I have stayed in Melbourne for a few days after the Grand Prix, rather than rushing off to Malaysia where there is little to look forward to away from the race track. We tend to stay outside Kuala Lumpur at a self-contained golf resort kind of place. It is easy, it works and there is no hassle with traffic jams and so on. The night life around there consists of insects flying around on the golf course and that is all we need. Melbourne is such a fun event that it is nice to follow up with something a little quieter. Today has been all about catching up with sleep and some old friends. I had lunch today with Tasmania’s finest John Bowe, who I have known for more years than either of us care to remember. We concluded that we probably met for the first time in 1985 or 1986 when he was in the process of finishing off his single-seater career and moving into touring cars – as you do in Australia – and I was the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed new boy who was coming to see what tin-top racing in Australia was all about.
John was racing Formula 5000s in the late 1970s and went on to win the Australian Drivers’ Championship in 1984 and 1985 when the cars were called Formula Pacifics. He would go on to win the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1995 and is a twice Bathurst 1000 winner (1989 and 1994). He was always quick and always enthusiastic and friendly. When he retired finally from the V8 Supercar Series in 2007 he just managed to beat the late Peter Brock’s record of 212 championship starts. He is still racing while also running a highly successful business which he established in 1997 to teach people how to drive more safely on the roads. This operates courses on circuits all over Australia.
It is very often the down-time that is the best time in racing. I like nothing better than to be at a race track either early in the morning or late at night, when the beautiful people have gone home and one is left with folk who really want to be there and who love what they are doing. The lunch with JB drifted on through the afternoon with stories flying around the table of the feats from the old days, of derring-do and inevitably a few stories from the inside of F1. In the end we finished at about four and I decided that I would walk back to the city, navigating by the tower blocks in the downtown area and clutching a Tasmanian hardwood cutting board which one of his pals gave me as a gift. I am looking forward to getting home and chopping stuff on it!
I got back to the place I am staying just in time to turn around to go out for dinner with another old racing friend of many years standing. It was a lovely day – and a great way to relax before heading up for another busy weekend in Malaysia.
With the F1 circus in transit, or settling in up in KL there was little news, beyond the usual he-said, she-said stuff either about the weekend in Albert Park or looking ahead to the race on Sunday. It would be nice to be able to have news every day, but just occasionally nothing really happens.
Fabulous.
Fascinating stuff on the Aussie scene in the latest GP+ Joe – amazed that F1 drivers were showing up in the Tasman series (or something like it) as late as the early-80s.
Thanks for an entertaining few hours at the Yacht Club last night Joe. The inside line is a valuable gift to any enthusiast, and aids in us feeling more the participant and less the spectator. Hope the rest of the season manages to deliver in a Melbournesque kind of way for you.
Joe,
Glad that you had time for a quiet day in Melbourne after the past hectic week.
A good evening last night. The people who didn’t come missed an enjoyable evening .
Keep up the good work, and I will e-mail you that information that we discussed last night.
Good post Joe – it is nice to see that the F1 insiders like a day off too – it reminds us that while F1 is brilliant, there is a world outside of the paddock gossip
Joe you seem to have a nice life – long may it continue!
That’s nice that you’re friends with JB! He along with Dick Johnson really got me in to racing as my Dad took me to see them and the touring car circus at Lakeside (great old circuit which the V8 Supercars no longer visit).
A few years back when I was in Tasmania we stayed in a place owned by one of JB’s mates. Obviously a popular guy in Tassie!
This is a lovely post. There is noting really informative if you are not versed in Australian racing, but read over a morning cup of coffee, it is a good start to the day.
I regret being too young for the days of the Tasman Series. Sounded good.
Did you meet up with Mr Fogarty Joe? send him my best mate.
…And you wonder why you have so many admiring fans. We should all be so lucky as to be doing something we love and STILL manage to relax and enjoy the many places around the world you get to visit.
On that note, I’d like to apply to be your personal photographer. I won’t be taking any groundbreaking photos, I’ll just be standing over there taking pictures of everywhere you go. So far, it’s about the only thing missing from your blog ;D
Joe, that was a post that I read whilst listening to a track called “Stolen Moments” by John Hiatt. Highly appropriate, what a lovely piece of writing. I’m glad John Bowe is doing well – those V8 Supercar boys are the real deal, genuine tough guys. I remember myriad Europeans going over to Bathurst for their ritual humiliation at the hands of the Aussie specialists in the ’90s – as far as I recall, John Cleland was the only driver from the northern hemisphere to make an impression at that time. Peter Brock should really still be here, it was horrible when he died.
The Grand Prix always felt, to the eyes of a sofa supporter, better in Adelaide, where it was a down-to-earth, genuine street circuit, kind of WYSIWYG. Albert Park has always felt a little too manicured and nouveau-riche to my taste, although doubtless it’s a lovely venue.
Anyway, look what you’ve gone and done… made a 28 year-old misty-eyed… how do you do it?
Did JB explain why he parked his ascari in a blind spot on the back straight during the GT race? Predictably it got clobbered. Thankfully no one was hurt. Stewards partially to blame also IMO, should have bought out the SC.
Joe, i was just wondering what you think about all this S*** about how Massa should have given way to Alonso. Martin Brundle drove me mad when he made this claim but it seems that everyone is saying it now.
I can’t understand why, Alonso is his championship rival and there is no way of telling he could have passed Kubica, who kept the fast Hamilton and Massa behind.
Why do people come down hard on him, he bagged a podium in a difficult weekend and closed the gap to Alonso.
Just need an experts view and opinon…
Great – thanks for that.
Hey Joe, glad you enjoyed your sojourn to Melbourne. Monday night’s Evening with Joe was a hoot. I’m already looking forward to the 2011 edition. To all those who get the opportunity to attend one, grab it with both hands! Cheers Murray
Speaking of slow news days, is it true that Mosley might be given the post of F1 commissioner? If so, what are they thinking?
Hi Joe,
You might not think F1 is broken, but some very clear technical analysis of Melbourne on James Allen’s blog indicates that it is:
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/
The kind of racing seen in Bahrain will be the norm, with only the wet races offering any potential mix up.
Seymour,
I prefer to look at the sport and see that the glass is half full rather than seeing the glass half-empty. Racing is rarely predictable. Even in Bahrain the result was not predictable. It is often easier to be negative rather than positive.
Leigh,
I think it’s an April Fool’s joke. At least, I *hope* it’s an April Fool’s joke!
@ Myself
I really should know an April Fool’s joke when I see one……