lockie Dalton.
4:37
Yeah.
4:38
Him and those two were freaking cheap stations.
4:41
Yeah, I don't know.
4:41
I didn't really watch Super 2 last year, but they probably have a bit of history or something.
4:45
They raced each other last year.
4:46
I'm sure they did.
4:47
Just, yeah, they got history.
4:48
Bit of beef, bit of beef, yeah.
4:49
Carrying it on.
4:50
Bit of swine for you, no stress.
4:52
I was pretty relaxed.
4:53
How did you guys end up the weekend?
4:55
Fifth.
4:56
Actually, that was on the last lap.
4:59
Oh, man.
4:59
My thing just took a dump like three laps to go.
5:03
I saw that.
5:04
And you were out on the concrete at turn two, like trying to turn.
5:09
I don't know.
5:11
I obviously looked after the rear tires so good that my right front just turned to nothing.
5:16
And I got pain coming at me.
5:17
I'm like, oh, no.
5:18
And then last lap, just like full lockstops.
5:20
I didn't even.
5:21
I wasn't even up the inside of you.
5:23
I wasn't even up the inside of you.
5:24
I know.
5:25
You just bowled wide.
5:26
I just sort of broke down the middle.
5:27
I'm like, yeah, I'll just cover this.
5:29
And then I'm just like.
5:30
Oh, oh, oh.
5:31
No front.
5:31
So did you get him?
5:32
Yeah, I did.
5:33
And then you pull like two seconds off him.
5:35
Yeah.
5:36
How bad is it when the tie cliffs?
5:37
Because you're like, oh, I've got this.
5:38
I've got it.
5:39
Everything's going good.
5:40
Then all of a sudden you're just like... For some reason, your lap times have gone like, I don't know, like 32 nines, 32 nines, 33-1, 33-7.
5:45
And it's like...
5:49
What happened?
5:50
Like I didn't do anything.
5:51
There's not even like a slight warning that it's coming.
5:53
It's like, yeah, I've got this.
5:54
This is going, oh my God.
5:56
Yeah.
5:56
It's literally like that.
5:58
And you're like, and then you're kind of looking in all the times.
6:00
You're like, why did I just slow up suddenly so much?
6:03
And you just like, you just can't.
6:06
And then you can't drive faster and then it just gets worse and worse.
6:08
It just compounds hard.
6:09
Yeah.
6:09
Like it's just bad, bad.
6:11
And then you have the team come over.
6:12
Come on, mate.
6:13
Yeah.
6:14
Come on, keep it together.
6:15
You're like, oh, no.
6:16
Yeah.
6:16
He's like, I need you to stay at this lap time.
6:19
Just like, you know, 33.5s, you know, you can do it.
6:22
And then it's just like 33.7, 33.9.
6:24
Maintaining lap time at S&P is easy, right?
6:28
Like it's just easy maintaining lap time at S&P.
6:29
Yeah, yeah.
6:30
Just cruise around.
6:31
Nah.
6:31
If you were like three seconds off the pace, it'd be all right.
6:34
So you reckon it's worse at happening like in a mid-race stint or at the end of the race where you can't come in?
6:40
Oh.
6:41
At the end.
6:42
Yeah, because you can't do anything about it.
6:44
Yeah.
6:45
And then someone's coming at you and they're like, he's catching you at 1.2 seconds a lap and you're like, I can see.
6:51
Do you guys have the like gaps to the cars in front and behind on your dash?
6:55
I wish I did.
6:56
Yeah, you can.
6:57
Yeah, yeah.
6:58
I could see that to you.
6:59
I turned it off.
7:00
Yeah.
7:01
I just saw your headlights.
7:02
I was like, yeah.
7:03
Yeah.
7:03
And I just did the rough calculations.
7:06
Like, this is going to be annoying.
7:07
I was like, no kidding.
7:09
On Saturday, when Chas was behind me after I pitted, after he pitted, I had like 14 seconds on him.
7:16
And I was like, oh, my God.
7:18
I got this.
7:19
I'm that guy.
7:20
I'm that guy.
7:21
Literally, as we were just saying, if I just hold the lap time, I'm going to be okay.
7:27
And then it's like, hang on a minute, five laps later, he's like nine seconds and you're like, and I'm only getting slower.
7:34
And he's staying the same.
7:35
And it just was, yeah.
7:37
He was ridiculously quick.
7:39
Oh, he was so fast.
7:40
He was driving very well.
7:42
Even when he passed me, he just, yeah.
7:45
He just had a lot of speed.
7:47
So with this new tyre, they're talking about next year without it having as much tyre digged.
7:53
I personally think that it's going to be better because I feel that we end up at the start of the race, yes, everyone gets a little bit excited and does a little bit of passing, but then we all calm down so much and try and manage the time.
8:03
You always know you're going to have to save at some point, I feel like.
8:08
I spoke to Richie about it because he was one of the guys testing it and he said he's never had so much fun in a race car in ages driving on it because he just went flat out
8:17
And then it's like it kind of digs differently, he said, to the old tyre.
8:20
Like it kind of still has good straight drive, but it kind of feels more planted.
8:25
Because you tested it, didn't you, with Will that day?
8:27
Will tested it.
8:29
Very similar comments, I think, from what he said.
8:32
I mean, I'm only talking about what I've heard.
8:34
The only problem is if it doesn't dig, then it's hard to pass.
8:37
Yeah, it's hard to race.
8:39
Like you just end up in a train.
8:40
But he said the good thing was when I spoke to Will was as it like –
8:44
rag it take it easy and recover it whereas without tying it as soon as you have that mad slide that push it's like it just adds on and it never drops back down it just keeps adding and then it gets to a point where it's like see ya
9:00
Going into Tassie, what do you reckon?
9:01
Anything exciting happening?
9:02
Cold pack of jackets.
9:03
Well, between the two.
9:04
Let's go between the two.
9:05
What have you been up to since and what are you doing between?
9:07
It sounds like Matty's on tour in Queensland.
9:10
He's doing the rounds.
9:11
Yeah, I've just come up to the apps while you're up here.
9:15
Have you?
9:15
No, no, mate.
9:16
That's not me.
9:17
I wasn't saying it was.
9:19
No, no.
9:20
I know.
9:20
I'm just like… Taking the trophies on tour, you know?
9:25
I can't I'm not going to reply to any of this because like I've so you're normally from Melbourne but you're here in the beautiful state of Queensland it's nice to be fair it's actually it's still cold up here like it's not it's not massively different to Melbourne
9:39
Come on.
9:40
That's a big call.
9:41
That's ridiculous.
9:42
Honestly, that's the most ridiculous statement.
9:46
I feel like it's not like I get up.
9:48
He's over it from New Zealand.
9:49
As we're all in shorts and t-shirts in here.
9:50
It's like, ah, same as Melbourne.
9:52
I wear shorts in Melbourne.
9:53
Yeah, but that's because you're a Kiwi.
9:56
Yeah, 10% of the population in Melbourne probably wear shorts.
10:00
And 10% are from New Zealand as well.
10:02
Yeah, actually, that's a good point.
10:04
I've kind of just answered a buying question, really.
10:06
So anyway, you're up here just...
10:08
Yeah, just chilling, just catching up with some mates.
10:10
I haven't been here since I moved down, so it's actually quite nice to be up here again.
10:16
I like it up here.
10:17
Weather's hugely different to Melbourne.
10:23
What about you, Anton?
10:24
Anything exciting?
10:24
Is anyone doing any racing in between?
10:26
There's a thing out this weekend.
10:28
No, no.
10:29
It's been a sim racing maybe.
10:31
Yeah, sim.
10:32
No testing either.
10:33
We're just flat out.
10:35
Yeah, there's not a lot going on.
10:36
It's a big break.
10:37
Yeah.
10:38
I quite enjoyed the short Townsville.
10:40
We have got the Olympics on.
10:41
Yeah, yeah, but it's not the same as motorsport and racing.
10:47
I quite enjoy watching the Olympics.
10:49
I watched a bit of swimming last night, to be honest.
10:51
I was watching the skateboarding was good.
10:52
Yeah, the skateboarding was actually cool.
10:54
Isn't there some kid that's like 11?
10:55
Yeah, they're all like... All young.
10:57
All young.
10:58
Young as and they just like kicking kickflips.
11:01
I like how you're saying young as.
11:04
I think the gold medalist is like 14 or something.
11:06
Yeah, like the Japanese chip was like 15, I think.
11:09
Yeah.
11:10
It's pretty impressive.
11:12
Is that a new one this year or is that last Olympics it got?
11:15
It's only new, the skateboarding thing, isn't it?
11:16
Oh, I'm not sure.
11:17
There's a couple of new ones.
11:18
It's surfing.
11:19
It's their first time this year.
11:20
Is it surfing?
11:21
Second time.
11:22
There was one with the… It's a lot from the stands here.
11:25
Have you seen the kayak that they have full contact racing?
11:29
That sounds fun.
11:30
Have you seen it?
11:31
Down the hill and they're like just smacking each other.
11:33
It's wild.
11:33
Yeah, it's pretty intense.
11:34
It's pretty cool.
11:35
Let's get the paddle out.
11:36
I saw handball.
11:37
That's a weird sport, isn't it?
11:39
I used to play that in school actually.
11:40
Played it a couple times in school as well.
11:41
Yeah.
11:42
Not forcefully.
11:42
The one where you bounce it, but that proper one where you hold it.
11:45
Oh, that's…
11:46
That's handball.
11:47
Yeah, that is handball.
11:48
I played like the little one where you bounced it.
11:51
That's the school version, right?
11:52
With the tennis ball?
11:54
Yeah, or like just that really bouncy ball.
11:56
And there's like deuce and dunce.
11:57
No, it's like… King and queen and… Yeah, yeah, yeah, that one.
12:01
It's like that real bouncy ball that you always pick up at the Rebel Sport counter but you never buy.
12:05
The OGs play with the tennis ball, man.
12:07
Do you need to say that name again?
12:09
Was that a product placement sponsor there?
12:11
No, I don't know.
12:11
That's just where I used to… I just got one from.
12:14
It was…
12:14
For that very game?
12:15
You're playing handball?
12:16
Handball, yeah.
12:16
Being in the Olympic season?
12:17
Yeah, I feel like it's, yeah.
12:21
Oh, there you go.
12:22
Yeah, but I watched that and I was like, what are the rules?
12:24
It's a bit like AFL for me.
12:25
I don't really.
12:26
Really?
12:27
It doesn't seem like there's any rules with AFL.
12:28
There's plenty of good rules.
12:29
There's plenty of good rules.
12:30
There's Aussie rules.
12:32
I don't really watch it.
12:34
You're an NRL guy then?
12:35
Yeah, 100%.
12:36
I grew up, I'm white trash.
12:37
I'm from Penrith, west of Sydney.
12:38
So you're a Panthers guy?
12:40
I was born in the hospital, yeah.
12:42
Yeah, okay.
12:42
Pure blood.
12:43
You'd be rugby then?
12:45
Yeah, like follow the All Blacks a little bit.
12:47
But AFL I still haven't hooked on to.
12:51
I'm just disappointed in both of you, to be honest.
12:53
So you're obviously... Yeah.
12:53
I'm AFL, yeah.
12:54
But you're Queensland, aren't you?
12:56
Originally.
12:56
No, Melbourne.
12:57
Who do you go for?
12:58
Who do you go for?
12:59
Collingwood.
13:00
Oh, man.
13:00
What about you, Melbourne?
13:01
I always thought you were from Queensland.
13:02
No, I'm from Werribee.
13:03
I'm a Westie.
13:04
I was up in Collingwood like the other day and I was like, man, this place, this area...
13:09
I'm not from there, but...
13:10
It kind of is scary.
13:12
Like, it's like... Collingwood?
13:13
Yeah.
13:14
Because all the hipsters or what?
13:15
Yeah, like a lot of that going on.
13:17
Yeah.
13:18
Yeah, it was...
13:19
It's like...
13:20
I didn't feel uncomfortable.
13:20
Garage parties and stuff.
13:21
I didn't feel uncomfortable, but when I, I just, I left in a hurry.
13:26
Really?
13:26
Yeah, because I was just like, well, I just.
13:29
Is it like Manukau?
13:30
Is that where?
13:31
Yeah, almost like that.
13:32
Yeah, Manukau.
13:33
That's a museum.
13:34
It's the equivalent, isn't it?
13:35
West Auckland's probably a better way of explaining it.
13:39
That's usually the dodgy side over there.
13:41
Is that where that crazy Kiwi movie is?
13:44
Once a Warrior.
13:46
Oh, no, that was filmed all over, I think.
13:48
I actually can't remember where that was from.
13:50
Do you know the Haka?
13:51
I don't know the Haka.
13:52
I don't know.
13:53
I didn't.
13:54
They didn't teach it to us in school.
13:56
I thought it would be like we learned the national anthem.
13:58
You guys would learn the Haka.
14:00
No, not really.
14:02
No, I think it's probably more.
14:03
Do you wish you knew how to do it?
14:04
No, not really.
14:05
I just, I'd probably look like an idiot if I tried.
14:08
Yeah, it wouldn't be intimidating one bit.
14:10
It was like, you'd just be laughing at it.
14:13
I could never sell it.
14:14
How good do those?
14:15
Like at Taupo.
14:16
Yeah, that guy on the grid.
14:17
That was intimidating.
14:19
That was good.
14:20
It was cool.
14:20
I liked it.
14:21
Yeah, I enjoyed it.
14:23
And I stood right in the middle of them and you can feel like the ground checking.
14:26
Yeah, that's right.
14:27
That was scary, man.
14:28
I was like…
14:29
standing there like a star pilot.
14:30
Even there was a couple of ladies that were pretty... Yeah, the ladies get right into it too.
14:33
It's almost scarier, I think.
14:35
Yeah.
14:35
How they push their eyes.
14:36
Yeah.
14:37
They're sort of cut out of the... Popping out of their sockets like that.
14:40
It's like Dave Russell on a qualifying run.
14:41
Yeah.
14:42
Just like... Just any lap, I think.
14:43
Yeah.
14:44
Driving.
14:45
He has the best onboard front camera in the history of motorsport.
14:49
That frontal camera on Brody's car just steering straight.
14:53
There was one year, I reckon it must have been a little bit wet at Bathurst and he was in the Tickford car.
14:59
And it's just...
15:00
He was intense.
15:01
I reckon that'd be the most disappointing thing ever if they cut to his in-car and he had the visor down.
15:05
Yeah.
15:06
I remember.
15:07
And you just did a whole crowd.
15:09
Oh.
15:09
I remember.
15:10
We want to see those eyes.
15:11
I remember at Bathurst, it was a co-driver session.
15:13
I think you were like, he had the headphones on and you were commentating.
15:16
Eastern Creek a couple of years ago.
15:18
Eastern Creek, yeah.
15:18
And they went on board and you're like, oh my God, he needs window washers or something on his eyes.
15:23
Those things are going to be dried out.
15:25
They'll be like two little prunes at the end of his run.
15:27
Yeah.
15:28
He doesn't blink either.
15:30
I don't think so, no.
15:30
Not only are they hanging out, but they don't blink.
15:32
Do you guys know if you blink when you drive?
15:34
You have to, sure.
15:35
Yeah.
15:35
Yeah, I like to.
15:36
I mean, I can't even know.
15:38
Like, I can't.
15:39
I don't even know.
15:39
Do you run a drink straw in your mouth or is it like... No, I have mine like sitting like on my chin.
15:45
Because mine's in my mouth and I'm hard on that thing.
15:48
Really?
15:49
I'm like, I'm halfway.
15:50
Just sort of like, just like closer to the lip.
15:52
No, I can't deal with that.
15:54
And like a brace, it cuts it up a little bit.
15:55
My cheeks are so sore just from biting down.
15:58
So when you're like just spraying the drinker into your mouth, do you have like, and you have like Powerade in it?
16:05
Does it like make your chin blue?
16:06
No, just straight water, man.
16:07
You just drink water.
16:08
H2O all the way.
16:09
You just drink water?
16:10
I like a bit of a mix, I reckon.
16:12
No.
16:13
Just a bit of a shandy.
16:14
Yeah, like a mixture.
16:15
Then it gets a bit crusty instantly.
16:16
Nah.
16:17
Straight water, man.
16:17
It's exciting when you take a drink because it's like, oh, it's flavored, you know.
16:21
Cool.
16:21
Yeah.
16:21
Oh, it's flavored.
16:22
Yeah.
16:23
What do you do with your straw?
16:24
It just hangs down the bottom.
16:25
No, it hangs down here and then when I need a drink, I just go.
16:28
Is it them resting on your chin the whole time?
16:30
Yeah, but it's like.
16:30
Doesn't that annoy you?
16:31
No, that would annoy me more.
16:32
You can't even feel it.
16:33
Than the other way.
16:34
You can't even feel it.
16:35
And then sometimes you drive around.
16:37
Imagine like you hook it up and it's up here and you're like.
16:40
How bad is it when it goes on your visor?
16:42
You're like.
16:43
Oh, yeah.
16:44
I've had that before.
16:45
I've had it actually go like.
16:46
I've had it go forward in the car before.
16:49
What about when you plug it in and it's got pressure?
16:50
I was like.
16:50
Yeah.
16:51
It has wires in my mouth.
16:52
Yeah
16:53
No, like I used to have it attached on the outside of my helmet in GT.
16:58
Oh.
16:58
And it's like I've tried to put it back on and it didn't find it.
17:02
And so I'm like trying to find it.
17:03
So I'm like, oh, I'll just press the drink button to see where it's going.
17:07
And then it just went all over the windscreen on the inside.
17:11
It's perfect.
17:12
It's a lot.
17:13
It's a lot.
17:21
What about Tassie?
17:22
Anyone?
17:24
I actually, I really enjoy, like I like Tasmania.
17:27
I think it's a really cool place, but the track is, I feel like the track's pretty hard work.
17:33
There's such a little track where it's like three corners.
17:36
That first sector is just like a ball.
17:39
There's compression.
17:39
It never feels good.
17:41
Yeah.
17:41
I've never gone there and just done a lap and gone, yeah.
17:43
In qualifying, you go through there and you're just like, oh.
17:46
Yeah.
17:47
It never feels good and then you could be good, but it just never feels it.
17:50
Yeah.
17:50
I've never, I don't think I've ever got that part right once.
17:54
I reckon it's the sketchiest first lap of any race all year when you drive down to the hairpin.
18:00
And you're like, do I go to the inside and then like have five cars past me and get two more on the air.
18:04
Is there a worse feeling than getting stuck on a slow train on the inside?
18:07
Yeah.
18:08
You're like, come on.
18:10
What about when they try and peel out from that and someone's already cut in and then they just crash?
18:14
Then we're on.
18:15
Were you guys in the championship when they had that crash halfway down?
18:19
I remember watching it.
18:20
That was big.
18:21
Yeah.
18:22
Were you in that?
18:23
No.
18:23
My car got destroyed.
18:24
I ended up missing that race and the next one.
18:26
Oh.
18:26
Who was the guy that came on the left and just bowled in?
18:29
Davo.
18:31
Yeah.
18:31
I think it was.
18:32
He just went in and then he like, oh.
18:33
He's just like, oh, just full throttle through the smoke, I think.
18:35
Yeah.
18:36
Just full Talladega.
18:37
Trying to do it on the Queen or something.
18:38
Cold trickle.
18:38
It's the last car.
18:39
Yeah.
18:40
He almost got through.
18:41
If he made through, he would have looked like a legend.
18:43
I feel like at the hip in there though, every time you're on a qual lap, you feel like you're never going to pull it up.
18:48
And then all of a sudden somehow, like when you go down to first, it just pulls up.
18:56
And then you drive around the outside of the corner and you're like, where's the apex?
19:00
Yeah.
19:00
And then it's, I've only had a year of experience there.
19:03
So I probably don't really have much to go off by.
19:08
still, I find it challenging.
19:09
The race is always intense.
19:10
You're always looking in your mirror.
19:11
There's always a toe.
19:12
There's always... And strategy is a ball like there because you can go laps down.
19:16
Yeah.
19:17
So I reckon it's cool.
19:19
It's one of our historic events.
19:21
Yeah, it definitely is.
19:21
It's been such an old circuit.
19:23
It has a lot of character for such a little place.
19:27
Racing is pretty good there normally.
19:28
Yeah.
19:29
I think it'll be good.
19:29
It should be good based off what we're doing now.
19:31
The racing should be good there because it does historically.
19:33
And these cars have a little bit more draft.
19:35
So you get...
19:36
sucked in at the end of the straight haul.
19:37
Now our engines are a bit closer to the other guys.
19:40
Oh, there's no one here that's on the other side.
19:41
Pencil you ass, you know.
19:42
Yeah.
19:43
Now they're complaining and they're like, oh, you know, when we're at the, before the driver's announcement or whatever the other day.
19:49
Oh, that's right.
19:50
I was like, calm down, guys.
19:51
You had the world's biggest deficit to us or advantage to us the last couple of years.
19:56
Now it might be close that it's the drama.
19:58
Okay, who do you reckon out of the triple eight deal at the front with Will and Brock and Chas and Cam coming?
20:05
It's none of us.
20:06
We don't really care, but people probably want to know.
20:09
Who do you reckon?
20:10
For what, the next race?
20:11
I don't know.
20:12
What are you talking about how it's happening?
20:14
Who's your peck?
20:17
I personally think Brock probably hasn't got the experience mentally to deal with.
20:23
Yeah.
20:24
It's actually been quite a tough couple of last rounds for T8.
20:28
Like, yeah, they got the podium at Sydney with Will.
20:30
But like if you actually think about it, it's been a bit of a struggle.
20:34
But then Brock cleans with Darwin.
20:36
Exactly right.
20:38
I don't really know how you go from like clean sweeping Darwin to...
20:43
to then kind of Townsville, where historically they've been pretty strong.
20:46
But then, yeah, Chaz was 20th at Darwin.
20:48
Yeah, and then I guess like...
20:49
He's fast in the field two months later.
20:51
Basically, that was like us.
20:52
That was like me.
20:53
I was at the back at Darwin, and then all of a sudden at Townsville, we found some speed.
20:57
See, I was the opposite.
20:58
I was at Darwin.
20:58
I was like in front of all the fours.
20:59
Yeah.
21:00
I've worked it out.
21:01
The boys were on.
21:02
You were like... You and Dovo, you were the outlier.
21:05
Most of us were at the back.
21:06
Yeah.
21:07
We're like...
21:07
They're like, oh, it's a Camaro track.
21:08
We're like, yeah, we're working.
21:10
Is that when you're sliding the contract in front of the team?
21:12
Like, guys, it's tough.
21:14
And then we go to the next round and we're still in seventh and then the whole field swapped on us.
21:18
Yeah, so then you grab the paper and slit it back.
21:20
Yeah, it's not tough.
21:24
Is that how it works?
21:25
Typically, that's what I would have done.
21:27
Well, I would do what you would do, so yeah.
21:29
Perfect, nice.
21:31
But yeah, it's crazy how much it swings the championship this year.
21:35
I find like confusing.
21:35
I personally was surprised like you guys at their lack of pace.
21:40
Like we all drove through the field and were super quick, but they didn't have that dominance and that consistency that they had.
21:46
Yeah, like Darwin, they're winning by what, like 15 seconds?
21:49
Yeah.
21:49
And then it's like, hang on a minute, they're behind 15 seconds.
21:52
But I actually was thinking like S&P, I was like, oh,
21:55
You probably go back to like Taupo, same track, similar surface, some new, some old.
22:00
I thought they were going to be really strong in Sydney.
22:02
And they smoked us by 30 seconds.
22:04
Like I couldn't even see him.
22:05
I was like, oh, yeah.
22:06
And then it's different.
22:07
So something's… Yeah, I don't know.
22:09
Like it's… I think he's been probably the most consistent.
22:12
Like he's always… This year he's sort of been in that top five sort of area majority of the year.
22:17
Hasn't really had a…
22:19
It's a bad result.
22:19
He hasn't had a lead.
22:20
Yeah, but he hasn't also had a start.
22:22
Yeah, I mean, we both took each other out at AGP.
22:25
Yeah, but like you go Bathurst.
22:26
I thought you guys were going to get it on for a bit.
22:29
How come you turned into him?
22:30
That's the question.
22:31
I didn't turn into him.
22:32
He's like, I did it.
22:34
I actually watched the onboard of the pass not even that long ago.
22:38
And I was like, every time I watch it, I'm like, I don't even know how I didn't hit him up the ass.
22:42
Like when I tried passing him into turn like 10 or something, the right hander after the back straight.
22:47
And then like...
22:49
We kind of went into the last sector and he gave me a few nudges and I went wide.
22:52
And then I kind of like, I thought he was going to get the crossover on me out of the last corner.
22:56
So I was kind of trying to open it up to get a good run.
22:59
And it was just really weird contact on the wheel.
23:02
And you took me out the race before as well.
23:03
Yeah, that was actually.
23:05
So two races in a row.
23:05
We haven't actually spoken about that.
23:08
Let's bring it up now.
23:09
I can't remember what happened.
23:10
I remember what happened.
23:12
How did it go?
23:14
I don't remember.
23:15
Explain it.
23:15
Let's hear your story first.
23:18
Turn two, turn three and four.
23:20
Where at?
23:20
Turn AGP.
23:22
Turn three, the right.
23:24
That dicky left-hander that's like second 30 gear, turn four flat kerb.
23:30
I'm pretty sure I've just sent it up.
23:32
He's just sent it in just like way too quick.
23:34
It's pretty rude there as well.
23:35
Rude, right?
23:35
You hardly did.
23:36
I didn't realize.
23:36
The only corner reader is the next one.
23:38
And then I even left the door like enough.
23:42
So like, oh, he's done it.
23:44
You were trying to hold on the outside.
23:45
Pretty much wrong.
23:45
You wasn't holding on the outside.
23:47
You went up the inside.
23:48
I went up the inside.
23:49
You've got your turn to speak next, Matt.
23:51
Let's hear it.
23:51
Basically, he's gone in.
23:52
We'll just, I'll clarify.
23:54
So he's gone in too quick.
23:56
Fine.
23:56
Lost the rear.
23:58
hit the curb, had to slide the other way off the curb, and then ripped my steering out of the car.
24:04
It's kind of done one of the weird, like, I've lost it, and then I've caught it.
24:07
Sounds like there's a lot of weird stuff happening for you that weekend, doesn't it?
24:11
Yeah, I was fast, but there was a bit of drama going on.
24:14
We had a bit of cold trickle, fast, but loose and out of control.
24:16
Yeah, it probably felt like that for a lot of the other guys.
24:19
I was about to have a good race and just ruined my whole weekend.
24:24
It was after that one we all got sat down as four drivers, wasn't it, when we got to Taupo.
24:28
So it was really Matt's fault.
24:30
How awkward is that?
24:31
We're all sitting in the room together and all you guys had their dust-ups together and we're all like, yeah, we'll play you nice.
24:37
Because it was what?
24:38
When's our bonding session?
24:39
Yeah.
24:40
I want to go axe-rowing with the boys.
24:41
Axe-rowing.
24:42
That was the one.
24:43
That's what we were going to do.
24:44
It was kind of like what?
24:45
It was me and you.
24:47
Me and you.
24:47
You and everyone else.
24:48
Me and Waters.
24:50
And then me and Chaz on Sunday.
24:52
So I was actually.
24:53
So the one common denominator to all this was you.
24:57
Me and JC haven't crashed.
24:58
Me and Chaz haven't crashed.
25:00
I feel like I've cleared the air with a lot of people since then now.
25:05
I understand, mate.
25:05
You've got to stamp your authority.
25:07
That's what I was trying to do.
25:09
And then now we're all mates.
25:10
We're going X-throwing.
25:12
As we heard.
25:12
Yeah.
25:13
Just not at each other.
25:14
But, you know, I'm excited for it.
25:15
I'll tell you what will happen next time when that's in that same position.
25:18
Cam probably won't hang on the outside there.
25:20
Yeah, maybe.
25:21
See, so maybe it's worked.
25:22
But getting back to Cam, I think he has done a good – Yeah, yeah.
25:26
He has been pretty consistent.
25:27
And he has done.
25:28
They are fast as well.
25:29
Yeah.
25:29
Especially in qualifying.
25:30
Yeah.
25:30
They haven't had that crazy, you know, dominant weekend as the Triple Eight guys have had where they've won both or, you know, Chas had the other day.
25:39
It's, they've been, he's always, he's quite a consistent performer, which is why he's there.
25:45
Races, races as well too.
25:47
Like he always, he's good on, they're always pretty good on strategy and like.
25:50
No, they are really good.
25:51
Car's pretty good on the race.
25:52
His engineer, Pottsy and Brad, they're head engineer.
25:54
They're really smart, switched on guys, great with the strategy.
25:57
Yeah.
25:57
But what do you reckon?
25:59
Do you reckon WRU, are they going to be able to pull it all together?
26:02
They're still quite sporadic, aren't they?
26:04
Yeah, I just… Like we just spoke about with the performance.
26:06
I think it's… We'll see.
26:07
Tazzy, I think, will tell you.
26:09
Yeah.
26:09
Everything you need to know.
26:10
It's a T8 historically, isn't it?
26:11
It's a super soft round too, isn't it?
26:13
Yeah.
26:13
Jamie won there like 10 years in a row.
26:15
Yeah.
26:15
Yeah.
26:15
Didn't it?
26:16
Is it a super soft round?
26:17
Yeah.
26:17
It is too.
26:18
Yeah, the next two are, aren't they?
26:19
This one and Sandown, we run the super soft.
26:21
Then we go to the hard for Bathurst.
26:23
When was the last time we used the super soft?
26:25
At Darwin.
26:25
I didn't even know what tyres we used last time.
26:29
Darwin.
26:30
Darwin was the last time.
26:32
How'd we go there?
26:33
Oh, yeah?
26:34
That'd be good.
26:34
Chaz wasn't good at Darwin.
26:35
No.
26:37
All of us weren't that good.
26:38
Well, apart from you.
26:39
Oh, Triple H just drove.
26:40
That's when they... Yeah, that's when they just... Yeah, that's kind of why.
26:43
That's not him.
26:44
Resurgence, maybe?
26:45
Triple H resurgence at Tassie?
26:47
Well, Will, for his championship, does need a strong qualifying and racing round.
26:51
He won there last year, too.
26:53
Yeah.
26:53
So...
26:54
Could be a good round for them.
26:57
Let's go within team battle.
27:00
Who do you say is going to dominate over Brock and Will first of all?
27:05
I know you're close to Brock, so you're probably a hard one.
27:09
It's hard because you'd say Will, but then Brock dominates Darwin.
27:13
When it's going, he's just as good anyway.
27:15
It is a tough one.
27:16
It is.
27:17
I think Will is – Will's bad days are better.
27:22
Yeah, and I think he probably... That's a good way of putting it.
27:24
I think he finds it easier.
27:26
If he has an average qualifying, he can still get a result out of it.
27:30
Like he comes through the field a little bit better, maybe.
27:33
I don't know.
27:33
How annoying is it?
27:34
I have a bad weekend and get a podium.
27:35
Yeah, I know.
27:36
I've had such a bad weekend podium.
27:38
The whole field's like...
27:38
You're podium.
27:40
Probably comes like that experience, that result with Will is probably from life experience.
27:44
Yeah, I think it is.
27:45
He's a little bit older.
27:45
He can deal with that a little bit more.
27:47
He's had a bit more experience with it.
27:49
That will come for Brock.
27:50
He will.
27:51
Like, he's a talent.
27:52
He's going to be quick.
27:52
It's hard to know.
27:53
Like, we're only halfway, so anything can happen.
27:55
Street tracks come.
27:56
Like...
27:57
Things change at the back end of the year.
27:59
There's still massive races to go.
28:00
We've got Sandown, Bathurst, Gold Coast, Adelaide.
28:03
Yeah, a lot to go down.
28:05
Huge points.
28:06
I think if like I could say this, Mostert's probably been like he's still up and down a little bit.
28:12
But if you think about their car speed, like it's been some of the best we've seen like from them probably for the last few years, I feel like.
28:22
Like he just… When it's on, it's like… Like when it's on, like at Sydney, man, he just demolished everyone.
28:29
Like it was… It's not just a little bit in front.
28:31
Yeah.
28:32
Like they just found another level, you know.
28:34
Like it's… Yeah.
28:36
Could be… And they could have it for the… What do you reckon that is?
28:39
I'm not sure.
28:40
I reckon Sammy, his engineer, who was my engineer the last couple of years, poor bastard.
28:44
he had this potential the whole time and I've held you back, Sammy, I'm sorry, but he, um, he is so good at, um, managing the driver, like in the situation.
28:55
Yeah.
28:56
I haven't personally worked with Chaz before, but I've heard that he's quite emotional within the car.
29:01
And, and the hardest thing has been for him looking at his racing has been managing that tire through the race and when things go wrong, his emotion throughout the race.
29:10
And I think,
29:11
Sammy, one, is great with the car.
29:13
He's a really good salesman, as we all know, that to be a good engineer, you need to be a good salesman.
29:18
So you come in, you say, hey, this isn't right, and he'll say, right, I'll change that, that and that, and that'll fix all your problems.
29:22
And you're like, this guy's got it.
29:24
Let's go.
29:25
And Sammy's good at that.
29:26
And he's also really good at managing drivers.
29:29
So I think Sammy has been...
29:31
a great, um, not saying that, um, what's his old, Deboro, Deboro wasn't a good engineer, but I think those guys were probably a bit stale.
29:40
They've been together a long time.
29:41
And I think Sammy's probably come with a fresh set of eyes and info.
29:44
I think Chaz is really enjoying having sort of a, someone fresh come on and, and, and,
29:48
Trying to kind of bring a new energy, I guess.
29:51
I've heard the same with him during the race as well.
29:55
The trend has been like Chas drives really hard and he probably used to drive a bit too hard for what the tyres could do.
30:03
But I think also when he's given the car to do it, he can drive that hard and it's going to work out for him.
30:10
Yeah.
30:11
When you've got pace, you can.
30:12
Yeah, you just, pace is.
30:14
That helps.
30:16
Is the whole thing, right?
30:17
Yeah.
30:18
We've all spoken about, you had a car some weekends, and it's just, everything happens, and it's just mint.
30:24
And then for whatever, the wind changes, the UV changes slightly, and you go out 20 minutes later, and you're just like, holy crap, what the hell's going on?
30:31
It happens fast too.
30:32
Yeah.
30:33
I find with this car, that window is so much stuff for us anyway.
30:36
So much.
30:37
It's narrower.
30:37
It's small, man.
30:38
I wouldn't even call it a window.
30:39
It's smaller than that.
30:40
It's a porthole.
30:43
And the water starts coming in and you see it.
30:44
A little like mail slot.
30:47
Literally, it's like you're trying to post your sit-up through the mailbox and see if it accepts it or not.
30:55
It is wild.
30:56
It's hard.
30:57
It's very hard to churn.
30:58
I reckon it's been the craziest for that.
31:00
My whole time that I've been, I've been through freaking loads of these different evolutions of what the car is.
31:05
And this one, yes, it has narrowed a lot of the stuff and a lot of consistency throughout all the teams with –
31:13
with hardware within the car, but it has become crazy tight with that.
31:20
And it's hard when you're outside of it.
31:22
You don't want to make a big change because then you're going to go further away or you could get back into the window.
31:27
So it's difficult.
31:28
It feels like you sort of get into it and then you just sort of little jumps in and around.
31:33
You don't have that scope to really go searching.
31:35
And with testing being so limited for us, you know, a lot of people don't realize that when we're not at the race weekends, we only have three test days where we can do it a year.
31:43
Yeah, exactly.
31:43
And if we open that up a little bit, for me, I think it would be better for –
31:48
all the teams to close up the gaps.
31:50
Or maybe we could have a structure where they're like, hey, okay, you guys are leading the teams championships.
31:54
You can only have three, but you guys who are in the back half of the teams championship, you get an extra two days of testing or something like that to help close that gap.
32:02
Which is, I guess, what other sports do with the draft goes, like AFL goes worst club.
32:09
I think that could be a good thing for us.
32:11
You know what I'd be really keen on is opening up the test tracks.
32:13
Yeah.
32:16
Like, so we could go to other tracks.
32:17
You don't want to go to Winton anymore?
32:19
Oh, like, Phillip Island would be nice.
32:22
Yeah, but like, like fast tracks would be good.
32:25
No, I probably don't want to go to Winton.
32:27
All the time, all year.
32:29
I'd like to go to QR.
32:31
I'd like to go to QR and I'd like to go to the bend.
32:33
Maybe we should be able to trade our test days with each other so I'll trade my QR one for your Winton one.
32:40
I think that would just start beef.
32:44
But what do you reckon you could do to help close that gap for when teams have a great understanding and other teams are struggling?
32:50
Like last year when we're all struggling as a group within Ford.
32:54
It's hard because when you can't,
32:56
say develop anything sometimes makes it further apart because you do or you don't where like you go back years you go i've always got understeer oh we'll just design something to make the car turn but now you can't so your problem exists generally like i've had the same general complaint for like our car for like a year and a half it's like if we can just solve that we're going to be fine
33:17
Yeah, it's almost like… Can't do it.
33:19
We don't know how.
33:20
Yeah, you need to be able to do like a lot of testing and just roll through like a lot of different combinations to tick things off the list.
33:29
You know, you can't… Oh, yeah, we're going to the second test day of the year and we've got three different front uprights to test.
33:35
You know, it's not like that anymore.
33:37
I think you've… And it's a lot about philosophies as well.
33:40
You know, like everyone's got a different philosophy
33:43
And I don't know if it's like one thing that only works or if it's like you can have three different kind of different setups that all achieve the same time.
33:54
It's quite amazing.
33:54
You watch like the shootout, for example.
33:56
Like I'll watch – I'll obviously have my lap.
33:59
I've done a lot of watching a shootout.
34:01
And then I watched like Matt's lap and it's like, obviously the cars are the same.
34:04
And you watch and you go, that thing is different.
34:07
You might not have the same lap time.
34:08
Especially when you watch the onboard.
34:09
You go, why is that so like, you're like, engineer, look.
34:13
Why is he turning this?
34:15
How is it still turning?
34:16
It's just like, Chaz's, where he makes his speed is like completely different to where we make our speed.
34:21
You're like, what is causing that?
34:23
And why?
34:23
I think the thing that's so unique and what makes our thing so hard to engineer is the lock diff in the room.
34:30
Yeah, that's the primary.
34:31
Because we're trying to carry an inside wheel, inside rear wheel, and all this sort of stuff.
34:36
So the engineers are doing funky stuff like with massive drift restriction and things like that.
34:40
Is that what you run?
34:41
Yeah.
34:42
How much, mate?
34:43
Like zero.
34:44
Give me a number, please.
34:46
We've got a lever.
34:46
I can actually pull it up.
34:49
Need a handbrake to get around the corner sometimes.
34:51
They used to it.
34:52
The old Garth handbrake.
34:53
He used to have a handbrake, didn't he, on the starts?
34:54
Yeah.
34:55
But I reckon if we put a diff in these things, like a proper diff, that'd be cool.
34:59
Like it would open up the racing.
35:00
It would help with the tire.
35:01
Are you leaving the diff open or are you locking it at a number?
35:05
I'd say you'd give it parameters to work within, like they do in most categories.
35:08
I think we're the only category in the world that runs a locked diff that races on asphalt.
35:15
I think that would help our racing.
35:16
I think that defines a lot of our sit-up.
35:20
That's why we're boxed in this little window is because of that.
35:23
But the cars sound mad when they're re-locking, though.
35:26
From outside or inside?
35:28
Oh, that's like down at Turn 3 or whatever it was at Tassie, wasn't it, when you pull photos and whatever that noise you made before?
35:35
Yeah, kind of.
35:38
What do you reckon?
35:40
What do you reckon we could do?
35:41
I'd actually like... What's the next evolution?
35:42
I'd be super curious if you actually...
35:46
someone had a spare car and you put one in and ran it, what would happen?
35:50
I think it would change the feeling so much.
35:53
The feeling of driving a supercar is very, I feel like, pretty specific.
35:58
But it could also make the racing potentially worse or better either way you look at it.
36:02
I just find the reason why we have so much drama of parts because things have got so much understeve because while the two inside rear wheels are spinning or the two wheels are spinning at the same time, it's always getting understeve.
36:11
And when you're trying to turn from a narrower, you know,
36:14
Apex, when you're tighter than someone, you're dooring them and everything.
36:17
I am a steer into Anton at AGP.
36:19
There you go.
36:20
I think it was an oversteer into him.
36:23
All those crashes could have been avoided maybe with a dip.
36:26
The boys are on fire.
36:28
Stay with us as they dedicate some time to your questions on the official Supercars podcast, drivers only at Listener.