Geoff Emery roared his way to a win and two seconds at Phillip Island on the weekend to lead the Commodore Cup standings by nine points from fellow Victorian Danny Richert.By Marc McGowan
NARRE Warren racecar driver Geoff Emery has made a successful return to his old stamping ground to lead the Commodore Cup standings by nine points after two rounds.
Emery, 36, won two of the three races in the opening round at New South Wales’ Oran Park on 22 April before recording a victory and two second placings at Phillip Island last weekend.
He is a four-time Commodore Cup champion after dominating the series between 2002 and 2005 and stepped up to the V8 Supercar Development Series last year.
Without a major sponsor, Emery endured a tough initiation to the higher level, but is aiming to return in the future.
“We did fairly average and had a lot of bad luck,” he said.
“We need the right equipment and the right sponsor to be competitive.
“Money is the biggest hurdle. The first year is more of a learning curve and the next season we’ll be expecting to have results.”
Emery’s racing dream leaves little time for anything else as his distribution company takes up to 60 hours a week of his time, on top of the roughly 30 hours he puts into his car.
“There is never any downtime. I don’t need a television in my house!” he laughed.
“We have a full workshop and I build them, panel beat them and do all the preparation on the car.
“It’s the only way I can afford to do it.”
The dedication comes from a strong love of the sport and the positive experiences Emery has had in the racing world.
“I enjoy the tough competition and just love racing across the board – and going fast,” he said.
However, Emery is well aware of the shortcomings of his situation and knows it will have to change if he is to be successful in a higher level of competition.
“Talent can only take you so far,” he said.
“Obviously, you need plenty of practice in the category you are in and you need to hook in with the right team.
“You can’t run it out of your backyard – you have to be in a professional team.
“I imagine the peak age would be 30, so my age puts me back a little bit as well with getting a corporate sponsor.”
For now, Emery’s focus remains on racking up title number five in the Commodore Cup series and fighting off his hungry rivals.
“There is so much hard work that goes into winning a title and at the end of it is a huge reward,” he said.
“They’re all chasing us at the moment.
“The experience I had in the development series has helped me and there are a lot of techniques I have brought back.”
