New car, new moves

NARRE Warren V8 racer Geoff Emery splits his time between south-east Melbourne and the Gold Coast. Earlier this week, the 40-year-old caught up with reporter RUSSELL BENNETT at Greg Murphy Racing’s Dandenong factory to talk about his latest big move – behind the wheel of Aussie motorsport superstar Craig Lowndes’ Holden Commodore for the 2013 Dunlop Series.
Q: Where did you get your start in motor racing?
I used to just race motorbikes as teenager – a 14 or 15-year-old. I broke every bone in my body doing that but had great fun. I had a few years off and then bought a Commodore Cup car. We won the Australian Championship five times in a row in that. That’s when I stepped up to these things (Supercars), which we’ve been in ever since.
Q: Explain your current situation in the Dunlop Series …
I’m in the Dunlop Series now (the second tier to the V8 Supercars). I started off in the Walkinshaw Racing VZ Commodore and progressed to a Tasman VE for the past couple of years. I started in 2006, had a year off in 2007 and bought my current car in 2008.
It just progressed from there. I raced that car for two seasons and then hooked up with Greg Murphy Racing, which took over all the Tasman Motorsport cars (when the venture folded).
But our car is probably a bit long in the tooth now. It’s a VE model but the technology is probably a little old in it. That car was probably last developed in 2007-’08 and we’ve been racing against the latest spec cars for the past couple of years.
But we hovered around the top 10 in our old car. At the last meeting of this season we finished sixth for the weekend, which was not too bad. We were probably punching above our weight in an old car with old technology but it was just time to step up to the latest and greatest equipment.
Q: In terms of the team and where it stands funding-wise, where does it rank in regards to other teams?
These guys run three to four cars, depending on the weekend and they’re probably one of the largest teams. We’re not necessarily the most funded team, but we’re definitely the largest.
Q: Explain the process of getting Craig Lowndes’ 888 Commodore …
We’ve been doing some dealings with shock absorbers with Triple Eight Racing and then we just got on to the Supercars they had coming up at the end of the season. With the Car of The Future (COTF) program every team is off-loading their current cars. We’ve got three years with this car now before COTF comes to the Dunlop Series. Hopefully we get the sponsors to keep the ball rolling.
But we started these talks in April this year – talking about what might become available and how the car would be purchased.
They said they had this one and the Monster one available (Jamie Whincup’s 2011 championship-winning car) and we were the first ones to jump in and do a deal early.
Q: Did you go up to Queensland to have a chat with Triple Eight up there (at their home base)?
I live between the Gold Coast and Narre Warren – we’re always talking with them. We had a relationship with them and they said this car would come up at the end of the year.
The deal was done at parc fermé straight after the round at Sydney – Craig stepped out and I stepped in, literally.
A lot of people’s jaws dropped when they saw us wheeling the car away. He won the day before in this car (at the final round of the V8 Supercars season at Homebush) and finished second on the Sunday in it. We had to wait for the car to be finished at presentation – our arrangement was that from the moment the car was released from the scrutineering bay, it was ours. We’d already paid for it, so technically Craig raced our car for the weekend!
Q: Do you feel optimistic heading into next season with the car?
For the last couple of rounds this season we hovered around the top seven, which was pretty good for our old car. In Supercar terms, anything more than two or three years old is ancient and you’re way off it. I’m expecting that this car will at least give me three or four more grid spots. I’m expecting to end up on the podium with it – I’m not saying race wins, but this will certainly help us.
We’ve generally been between five and eight tenths off the pace in our car and I reckon this car is worth at least half a second.