David Reynolds insists he’s more than just the funny guy in V8 Supercars and wants to be considered a serious challenger for the title.
The Ford Bottle-O driver is different to other drivers in the category in that he can see that there’s more to life than racing cars and competes with a smile on his face.
He admits that his jovial attitude has got him into hot water with people thinking this means he’s not as hungry as the likes of Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom or Shane Van Gisbergen.
“This always comes up in conversation every time I have meetings with team bosses,” Reynolds said.
“They say I’m not serious enough, but this is just me.
“I’m very competitive, I do more off track stuff to try to make myself better than any other driver and I explore the realms of what they call bio-hacking, which is to improve yourself and make yourself the best person, the fastest and strongest, so when it comes to racing you know that you’re the best product for that job.
“When I get to the track I joke around, have a good time and enjoy my life.
“People view that as I’m not taking this seriously, but I view them as negative and it’s unfair for them to judge me like that when I know that it’s so untrue.”
Reynolds is having his best season yet in V8 Supercars. After six rounds he sits in fourth place and has set his sights on chasing down leader, Winterbottom.
“I’m very much in the championship hunt,” he said.
“It’s weird for me to say that, because I’ve never said that half way through the year.
“I’m 25 points off second position and I’m 273 points from the lead, which is my team-mate, Mark Winterbottom.
“So it’s definitely achievable, we’re halfway through the season and there are another 2000 points on offer.
“I’ve come on strong the last two or three rounds, it’s been going very good actually.
“I’ve had three consecutive podiums, won one race, had one pole position.
“That’s amazing, considering at the start of the year I was basically out of a drive and really down in the dumps.
“But we got the new car, the updated FGX Falcon and it’s gone from strength to strength, it starts to make sense.
“All of the team gels really well together, all of the cars have formed a good unity and we all push each other to do better.”
At the beginning of the season, Reynolds was given an ‘improve or find yourself a drive somewhere else’ message from his team.
He’s done this and showed that in a fast car he’s as good as anyone else in the category But there are rumours that he could be on the move next year, possibly joining Brad Jones Racing.
However, it’s not something the 30-year-old wants to talk about.
“It’s only halfway through the season and there has been a lot of talk about my contract,” he said.
“This is the end of my four-year term with the Ford team and I’m a free agent after this one unless they decide to re-sign me, or I choose to re-sign too.
“There’s a lot to go on before you can really make any comment or formal announcement about it.
“It’s silly for me to talk about that stuff now. I’ve told everyone I’d love to stay where I am but they’ve got to find that sponsorship and there’s got to be a seat available.”
