Fabian Coulthard: Time to put a Kiwi back on top in the Tron

V8 Supercar Driver Fabian Coulthard. Photo / The Daily Post

Opinion

Like most Kiwis, I've had enough of the Aussies cleaning up at Hamilton.

It has to stop next weekend. Obviously I would like to be up there - but, to be honest, I don't care which Kiwi as long as one of us is near the top.

The fans have always been so patriotic and it is our turn to put on a good show.

We get some good support at the races across Australia but there is nothing like having thousands of home fans cheering you on.

Hamilton is a tricky place to race. I know it is not the favourite track of some drivers - but personally I like it. It is very technical as well as being quite bumpy and it is always hard on your brakes.

Like any street circuit, the presence of concrete walls means there is no room for error.

On a standard track, there are run-off areas so you can recover after a misjudgment and all you lose is time.

In Hamilton, a momentary lapse could mean slamming into a concrete wall at 250 km/h and a whole heap of twisted metal.

Like most races on the roads, it can be fairly narrow but across the 3.4 km and nine turns, there is plenty of room for passing opportunities. I think that is why people continue to be attracted to our sport.

As we saw in Adelaide, as we will no doubt see next week, it is possible to start towards the back and make progress through the field.

That kind of thing just doesn't happen in Formula One, where technology still seems to dominate too much.

I have had some reasonable results in Hamilton - fifth in 2008 and sixth in 2009 - but had a shocker last year when I was 27th.

I know some fans still yearn for the days of Pukekohe but I think that is because there was so much local success there.

Drivers, fans, officials - who wouldn't get stirred by the sight of Greg Murphy continually blasting past those Aussies?

As a circuit, it wasn't the most complex but it had some technical moments and was enjoyable and fun to drive.

It is one of the fastest circuits in the Southern Hemisphere and of course it was famous for its long straight.

I think the one kilometre stretch was the longest in the championship. People used to joke that you had enough time to read a book, such was the length as you sped down that straight.

But there was a slow hairpin bend at the end that you had to enter at 50km/h, so you had to remain fully focused.

The Hamilton 400 is becoming one of the great events of the championship and the new rock and race format adds another dimension.

Obviously I will be too busy to catch ZZ Top on Saturday night, but depending how the weekend goes and when our team briefing finishes, I might be able to sneak out and catch a bit of Good Charlotte on the Sunday - hopefully with something to celebrate.

You never know though, one of our recent team meetings after Melbourne took over three hours. This team really wants to perform and improve and they take a very meticulous approach.

Things can get highly critical but generally it is not about pinpointing blame but more about looking for areas of improvement.