Behind the wheel with a Kiwi

Hey there everyone,

I?ve found myself in a bit of a hole this week. Over the past couple of days an army of lumps, bruises, rashes and persistent nosebleeds have invaded my body without warning. What I initially put down to over-training was quickly clarified by my doctor as a virus – the name of which I can?t even pronounce – that had been hiding my spa pool! Now the family are following suit – my sisters are already looking like Dalmatians.

Thankfully this hasn?t impacted on my fitness training too much. The new season is drawing ever closer and I?m feeling more prepared than ever, both in the body and the mind. My trainer Kevin Sheehy, good friend and fellow racer Alastair Wootten, and myself have been hard at work developing experimental motorsport training techniques in the gym, and the results are already clear with my VO2 testing levels increasing significantly in the last four weeks alone.

My programme has now broadened to include spin classes, squash, swimming and boxing, and I?m absolutely loving it.

On the racing front, I?ve unfortunately had to withdraw from the remainder of the Australian Porsche Carrera Cup, with financial issues taking their toll. It?s an unfortunate circumstance to be put in, however by no means are we out for the count and meetings already underway with Blackwoods Australia have mapped out the positives for 2009 and beyond, so stay tuned.

The start of the New Zealand summer race season is only a couple of weeks away, and while the opening round in Taupo won?t feature the GT3s, I?ll still be getting valuable seat time in preparation for our opener at Pukekohe. A select number of the International Motorsport cars will be completing a two day test in Taupo early next week, including myself and my soon-to-be-announced co-driver for the Taupo A1GP.

More testing at Pukekohe will follow, and as these two circuits are chalk and cheese, it?ll be a great experiment for applying some of the tricks I?ve picked up in the past few months, both to the car and the driver.

I?ve also got my second crack at the Performance Car SuperLap in Taupo to look forward to. On November 1st I?ll once again be teaming up with Scott Kreyl in the red devil, EVO88U, to attempt a three-peat for the Mitsubishi Evo in New Zealand?s only track attack competition. The car has been upgraded significantly since my previous outing in May last year, and both EVO88U and I will feature on an exclusive television event preview in the coming weeks.

For now, it?s full steam ahead with the GT Radials Speedshow this weekend at Auckland?s ASB Showgrounds. It will be the first Speedshow for both myself and Blackwoods Paykels, however looking at the line up it will be a feast for car nuts and motorsport enthusiasts alike. The car will be on display all weekend along with myself. I?ve also got a Hyper Stimulator race to look forward to, pitted against NZV8 champ Johnny McIntyre, former WTCC champ Paul Radisich, fellow GT3 driver Daniel Gaunt and a number of others around Bathurst on the Saturday afternoon.

Better get a few practice laps in…

Jono