I had a fairly relaxed long weekend after the trials and tribulations of laying turf in my backyard, front yard and nature strip on Thursday. That was harder than I expected and saw me covered from head to toe in dirt.

It wasn’t a good look!

From there I went to Canberra to do some driver training on Monday and Tuesday and then I came back for our team debrief.

We had it a bit later than usual due to some of the boys staying on in New Zealand for a little bit and one of Cam’s guys,  Matt certainly looked a little worse for wear. He had a huge stack on his mountain bike near Rotorua and was sitting at the table with a broken wrist, a couple of busted ribs and a concussion. He actually spent a night in hospital in NZ.

Seeing these things are supposed to come in threes I’m being extra careful when I am on my bike at the moment.

I quite enjoyed watching the Spanish Grand Prix on my new 32-inch plasma TV which I bought from WOW. Unfortunately I set it up in the bedroom and watching TV in a warm bed means I fall asleep, but not before Heikki Kovalainen had his huge crash.

I noticed he had the sense of mind to take his hands off the wheel and cross his chest in an attempt to brace for the impact. It’s a smart move and something F1 drivers must be taught to do.

Kovalainen was going fast and for him to avoid serious injury shows how far safety in motorsport has come.

I thought Kimi Raikkonen deserved his win. It was a consummate performance from the Finn. Pole position, fastest lap, race win.

It’s interesting to see that sort of dominance from Ferrari and it might mean they are a long way ahead. It also begs the question: are McLaren missing Alonso?

They now have two young drivers who may not give the sort of feedback Alonso did and if their car doesn’t improve in a hurry you have to wonder what they have lost there.

History tells us when Michael Schumacher was at a team he was able to help the engineers improve the car significantly. Maybe Alonso has the same ability; he has certainly helped Renault improve their car slightly.

In Bahrain he was flat out maintaining 10th spot and, while he was fuelled light in Spanish qualifying, he was fighting for 7th and 8th in the race. Team mate Nelson Piquet’s car was also faster, so I think it will be interesting to see how the two teams develop over the course of the season.

On the V8 Supercar front I have enjoyed reading about what various drivers allegedly earn and am disappointed I didn’t make the list.

I can tell you I am not earning near the alleged top dollar. I wouldn’t be shocked if Craig Lowndes was earning that much money, but it’s hard to get a gauge on it and it’s probably not accurate.

There are two aspects to what a driver can earn. First there is his driver’s fee or wage, which is what he earns from driving, and then there is what I like to call bonuses, which is what we earn from endorsements, appearances and sponsorships.

It’s certainly interesting and I would like to know what readers think of the report from the Sunday Telegraph.

Jonesy