KEY POINTS:
With a three-month break between the fifth and sixth rounds of Australia's Yokohama V8 Ute racing series this year, you could be forgiven for thinking that the only New Zealand-based driver, Auckland's Colin Corkery, has had some time on his hands.
Not so, says the fast-rising 23-year-old from the North Shore, who has been to Australia four times since the fifth round at Ipswich in July.
This week he's supporting his Wollongong Performance Racing (WPR) team leader Damien White at Bathurst. Corkery was off to Sydney three weeks after the Queensland round of the Yokohama V8 Ute series to join the WPR team at the fifth round of the Fujitsu V8 Development series at Oran Park (White lies fifth). Corkery returned a fortnight later to help at a ride day for sponsor IMB.
He was back in Auckland for a week before heading to Melbourne to support White in the Sandown 500km endurance (White shared a Team BOC Ford Falcon V8 with Christian Murchison), then on to the Gold Coast where he and White hosted a ride day.
Corkery and his Team IMB Ford Falcon XR8 ute play a key role in sponsor ride days because - unlike the V8s - the utes must have a passenger seat when racing. So on ride days the seat and belts are already in place. "On race weekends, we are busy going about the business of trying to win and it's difficult to get five minutes with one person, let alone 30 or 40," he says.
"But, at the ride days, the pressure is off and though we don't get much of a chance to talk while we're in the car, I make a point of making myself available before and after the sessions so I can meet and get to know as many of the guests as possible.
"They like it because they get to know what Damien and I look like, if you like, without our helmets and everything on, and I must admit I like it because at the end of the day it's just like any business these days - it's a 'people' business, and if you can get along with the people you work and deal with it's good for everyone."
Corkery heads to the Gold Coast meeting on October 20 in ninth place after tying for third overall in Queensland in July and finishing fifth in the fourth round.
Former rugby league star Jack Elsegood is the favourite to win the Yokohama V8 Ute title after qualifying fifth and carding a 4-5-3 at Queensland. He tops the overall points standings with 452 points, 24 more than former points leader Grant Johnson and 37 more than third-placed Queensland winner Gary Baxter.
To find out more about Colin and his motor racing career, visit www.colincorkery.co.nz
Yokohama V8 ute racing series
Points after round 5 of 8
1 Jack Elsegood 452
2 Grant Johnson 428
3 Gary Baxter 415
4 Kim Jane 360
5 Andrew Fisher 322
6 Stephen Robinson 320
7 Matt Kingsley 310
8 Darren Palmer 308
9 Colin Corkery 293
10 George Miedecke 279
Calendar
Round 1: March 1-4 Clipsal 500, Adelaide SA
Prom: March 15-18 Aust F1GP, Melbourne VIC
Round 2: March 30-April 1 Fujitsu Series, Wakefield Park NSW
Round 3: June 9-11 V8 Supercars, Eastern Creek NSW
Round 4: June 22-24 V8 Supercars, Darwin NT
Round 5: July 19-22 V8 Supercars, International Raceway QLD
Round 6: Oct 18-21 Lexmark Indy, Gold Coast QLD
Round 7: Nov 16-18 V8 Supercars, Launceston TAS
Round 8: Nov 29-Dec 2 V8 Supercars, Phillip Island VIC
