Send Jamieson Good Luck Messages

In a matter of days, Jody Jamieson will be headed down under to take part in the 2015 World Driving Championship as he looks to secure his third WDC title.

Jamieson, who won the event in 2001 in Finland and Sweden and then in 2011 in the U.S., won the right to represent Canada by virtue of his win in the National Driving Championship last August at Red Shores Charlottetown. The 2015 WDC takes place in New South Wales, Australia from February 21 through March 1.

"I'm heading down Wednesday; I guess you actually lose a day travelling downunder...so we leave Wednesday and we don't get in until Friday morning their time," Jamieson told Trot Radio's Norm Borg. "We have a couple of receptions on Friday afternoon and we start racing Saturday at Menangle, the big track in Sydney."

No stranger to racing in Europe, Jamieson will be making his downunder driving debut with his WDC starts. The differences in racing do not phase the dual WDC champion.

"Like I've always said right from the get-go when I represented Canada for the first time in Finland and Sweden in 2001, horse racing is horse racing no matter where you go," believes Jamieson. "We've seen the nuances in France, we've seen how they race in Sweden, it's still horse racing no matter how you look at it, and it's no different in Australia.

"The biggest difference would be the racebikes. The racebikes are a little longer and quite a bit more narrow, more the style of our jog carts but obviously they're built for speed."

Jamieson feels that the European drivers will be at a bigger disadvantage.

"The Europeans, obviously, race in quite wide bikes and sometimes they go quite a bit slower because they go longer distances but it seems to me that even if it's a longer distance in Australia that they're racing and going fast so I think definitely the Europeans will be at a disadvantage for at least the first little bit."

With U.S. representative Tim Tetrick already in Australia and driving, the question was put to Jamieson if he'd be getting in some starts prior to the competition.

"Probably not; I've obviously said that I'd be happy to drive whatever people wanted me to drive if someone wanted me particularly to drive, I'd be happy to do that."

Jamieson clearly feels very strongly about representing Canada and Canadian harness racing, both in his own country and abroad. He was part of the 2015 Milton Sports Celebrity Dinner, where he was presented with his 2015 WDC helmet by former Toronto Maple Leaf Darcy Tucker.

"I feel it's my responsibility to the people that care about me and care about harness racing in Canada and Ontario that I represent them to the best of my ability and that when I'm called upon to do that, they want the best drivers in the country and that's why I'm asked and that's why I've qualified. I'm happy to extend the Canadian brand of harness racing anywhere in the world."

Jamieson will be taking a bit of time off while in the southern hemisphere before competing in a race after the World Driving Championship.

"We're going to hang out in Melbourne for a week after the competition's over, my wife Stephanie and I, and hopefully get to see a little bit of the country. Obviously it's a huge country and I won't get to see much of it. They tell me Melbourne is a beautiful city and I'm excited to have downtime in that country."

Trot Radio - Episode 331 - Jody Jamieson
Audio Format: MP3 audio
Host: Norm Borg

The 10 drivers will compete in 20 Heats across seven race meetings at six tracks in New South Wales. Here is a schedule of race dates, tracks and number of races:

• Saturday, February 21 - Tabcorp Park Menangle - Two (2) Heats

• Sunday, February 22 - Newcastle - Three (3) Heats

• Monday, February 23 - Goulburn - Three (3) Heats

• Tuesday, February 24 - Wagga - Four (4) Heats

• Wednesday, February 25 - Bathurst - Four (4) Heats

• Thursday, February 26 - Penrith - Three (3) Heats

• Sunday, March 1 - Tabcorp Park Menangle - One (1) Heat (Tab.com Inter Dominion Grand Final day)

Trot Insider will be providing daily coverage of the World Driving Championship, including video, photos and reports.

Show your support to our driver before he heads out! Send good luck messages to Jody by posting a comment below.