It has been his mission for a decade and after his stint at Phillip Island this month, Douglas Barry has been crowned Australia's 2019 SuperSprint champion.
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While the Mudgee native had been training for 12 months in the lead up to the championship, it was his skill and experience that saw Barry lap the fastest time ahead of 20 other well rehearsed drivers.
"I had never raced at Phillip Island before, ever, so it was a steep learning curve to go there and learn it," Douglas said.
"I have been chasing an Australia title for 10 years and the best I have ever come was second, I had never won one before, but I have finally cracked it and done it."
All drivers were offered a dozen ten minute laps to clock their fastest time possible, but for Barry, he only got the chance to take eight due to a miscalculation.
The Bathurst Club member nervously waited to see if anyone, particularly his rival Dean Tighe from Queensland, had broken his time, of which was slightly under the previous record [1.24.262], with two laps to go.
However, Barry, paired with his Lola T8750, were unbeatable and at that moment, ten years of attempts had come to an end all in 1.24.114 seconds.
There was a lot of tension in the last hour because I had actually miscalculated how much fuel to take to the event so I had no more race fuel with two runs left.
"I had to sit and wait to see if anyone could knock me off," he said.
"Me and Dean [Tighe] were swapping fastest times all Saturday and by the end of the first day, I was just in front of him, and then on Sunday I led the whole way.
It was a nail bitter because I had no fuel left while he was running around out there trying to beat my time. As it turned out, he couldn't do it and I came out on top.
"Being the SuperSprint Championship, the actual race is only 10 minutes and it goes on the fastest lap time that you can pull, not on who crossed the line first.
"We [Dean and Douglas] were eight seconds in front of the person in third place [Richard Perini], that's how frantic it was at the front to try and win, we both were determined to beat each other.
"I pulled my fastest in the seventh session on the Sunday, that was the winning time. It took me a little while to get the maximum out of it.
I only took a bit over a tenth of a second off but to actually win it and go under the record on my first ever time on the Island was a big achievement.
When asked if he would return to defend his title, the humble champion gave a hopeful reply.
"I was asked the same question before if I would be back to defend my title and I said a hesitant 'I hope so', so we'll see how that one goes," Barry said.
Jay-Anna Sleeman
Reporter for the Western Advocate. First began as a sports journalist with ACM in 2018 before moving on to cover news and court.
Reporter for the Western Advocate. First began as a sports journalist with ACM in 2018 before moving on to cover news and court.
