After a long racing season ended at Laguna Seca, I went home for a long - and well-earned - break. I had been away for four weeks and the mail or bills waiting for me at home were not something I wanted to deal with, but you have to do what you have to do. However, I had only been home only a week when, one morning, I did what most people do, turned the mobile phone on - and got a message....
"Hi David, this maybe a shot out of the blue, but do you fancy coming down and do the last two races?" I recognised the voice of Ford Performance Racing team manager Tim Edwards immediately and, somewhat confused but excited, I rang back...
After a few days, the deal was done and I was heading back out to Aussie V8 land.
I then had to tell my kids that daddy was going away again, just days after I had told them that 'no, that was the last trip, season finished'! The look on their faces told me their feeling inside, so it wasn't easy leaving again. And the wife wasn't that happy either!
The first race was in Tasmania, at a place called Symmons Plains. I had never raced their before, but I did do a few laps in the Targa Tasmania back in 1993. We flew down to Tassie early to do some promotions, and the first stop was at a kids' school out in the country. This was a blast, as seeing these kids faces when the team's truck pulled in was amazing. We got the CAT car that Jason Bright drives out of the truck, and the kids were all excited to have a V8 Supercar in their playground. I think some of the teachers were pretty stoked about it too!
The next stop was Hobart for a Ford breakfast with dealers, sponsors and guests. This was done at the cricket ground and David Boon was the MC. It was great to see 'Boony', as I used to love watching him play for Australia.
