I’ve done more laps at Winton than anywhere else, I would reckon. It’s essentially been my home circuit for a long time, so I’ve done a lot of laps in Formula Ford, Dunlop Series, and now in the Prodrive Ford FG X.

The thing is, though, that the re-surfacing has changed it a lot. It’s a completely different circuit now, so there’s not much to take from all those years of driving around there. It’s almost like starting from scratch.

Basically, everything has changed. There are less bumps now, and a lot more grip. We’re talking about cars being three to four seconds quicker a lap – which is huge – so your whole approach has to change. It changes the way you drive the car, because there is more grip in every part of the track.

It will certainly make this weekend interesting. Hopefully it will add to the racing, and hopefully we’ll actually be able to pass there a little bit more. That was always a bit of an issue at Winton.

Down With Deg

I don’t think there will be any tyre degradation this weekend, which is a big shift from last time out at Barbagallo!

There will still be a gain with a green tyre, but they just won’t drop off all that much. It will be similar to Darwin last year; the track had been re-surfaced and we didn’t see much tyre deg at all. Guys were going quicker in the last stint!

There has been some chat about our tyre life so far this season, but I don’t think it’s as big an issue as has been made out. Mark Winterbottom and Chris Pither both had great tyre life in Perth. We’ve been through the data and we’ve picked up on a few things that contributed to the issues that Chaz Mostert and I had.

In general terms, I don’t think that tyre life is going to be a problem for us at other rounds. And it definitely won’t be an issue this weekend.

Even though tyre deg won’t be a factor, there will still be plenty of work to do in terms of set-up at Winton. As the weekend goes on we’re going to see the track get quicker and quicker as it rubbers up.

We’ll be constantly changing the car across the weekend, because there will be more and more grip. And timing in qualifying will be very important. It will still be tough to pass there, so grid position will be important.

Nothing boring about winning

It’s good we have the new surface, not just for the racing but because it’s a breath of fresh air. After so many laps around there it does tend to get a little bit boring.

Of course, it’s never boring to have a good car and be at the front. You can enjoy any track if you’re up the front.

It’s already more enjoyable to drive around Winton now there’s more grip, because grip is good fun. Hopefully we can make it even more fun and get some great results.