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The Kiwi is now living in Perth, the home town of his partner Jemma, having relocated from their Gold Coast base since welcoming daughter Summer to the world in March last year.
The move has strengthened their support network of family and friends, however it does put the Brad Jones Racing driver in the somewhat unique situation of not being based in either South East Queensland or Melbourne, as is the case for the majority of his driver colleagues.
Discussing the decision on SEN’s The Driver’s Seat radio show, Heimgartner explained that the geographical disadvantage isn’t as significant as many believe, particularly not weighed against the improved lifestyle.
“I can tell you, it sounds a lot more crazy than it actually is, to be honest,” he said.
“We had our daughter Summer and we were on the Gold Coast and we had no substantial friends or family there at all. So it was actually quite difficult, a lot of pressure on my partner [with] how much we travel, especially because my team is in Albury there is so much travelling to the team and away from Jemma.
“So to move to Perth made a lot of sense.
“It is far away, but when you look at the calendar, it’s similar distance to Darwin, it’s obviously further to the Queensland rounds, but to Melbourne and Adelaide it’s quite similar [to the Gold Coast]. You’re closer to the Perth round, of course. So it equals out not too bad.
“At the end of the day, racing is a lot about racing, but it’s a lot about your home life too. And as every man knows, happy wife, happy life.”
Heimgartner, who broke through for a second race win in Taupo recently, also discussed life at BJR, indicating that he sees a long-term future with the team – and can even envisage competing for titles with it.
“BJR, 100 per cent, is where I want to be,” he said.
“It’s been the best team I’ve been a part of. Ever since I joined it’s been great.
“What you get with BJR is that they are all just racers, right. You’re not dealing with corporate people who have other interests in mind or are too busy doing other things and don’t actually know what’s going on in the business.
“If I want to know something, I could ring [Brad Jones] right now at 8pm and he’d tell me exactly what’s going on. It’s that sort of transparency and cut through the noise that makes racing so much more enjoyable.
“And what I’ve realised is, in the nine years I’ve been doing this, is if I want to be doing it another 12, 14 years, you want to be enjoying it to some level. The enjoyment part of it for me is high with BJR.
“I think we can get results. I don’t think we’ve reached our potential yet. For sure in the future there could be championship things happening, if we’re able to get it together.
“It’s not easy, not everyone is able to do it. We’ll just have to wait and see and see.”
