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Driver Feature: James Moffat - Learning at the Front
by Stefan Bartholomaeus
March 2008
There is little doubt that season 2008 will be one of learning for James Moffat. Having impressed in Formula Ford last year, the son of Australian motor racing legend Allan Moffat has moved up into the Carrera Cup Championship, continuing his relationship with the Sonic Motor Racing team. After having achieved his goal of being in the top five, and top rookie, in the opening round in Adelaide, it seems Moffat will be doing most of his learning at the front.
With current category pace setters, such as Dean Fiore, Bryce Washington, and David Russell, having already spent multiple seasons learning ‘the Porsche way’ in order to get where they are, Moffat is under no illusions as to the difficulty of the task.
The 23 year old Melbournian’s results on the streets of Adelaide were all the more impressive for the daunting nature of the circuit itself. The fact that there can be no pre-season testing at a street circuit, and that the there is no margin for error on the concrete lined streets, makes it hard enough. But with the German supercars having been designed for fast, flowing European tracks, the lumps and bumps of the Adelaide layout make the other factors pale into insignificance.
“You’re basically forced to use pretty much most of the kerb,” says Moffat, “because everyone does. It feels harsh, because the cars are very stiffly sprung, and that is one thing I have noticed stepping into this here. I’m sure the track’s probably got a bit worse (bumpier) since last year, but with these cars, it’s incredibly bumpy. It’s particularly bad into turn four, but it’s quite savage over the kerb into the first chicane. You are just forced to hit it, it’s not nice, it doesn’t feel nice, but that’s what you have to do to be up the front with the leading guys. Until they do something where you are forced to go around the kerb, then everybody is going to continue to do it.”
It is perhaps fortunate then that Moffat had at least had some Adelaide experience before hand, thanks to his Formula Ford campaign last season. In an impressive year Moffat was on the podium in Adelaide, on his way to third in the championship and a Rookie of the Year title. Clearly though, Moffat wanted more. “Heading into this round last year,” he recalls, “I really had no expectations, and we came away from the weekend pretty well. I suppose there was a stage through the year where I let myself down. Obviously the intention was to try to win the Championship. It was nice to get Rookie of the Year, but you know, I wasn’t really interested in that.”
As ever, sponsors are few, and budget is tight: “It was a round by round proposition [last year], and it is probably looking like it will be a similar case again this year,” he says. “I’ve probably got enough funding together at the moment to get through to probably Wakefield [Park], but after that it will start getting pretty tough. [I’m] not complaining or whinging, or anything like that, that’s how it is, we’ve just got to press on and try and make something happen. [We’re] committed to starting the season; it’s no good not even getting out there. I think [that], at least if you’re out there, you’ve got a bit of a fighting chance of maybe attracting someone who might want to get involved”.
Although Moffat couldn’t find the budget to race in 2006, he had spent the previous year campaigning a Falcon in the Ute series, under the banner of Dick Johnson Racing. Unfortunately, it was an association that was to last only one year, as Moffat explains:
“All intentions were to continue it further into the future from 05, but obviously for different reasons, they didn’t have a place for me in the team at that time. It was sort of around the period where they had the problems with the Westpoint sponsorship. I hold no grudges or anything like that. It would have been nice to continue the association, but that’s how life goes, we all move on.”
One significant positive that came out of the association with DJR was the fact that young Moffat got the chance to taste V8Supercar power for the first time, and learn from the experience of Dick Johnson, Steven Johnson, and [then DJR driver] Glenn Seton.
“I had a couple of runs in one of their AUs,” he says, “the one Will Davison actually raced at Queensland Raceway in the Development Series. Obviously it was a good opportunity for me back then to learn to appreciate what it takes to drive all sorts of cars.”
Recently, there has been much debate regarding the benefits for a young aspiring V8 Supercar driver to go through the utes series, rather than say, Formula Ford. As one of the few drivers who have competed in both classes, it is a topic that James Moffat is well entitled to have an opinion on.
“You know,” he says thoughtfully, “I probably learnt more in half a year [in Formula Ford] then I did in utes. Utes in hindsight was probably not the best of moves, but I was in a position with a sponsor where they wanted to sponsor the ute and nothing else. It was really drive that or drive nothing, so, it was really not my choice. You never say never, but I probably wouldn’t want to be back in one, put it that way. I was happy with what I definitely got out of Formula Ford, and what I learnt from Sonic, and obviously continuing to learn from them. That was one of the major attractions of doing Cup Car this year, [being] able to stay with them and build on the relationship that we’ve got.”
This year, Moffat will be driving the very Porsche that David Reynolds drove to win the 2007 title.
“I’ve got a pretty good rocket behind me,” he says with a smile. Reynolds didn’t scratch it last year, and he sort of told me I’m under strict instructions to keep it the same, and if I do, that’ll help the budget out a bit as well.”
Having already tested a V8Supercar, would it be safe to say that that category is the aim?
“In Australia, it certainly is the aim”, he replies firmly. “I would love to go overseas if the opportunity was there, maybe do some sports car type racing, some long distance endurance racing.... we’ll just see how things go. If I can get an enduro drive this year then that would be great, but it’s probably going to be a bit of a tall order, but you never know.”
- Stefan Bartholomaeus
© 321 IGNITION Pty Ltd 2008
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