John Bowe: Good Old Gold Coast
If you tried to conceive a format guaranteed to rattle a Championship – cause drivers/co drivers near heart failure and give a truckload of cash to a panel shop – then you’d suggest a street circuit on the Gold Coast and make it a team’s race!
Holy cow – what, some already thought of it … damn. I have to say that as much as I think the Gold Coast races are slightly superficial they certainly provided a nail biting edge of the seat spectacle!
I remember reading last week, some wise scribe suggested the Gold Coast could really bite – turn the Championship on it’s head and potentially have a co-driver determine the outcome of the Championship.
Hang on, I wrote that last week! I was pretty close wasn’t I?
What a thriller. It was all very possible – some of it did happen and time will tell in relation to the Championship winner.
There’s been kerb savaging controversy every year I raced there (as I predicted), that's a long time, I can tell you. The only way to go quickly is savage the kerbs, it’s guaranteed to almost kill the car, some did break and some were on the edge of breaking.
I’d like to pose a question. Isn't it time to change the layout and eliminate the stupid turn one and seaside chicanes? Just a thought!
Great victories to Craig/Luffie (Craig Lowndes and Warrren Luff) and Davey Reynolds who was helped immensely by an intelligent and gritty drive by Dean Canto. I suspect there will be plenty of wins for D Reynolds in the years to come. The Ford (FPR) guys are on a roll right now too. The win was a big shot in the arm for the category and that’s healthy.
My feelings go out to James Moffat and James Courtney, both had great drives, unrewarded though by suspension damage by those ridiculous kerbs. With every great outcome (result) on the Gold Coast there was plenty of tales of heartbreak!
They should face it, after nearly 20 years at the Gold Coast – the kerbs just don't work! So change the track please, so we can have a proper contest, not a test of who has the best welding to withstand the punishment.
It would be remiss of me not to mention, the Germans are coming! The Erebus of Holdsworth and Bairdo were there all day and they’ve been in the category for less than a year, awesome! That goes the same for Nissan, they are competitive so let’s keep the corporate chat out and let the cars/drivers do the on-track talking.
The Championship is on a knife edge. Breathtaking, it’s still wide open and Phillip Island will be a super challenge with the increased grip level and the outright speed. I still reckon it’s not done yet – this is racing at its very best by a crop of elite drivers in one of the most competitive categories in the world.
May the best man/team win; there are many worthy winners. While the trophy only has the drivers name inscribed – this is so much a team game – you’d have to take a full page ad to lists those who’ve played their part in a season win!
Good luck to all drivers and teams. May the Championship be won by the best driver and his team – with three drivers under 100 points and Will Davison at 120 (points in arrears) – it certainly will be game on at Phillip Island!
Cheers,
JB
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