I had a top weekend in Melbourne, helping celebrate Mish’s grandmother’s 80th birthday. It was a fun affair which everyone enjoyed.

Mish and I also got to enjoy Melbourne and went to some of our old haunts including Babble on Babylon for the world’s best chicken souvlaki! And also Clay Pots at St Kilda which has unbelievable chilli crab, which is my favourite. I had it in Darwin but it didn’t measure up.

I’m slowly getting pumped up for the race this weekend. It feels like an eternity has passed between Darwin and Queensland, so I am excited to be racing.

I think the weekend will provide some high drama, especially with the media build-up. I don’t really want to weigh into that too much, Jase and Craig have obviously said their piece, however I will say it’s not my favourite race meeting either.

I fly up to Ipswich on Thursday, and Brad, Simon and myself will make an appearance at a BOC store before I head off to walk the track with my engineers Phil and Andrew. We walk the track to check for any new bumps and look for any changes from the last time we were there.

In terms of what I would like to do at Queensland, the goal is to qualify in the top 20; and I know that sounds like an average goal, but due to being a team who are attempting to make improvements we need to take this step by step. If I qualify between 15 and 20 a few times then I can look to improve to 10-14 and so on. It’s an indication of where we are at in regards to both funding and also where the car is at.

In relation to the field I don’t think that we are doing too poorly, especially when I have been directly behind Steven Richards a couple of times on the grid and racing him for position. Given the money FPR have and Steven’s experience I would say that is not a good result for them, while mine is average.

If I can qualify in that area, then the goal is to capitalise on my race pace in race one and move into the points. The first race is always one where we think we have had the opportunity to improve and I think it’s an area where I can perform better.

Qualifying this year hasn’t lent itself to massive improvements for anyone and the top 10 is almost always sorted out with two HRT cars, two HSV cars, two Vodafone cars, one FPR car, one or two DJR cars and one Tasman car.

The only exception was WPR in Darwin, so the area we need to make up time is the race.

On to your comments: I have tried visualisation, however the process is somewhat different when you are driving a car, compared to golf, cricket or any sport which doesn’t involve machinery. I’m not saying they are easier – far from it. It’s just that it only accounts for 10-15% of the start, as does the physical aspect of controlling the car, while 70% involves the master cylinder, the fluid transfer to the clutch and the clutch stack; basically the mechanics of the car producing the same feeling and pattern every time.

While we’re talking about the car, Stone Brothers make the engines, and you can find out more about mine in my video section.

In terms of getting my wind training done, all I have to do is go out on the bike in Albury in winter and it’s done, but thanks for the tip. It’s a good idea. Go Cadel Evans in the Tour!

Speaking of the tour, Sunday night was atrocious for the Aussies, especially Michael Rogers. I had to feel for him. He would have been better off crashing over the barricade like the other guy so he could land on the grass.

Stuart O’Grady’s injuries are horrific, and I wish him the best in his recovery, while Cadel Evans is going from strength to strength and I hope his consistency wins out in the end, although he is going to have to keep up with Rasmussen over the mountains. Rasmussen is a freak, but he is funny to watch; his match-stick arms look funny compared to his huge legs!

Check back for regular MMS and SMS updates over the weekend.

Jonesy