There is a freshness at DJR, that much is obvious. The change in sponsor and livery has re-invigorated the team. There is also the Glenn Seton factor.

When it was announced that Seton would join his old sparring partner Dick Johnson, it raised a few eyebrows. Some wondered if the two Ford icons could get along, given their history.

Both have a laugh when the legendary ‘speedhump’ story is raised. It was good natured rivalry at its best, with none taking it too seriously. Looking at the two now you’d swear they’d been life-long friends, swapping stories and working together like the two old professionals that they are.

Seton’s arrival has lifted the team. He’s very easy to get along with and his technical feedback has helped the team go places. Steve Johnson has also lifted. It’s apparent that he has matured. He has more experience, he’s become a father and has Seton to bounce ideas off and work with. He is taken more seriously now and is revelling in this. Yes, it’s all very positive down in Stapylton.

Having the right people and stability are critical when it comes to team sport. At the beginning of the 2004 season new personnel were brought in to improve the team technically. With new people comes the obligatory settling-in period. A tough start to the year became easier with a Sandown podium and a string of top 10 placings leading through to the end of the season. DJR was starting to go places. On the back of this success there were big expectations going into 2005 from a team that had lost none of its key people.

Before we get to DJR’s future, it is important to understand the journey taken to get to where it is now.

Midway through 2003 the team went through a revolution. Frustrated by the lack of results and desperate to get back to the winners’ circle, Johnson hired a new General Manager, Steve Chalker, and together they plotted the comeback of one of the sport’s most famous teams.

"Steve and I sat down and analysed where the business was and where we wanted it to go because at that time the direction we were heading was the wrong one," says Johnson.

"A new plan was devised which we knew wasn’t going to take five minutes to implement. It was actually going to take a bit of time to put together.

"That’s when you saw the changes to the car and the colour scheme, new technical staff and so forth."

So what initially went wrong? Why has DJR had such a lean period? The answer is fairly straight forward. The sport has grown immensely in the last several years and, after being the pacesetter for so long, other teams caught up by adapting to change better, and faster.

"The biggest mistake we made in early 2000/2001 was that we thought we were going half all-right, which we were at the time, and then all of a sudden the business took an enormous jump forward and we didn’t recognise the magnitude of this change," says Johnson.

"Things changed awfully quickly and we got left behind. At this point we had to sit down, dismantle everything and reconstruct it for the future. This meant bringing in other people with more expertise and so forth."

It’s now 2005 and the hard business decisions and the changes made are starting to pay dividends. The team is no world-beater yet, but as Johnson says things are going better. Despite the improvement, Johnson and Chalker are not resting on their laurels – they can’t afford to. The team is still a long way from where both want it to be, which is up the front, leading races and winning championships.

"I think the obvious improvements that we’ve seen this year have come from the changes that we made in 2003, when things weren’t going so well," says Johnson. "I think the people we’ve got are starting to gel more, and this makes a difference.

"We’re also starting to get a much better handle on the car. There’s a long way to go but I think we are getting there.

"For sure there are still a lot of things that we need to address and we are mindful of these, but this take time, which is the main issue."

Given the improvement, the changes and the focus on the future, is the team far off from bringing success to its legion of faithful fans? No, according to Johnson. The team has high expectations this year and for the future.

"Well, I don’t think that we are that far away to be quite honest," says Johnson. "It’s about getting the consistency and understanding the car better so that when you make a change you know what the end result is.

"Every track is different, we need to look at our data so that we know what to do to the cars before we arrive and what changes to make when we are there.

"Changes should only be very minimal. If you change too much you get lost. If we can improve our qualifying we’ll be right there.

"You’d be a foolish person to throw in the towel now because anything can happen, but our aim is to get one car in the top five and both into the top 10 this year.

"As for race wins, well, every race we’ve been to this year we have improved and been half competitive. There have been some teams up front that have been difficult to match but I think we are getting closer.

"I would suggest that with some of the tracks coming up, particularly the longer races, we will be more competitive because they suit us.

"As for championships, we’ll just have to wait and see."

So where does DJR go from here? Johnson thinks about this question before answering. The expression on his face tells me that he is not quite ready to divulge this information just yet.

"We are looking at doing some new things towards the end of the season rather than now," says Johnson.

"At the moment it’s about finding the right people to do the job. We’ve got a lot of things happening in the background that we’d like to implement now, but realistically they will come through for us next year.

"At the moment it’s about tenths of seconds, you are always trying to find that elusive tenth or two. And we know that for us, we need to find this in qualifying. The race car, as I have said, is good, the speed is there, but we struggle in qualifying.

"At most places where we’ve missed out on the shootout, a couple of tenths would have had us in, but it’s very, very hard to find this time. Ask anyone."

Johnson now stands up and politely tells me that it’s time for the final race in Shanghai. I’m about to leave and I turn to him with one final question, hoping he’ll answer it. "What about the fans, if you had to address your fans what would you say to them?" He answers without hesitation.

"Well, I am extremely pleased that the fans have stuck by me and the team over the years," he says. "We’ve been involved in this game for a long, long time and we’re not about to disappear. If you sit by the stream long enough you’ll see the heads of your enemies float on by.

"And I tell you, each race we’re getting closer. Hang in there."

A typical Dick Johnson-ism to finish proceedings. You can see why everyone loves him and why the sport needs him and his team. I, for one, hope that success comes sooner rather than later. And after talking with Johnson I reckon it will.

Dick calls for TEGA change... Before AVESCO took it by the scruff of the neck, the Australian Touring Car Championship was a series with a relatively low profile. Sure, Bathurst was big but exposure was generally a bit thin on the ground and there were maybe a handful of drivers who were known to the greater public. Now the bulk of drivers in the 30-plus car grids are household names. Big companies not related to the automotive field are investing in the sport. Crowds and TV ratings are at record levels. The shift in profile has been stunning. So what's all the fuss about? Dick Johnson, one of only a handful of true legends in the sport, is an ex-member of the TEGA and AVESCO boards and, ironically, not a fan of team principals holding such positions. "See, currently the tail's wagging the dog," says Johnson. "In my opinion it is the one thing that is impeding the category going forward." Contrary to what some would believe, Johnson bears no grudges against the sitting board members, Mark Skaife/Garry Rogers (Holden) and Roland Dane/Mark Larkham (Ford), with Kelvin O'Reilly sitting as the independent chairman. "I've got nothing against those presently sitting on the board," says Johnson. "The business has grown so much we're in a situation where we've got team owners trying to run the category. You can't sort of go with those situations with some sort of self-interest." There are plusses and minuses with the present situation but it is the ever-present risk of a possible conflict of interest which goads Johnson. "You've got to have guys in there who are used to sitting on boards," says Johnson. "There are no successors in the pipeline for the really important people in AVESCO. "We're in a situation where those guys, through no fault of theirs, are inexperienced at a level where they should be with the likes of Cochrane and company and the AVESCO situation, who are into marketing and decision-making. "We need experienced people up there who have run on boards and know how boards run for large companies." But TEGA chairman Kelvin O'Reilly says the runs are on the board. "If you look at what AVESCO as a company has done in the last eight years it's been pretty spectacular in terms of growth," he says. "You look at it and say, 'Well, what's broken about that?'" O'Reilly says he can't see how a corporate heavyweight could be more effective. "If you were to get a corporate heavyweight and put him on the TEGA board his eyes would glaze over talking about the sorts of things we deal with, which are of a technical and sporting nature," he says. What's complicated about the V8 show, says O'Reilly, is that the TEGA and AVESCO boards require sitting members to consider two very different views. "You could say some of the team owners may not be as commercially adept as a corporate high-flyer would be on the AVESCO board," says O'Reilly. "It's a situation where you have got them having to wear two different hats that have vastly different skills attached to them. It's a challenge." Gordan Lomas