Since retiring from the full time circus of life as a professional V8 Supercar driver I have had much more time to appreciate and study the car world in general. My wife, who knows everything, says I used to live in a bubble. She may well be right!

Let’s take a look at the motorsport world first, there are a huge number of racers out there that do it for the love, not to win fame, or read about themselves in magazines.

I now compete in the Biante Touring Car Master Series, and I have found that there are a lot of enthusiasts who race their valuable cars simply because they love to do it. The Biante Touring Car Masters is in its third year now and has been wildly successful. The race fans that go to the V8 supercar rounds inevitably say they enjoy the old cars more than the new ones. They tend to slide about more and are generally more spectacular, as you would expect from a 40 year old car.

The category is open to Touring Cars from the 65 to 73 era with sensible modifications allowed to help reliability and performance. The fields this year so far have been the biggest yet, thirty cars contested the Winton Round in May, and they ranged from a Datsun 1600 with a 2 litre four valve engine, to a giant boss 351Mustang fastback. New cars to appear were a very rare Alfa Romeo GTAM four valve, a stunning Porsche 911, and several HQ 350 Monaro’s. My big Chev Camaro is still competitive but I am still very hopeful of building a good old Aussie muscle car when I find a good donor car.

As a series sponsor of the Biante Touring Car Masters, Rare Spares have been very active at the race meetings, sponsoring Driver autograph sessions, and tours of the cars. This has proven immensely popular. It never ceases to amaze me how much people love those old cars. The Rare Spares brand is the most well known and respected in the old car world and it is a credit to Rare Spares. The next round for the Biante Touring Car Masters is held in conjunction with the V8 Supercars Skycity Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, 19th - 21st June. So keep an eye out for me if you are up this way, and make a note in your diaries to attend the Rare Spares Autograph Sessions that will be held throughout the weekend. I will also be dropping in to see my good friends at Rare Spares Darwin whilst I am in town (Friday 19/6/09).

I recently accepted an invitation to speak at the Historic Touring Car Association General Meeting, what a fantastic bunch of blokes. All true enthusiasts who own and race such diverse cars; ranging from Mini Coopers to EH Holden’s, and Cortina GTs. Their cars are their life, and they tinker with them constantly, utilising parts from Rare Spares extensive range.

So luckily for me, there is lots of interesting things to do, and racing after the V8s, and I get to meet even more interesting people.

I hope to see you all soon in my travels,

cheers JB.