It’s been a long, cold winter back home in Ireland so it sure is nice to be spending the last few weeks of the winter season on the opposite end of the globe and enjoying the last few weeks of Australia’s summer instead! I’ve been taking it fairly easy out here just swimming, cycling and running a little. Of course storms were never too far away. So long as I’m around you’re guaranteed rain! If ever there’s a major drought all you have to do is book me on the next flight out and as easy as that the drought will be no more.

I’m on a flight down from Brisbane to Melbourne then I’ll head on down to Phillip Island to meet up with the team. It’s so nice to be back working with ‘The Dream Team’ again. I worked with most of the mechanics back in my Red Bull Rookie days and those were three great years. Brains, Mark, Danny and Phil were all part of The Dream Team. I can’t believe I’m reminiscing already! Ah, to be young again. One major bonus of having Brains on my side of the garage is that he has a drawer in his toolbox filled with sweets, MAJOR bonus. I remember back in 2006 we all had the new (at the time) Sony PSPs so many an evening was filled going head to head in Toca Touring Cars. Good times.

Tomorrow I’ll get myself ready for the weekend ahead. I’ve been waiting so long for round one to come around and at last it’s here. It’s been three years since I last entered a season knowing I could win races and thankfully I’m back with a team that is capable of putting me on the top step again. My plan for the Phillip Island is to start the season with a top 5 finish, I’ll be happy with that as the other guys have been here testing. Of course if I can land a podium or have a shot at the win come the final lap then I’ll be hanging it out but the most important thing is to start the season with a decent haul of points. Nobody wants a big fat 0 stuck beside their name in the points table while the rest of the guys have beautiful double figures beside theirs.

Wish me luck and I hope you manage to stay awake to watch the race live in the wee hours!

Eugene