IT was a fictional race driver Ricky Bobby who motivated himself with the mantra ‘if you're not first, you’re last’, but there’s at least one actual racer who thinks it’s a good motto.
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It’s Emily Duggan.
While Ricky Bobby was a NASCAR racer, for Duggan the mission is to push for success in the Toyota 86 Series, which will hold its latest round at Bathurst.
It’s Duggan’s maiden season in the series and while her best finish was a 13th – having climbed from 30th on grid – she wants better. She’s thinking about being first.
“I’m in motor sport because I want to win, I’m competitive, I want do as well as I can and be the most competitive person out there,” she said.
“My background isn’t the longest, this is only my fourth year in the sport, so I don’t have the background to go out and start whipping everyone’s arses. But I’ve got that desire to win.
READ MORE: Duggan is ready for a hectic Bathurst
“If a driver says that they just want to come 20th, well sorry mate, you should probably quit racing. If you don’t want to win then you probably don’t have the drive to be able to get on the top step of the podium.
“I’ve got an expectation of where I believe I can get to and where I really want to get to. I enter to win.
“The results so far, there’s been some good ones, there’s been some okay ones and there’s been some absolutely crap ones. But I’ve still got to remember it’s my first year, I’ve built the car and I’ve built the team.”
In Thursday’s two practice sessions in wet conditions, drivers erred on the side of caution rather than pushing the limits.
Duggan was 33rd in the first and went some six seconds faster later that afternoon in session two with a best lap time of 3:12.7877.
Naturally she will push harder over the weekend, but one thing she wouldn’t change is the chance to drive as part of the Bathurst 1000 event.
“Oh, it’s good,” she said.
“Racing at Bathurst at the 6 Hour alone was unbelievable. It was like ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m doing this’. There were 55 cars there that weekend and I came 15th and was somewhat satisfied, but 15th out of 55 cars that’s pretty bloody awesome.
“But still it wasn’t first, so there was a lot of desire there.”
