Driver Chat: David Wall - Doing it Jim's way

by Stefan Bartholomaeus



February 2008

Are you excited to be working with the Jim Richards team this year?

Obviously, yeah, to be racing with Jim, and also Karl [Batson], who is a very big part of the team, to be able to come to Carrera Cup and then feel like you’re going racing with your family is fantastic, and they’ve made me feel very welcome, so I’m looking forward to it.

Do you know if Jimmy is planning on coming to all the rounds?

Yeah, Jim is competing in the Biante Series, so he’s actually quite busy himself, but he’ll be coming to every round, and he’ll be along with us for the ride as well.

Do you think you can challenge Craig Baird this year?

Yeah, that’s why we’re here. He is obviously going to be the man to beat this year, as are a lot of others in the field. There is a lot of new guys coming in, Barton Mawer, your James Moffats, and Washington, Fiore and Russell, who are all very good drivers, and all very capable of winning races. So Bairdo is going to be the man to beat, but there are also going to be a lot of others there to mix it up against him.

So do you think there is anything in particular that you need to step up to get to his level?

Really, it comes down to qualifying. Last year my qualifying efforts weren’t too fantastic, so if we can improve on that this year, then we should be somewhere in the mix for the race, and as long as you’re on that front group, so to speak, then you’re in the race and very capable of winning it.

Starting is very, very important in this category. How well do you think you’re getting the car off the line?

Last year I didn’t have an issue, I actually did the fastest start I’ve ever done last year, so as long as we can carry that part of it over from last year, we should be ok.

Are you running the RSR in GT this year?

My father and our crew is actually running the car this weekend for another fella called Andrew Taplin. He’ll do maybe this meeting (Adelaide) and another meeting in it, and see how he feels.

So you are trying to sell that car then?

The car was for sale for a little while, but not at the moment it’s not.

Do you think running the RSR as well as the Cup Car was hindering your Cup Car program?

Last year here for sure, it was a definite disadvantage, mainly because the braking is so different in the car, the shocks, the suspension, the aero, the tyre size, everything is very different between the two cars, so to be able to jump in from one session to the other session, and be capable to take it up to the likes of Baird and Alex (Davison) last year, it was very difficult. We qualified fifth here last year, and I strongly believe that if we weren’t running the RSR we would have been further up than that.

Which one did you personally enjoy driving more?

I really enjoyed the RSR, mainly because it’s a lot more hands on for myself. I really like working on the cars and adjusting suspension, and we are able to do that with those cars whereas these cars (Cup Cars) you’re not, so, I would have to say that the RSR was the more enjoyable car to drive, but the racing is better in the Carrera Cup.

You did the Bathurst 12hr this year in the Notaras Evo. You were very quick up there, did you enjoy it?

Yeah, I did enjoy it. As you say, we were quick, we were on pole, and we set the fastest lap about fifteen times in the race. We had a bit of a failure with some brakes up there, through choice of pads, but that’s just one of those things. Next year we’ll live and learn. That was our first year there for Allan East Motorsport, who actually owns and runs the team, and also the car. Next year he is talking about doing it again, so we’ll go back and do the same thing up until Saturday morning, and [hopefully] take it home for once.

Do you see yourself doing Carrera Cup again next year, or does it just depend on how the year turns out?

It really depends, it’s really too early to look at that. For now I’m just concentrating on doing the best job I can do here at the moment, and see what that brings for next year.

So there’s no set goal of getting into V8 Supercars, or is that where you want to be?

That’s obviously the goal, that is the goal for everyone along here, but just got to see how it all progresses and go from there.




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