Latest / Rusty's Garage / Jess Yates - Part 1

Transcript

Jess Yates - Part 1 · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:11
  I'm automotive commentator and journalist Greg Rust, and this is Rusty's Garage.
• 0:27
  I'm in the studio for this one and my guest is at home prepping for the great race.
• 0:32
  Not to drive, but she is in the driver's seat of the coverage.
• 0:35
  And Jess Yates does a super job of it.
• 0:38
  The Fox Sports host has been in this role for nearly 10 years now.
• 0:42
  Can you believe it?
• 0:43
  But her impressive CV around broadcasting goes back much further.
• 0:47
  And while she's become a face of motorsport, including F1 and MotoGP, Jess also covers other codes, including Rugby League, has worked on cricket, surfing and more for the network.
• 0:59
  You'll get a sense in this conversation of the way she has really applied herself to the craft, but also to ensure she understands the nuances of a technical sport in order to convey the storylines and juggle looking after lifelong fans and casual viewers.
• 1:15
  Thank you.
• 1:16
  We talk about the input Jess has around some of the stories and threads in the coverage, something Thomas Randall discussed recently when he came on The Garage and spoke about that awesome Australian Grand Prix opener that he did on the piano.
• 1:30
  There's the mentors who've helped Jess along the way, including some senior figures in the commentary box and the way that she champions women in sport and the incredible contribution they're making.
• 1:42
  For Jess, that's not about quota or a better balance, if you like.
• 1:45
  Gender, in lots of ways, has nothing to do with it.
• 1:49
  She's proud to share the story of these talented people who are there on merit.
• 1:54
  Little wonder Jess is a Supercars Media Award winner, among other accolades.
• 1:59
  Now, a quick shout out to Mark Scaife and Tim Lay, who assisted during my research for this, and to an old mate, Aaron Noonan, the sleuth, who had a great chat with Jess a few years ago now, but I thought enough time had passed, and there's new aspects of her story that I wanted to share.
• 2:16
  Jess very kindly talks about...
• 2:18
  little moment of inspiration when I was working on the Supercross Masters coverage many moons ago.
• 2:23
  I'm chuffed to think where that spark has taken her, but I was a different person back then, someone who probably spent a little bit too much time looking over their shoulder.
• 2:35
  And if I wasn't giving enough with my time back then, Jess, I apologise.
• 2:40
  I've learned the value and importance of
• 2:42
  of giving back now and trying to do that as often as I can.
• 2:45
  For clarity, it's all down to Jess.
• 2:48
  What I hope her story illustrates is the power of dedication, unwavering commitment and self-belief.
• 2:56
  She's done some great things already in her career and I know there is more to come.
• 3:02
  Enjoy the conversation.
• 3:06
  Hello Jess Yates.
• 3:07
  Hello Rusty, how are you?
• 3:09
  Can I start?
• 3:10
  I'm great.
• 3:10
  Can I start with a little bit of early life with you, where you grew up and maybe some kind of car and bike influences?
• 3:16
  I got to see your lovely dad at Topor this year and I think he went for a ride in a supercar, which we'll get to.
• 3:21
  But what was in the driveway when you were growing up?
• 3:24
  Oh, look, I have to say I grew up in Sydney on the beach.
• 3:28
  So a bit of a surfy chick.
• 3:30
  My dad and my brothers all surf, did nippers, did swimming.
• 3:35
  There wasn't a whole lot of car racing as an early influence.
• 3:38
  I can remember at Christmas time one year getting the brand new family car.
• 3:43
  It was exciting because we hadn't had a new car.
• 3:45
  and it was a Mitsubishi Nimbus.
• 3:48
  So it was like a bread box.
• 3:51
  And I can remember the smell of, you know, the new interiors, and we were so excited because it was a seven-seater.
• 3:58
  So there was a big fight on who got to sit in the back.
• 4:01
  So probably the motorsport influence didn't happen for me until my late teens, early professional career.
• 4:09
  I was definitely spent a lot more time at the beach and in the surf.
• 4:13
  You and I crossed paths with Supercross Masters on the two-wheel side.
• 4:17
  That's been a great component of your career too.
• 4:20
  And that was kind of with the original godfather of Supercross with Phil Christensen, wasn't it?
• 4:24
  That's right.
• 4:25
  This is actually all your fault.
• 4:27
  The fact that I pursued a career in motorsport is all your fault because that was probably one of the really early experiences and opportunities that I had in that arena.
• 4:37
  Christo, as we lovingly know him,
• 4:41
  had got me on board to do a bit of modeling.
• 4:43
  I think I was 15 or 16 when I was first exposed to that world.
• 4:47
  And I remember going to my very first event and you were there hosting the coverage for Network 10.
• 4:53
  And Michael Heaton was also on the ground, who's a very lovely colleague of ours that we worked with for a really long time.
• 5:01
  We were running things there at Channel 10 too.
• 5:03
  And I remember standing back and watching you
• 5:05
  do your thing and you were brilliant.
• 5:06
  You still are brilliant.
• 5:07
  You're one of the most incredible presenters that we've ever had here in the country.
• 5:14
  I remember watching you thinking, that's what I want to do.
• 5:16
  That's who I want to be because it was so dynamic.
• 5:19
  I could see the passion that you had for it.
• 5:22
  It was so exciting.
• 5:25
  is that right you just never know what the story is going to be and that's I think what I fell in love with um so that was a yeah it was a really interesting early taster for me and I remember saying to Hito I think that's what I want to do how do I how can I become Greg Rust and he said to me gave me some really good advice that uh you know I still remember to this day and I probably give to people that ask me the same thing
• 5:47
  And he said to me, Jess, if you were really serious about becoming a journalist and a presenter, you need to go and get some credentials, go to university, go and do a course, learn your craft, and then say yes to everything.
• 5:58
  You've got to work hard.
• 5:59
  It's not enough to just be on TV or be a pretty face.
• 6:02
  You've actually got to have some real substance behind you.
• 6:05
  And that's what inspired me to pursue my career in journalism and then later in sports broadcasting.
• 6:11
  You have that dedication in spades.
• 6:13
  And I'm glad that Hito kind of offered a few, you know, nuggets of advice there, because you sound like you followed those to the T. You went to Bathurst and university up there.
• 6:23
  You, in addition to, which we'll get to a little bit of time at 10 and 9 and so on, you also did a stint overseas, didn't you, in Laos?
• 6:29
  Is that right?
• 6:30
  Yeah, I did.
• 6:31
  Yeah.
• 6:32
  So I went to Charles Sturt University and did my broadcast journalism degree there.
• 6:36
  My first job in TV was at Channel 9 and I was there for about 12 months.
• 6:41
  And a friend of mine who I'd studied with at Charles Sturt was working overseas.
• 6:45
  And I was sort of at a crossroads as to what my next move was going to be.
• 6:49
  And I love to travel.
• 6:50
  It's one of the things I'm really passionate about and I'm so grateful to be able to do
• 6:55
  in my career today.
• 6:56
  And he was living in Laos and he said to me, the Australian government have a program called Youth Ambassadors for Development.
• 7:03
  And the premise of that really was a skills transfer.
• 7:07
  And so you go to a developing country with your credentials and then be able to train up other people in your field.
• 7:13
  And he said, I'm having a great time.
• 7:14
  I love it here.
• 7:15
  You should look at it.
• 7:16
  So I did and I applied.
• 7:19
  And I first went over there to work for the International Rice Research Institute, which is a bit left of field, in their media department.
• 7:27
  And then I was there for about six months and then I transferred to the National English Newspaper.
• 7:31
  in the NTR, the Vientiane Times, and I was working with journalists and working as a sub-editor.
• 7:37
  It was the time of my life.
• 7:38
  It was just so completely different.
• 7:40
  It was such a wonderful opportunity to travel and meet people and learn about the world and probably also helped me sharpen my focus around what it was I wanted to do, and that was to come back and launch straight into TV, which is what I ended up doing.
• 7:53
  Absolutely.
• 7:54
  We're the sum of many parts, aren't we?
• 7:55
  And that stuff is so vital, I think, in your ultimate makeup.
• 7:59
  They're all good experiences.
• 8:02
  The Bathurst thing intrigues me.
• 8:03
  Did you cut laps at nighttime?
• 8:06
  We're talking just weeks out from going there now for one of your biggest broadcasts of the year.
• 8:11
  Tell me about early time at Bathurst there at university.
• 8:15
  Well, Rusty, we all know it's a rite of passage.
• 8:17
  When you go to Charleston University, you are absolutely cutting laps around Mount Panorama, always to the speed limit, of course.
• 8:25
  Of course.
• 8:25
  But, yeah, that was, I mean, such an iconic spot.
• 8:28
  And it's probably no mistake that I've ended up back there, really.
• 8:34
  You know, as uni students trying to put a show reel together, that was the place you always went to to do a piece to camera or, you know, try and piggyback off the Bathurst 1000 to get some work experience or just be involved in some capacity around the event because it's so iconic and it's so massive.
• 8:53
  So, yes, that definitely happened.
• 8:57
  And there were good times.
• 8:59
  They're great memories.
• 9:00
  And I'm really – I often think of that time in my life when I head back there every year because it didn't really shape, I guess, you know, where I've come to be today.
• 9:10
  Lovely.
• 9:11
  Takeaway there for aspiring young journos or broadcasters, that course there at Charles Sturt is highly regarded and other people you and I have crossed paths with along the way.
• 9:22
  Natasha Belling is among many that have graduated from there.
• 9:26
  You did do a little bit of time at Network 10 and Matthew White was there at this stage, wasn't he?
• 9:33
  He certainly was.
• 9:34
  So, you know, the great advice that I got was do as much work experience as you can while you're still at university and try and get a foot in the door to try and get some, you know, perhaps a job or as much experience as you can.
• 9:48
  And so, I put my hand up everywhere and I ended up
• 9:50
  at Channel 10 and Maddie White was reading Sports Tonight, which was of course the biggest sparring program for everybody.
• 9:57
  That's where you sort of wanted to end up if you were going to make it in sports broadcasting.
• 10:02
  They were the good old days.
• 10:03
  And I remember I was in the sports department and I was
• 10:07
  listening in and Matt was so wonderful to me.
• 10:09
  He came up and he said, come and sit at my desk, I'll log you in, let me explain everything to you.
• 10:13
  And he was such a superstar.
• 10:14
  And, you know, his voice was so synonymous with Australian sport and watched him on just about everything.
• 10:21
  And I was like totally starstruck thinking, wow, you know, for somebody who was so famous in my eyes that would take time out to explain to a nobody, you know, how things worked.
• 10:33
  He was so genuine and I so appreciate it.
• 10:36
  you know, the time that he took to talk to me and I hope I've been able to pay that forward too because I think that's what it's all about, you know, for young people wanting to break into the industry when people take, you know, some time to put their arm around you and sort of guide you.
• 10:51
  It makes all the difference and it gives you some confidence and it creates real pathways.
• 10:56
  So I've always appreciated Matt so much for that time that he took and how incredible that I then had the opportunity to, whilst we were colleagues, work alongside him.
• 11:09
  He was in the pit lane for such a long time in supercars.
• 11:12
  Also while we've been sharing the rights between 10 and Fox Sports and then in the later years with 7 and Fox Sports.
• 11:21
  Yeah, it's a pretty surreal thing and a cool moment, I guess, a message to everyone out there that might aspire to that.
• 11:27
  You know, you've just got to keep dreaming and finding a way to get there because it may just happen for you.
• 11:32
  Lovely.
• 11:33
  And I love the fact that you give back a little too.
• 11:35
  That little moment of time doesn't take a lot, right, but can have such a powerful impact on a young person with those sort of aspirations that you talk about.
• 11:43
  Fox sports.
• 11:44
  I don't know what the numbers are now.
• 11:47
  Is it nearly 20 years?
• 11:49
  And that's pretty impressive in the current media climate, right, for – that is a great –
• 11:55
  endorsement of you as a person and the way that you operate to have that sort of longevity at a network now.
• 12:02
  Can you remember the early meetings, getting a foot in the door?
• 12:05
  Am I right in saying, I think it was, is it Tim Moran who was a really good mentor to you in the early part of all that?
• 12:10
  Yes, Tim was absolutely fabulous.
• 12:13
  He has helped so many young people forge apart
• 12:17
  give them great advice, create opportunities, and was just so encouraging and, yeah, so lucky to have someone like that in the early part of my career.
• 12:28
  I just remember I was really laser focused on, I wanted to be in television.
• 12:33
  I just loved television.
• 12:35
  the genre, how dynamic it was, how exciting it was, how every day is different, how the story unfolds.
• 12:41
  And I really, I started my career in the newsroom and I still love the newsroom.
• 12:45
  It's such a great breeding ground and a wonderful place to cut your teeth and learn and make mistakes because really that's what it's about.
• 12:52
  You know, when you're young and starting out, you need to learn what not to do, but also what you need to know because at the end of the day, there's so much information out there in everything that we do, but you only need to know what you need to know
• 13:03
  as stupid as that might sound.
• 13:05
  And I was really able to understand that properly in that arena.
• 13:09
  And I just remember going to Fox Sports.
• 13:12
  I mean, it's the buffet of sport, right?
• 13:15
  We have pretty much everything and have done so
• 13:18
  over a really long period of time and you're right, it's nearly 20 years.
• 13:21
  So I started there when I was 24 years old, 23 years old, and I've pretty much grown up on Fox Sports which is a bit scary to think back.
• 13:32
  You know that that's been the case but also an incredible opportunity to really become the best because that's what I want to be.
• 13:40
  I want to be the very best at this.
• 13:44
  Yeah, there's been so many wonderful opportunities a long way to progress and grow.
• 13:48
  And I'm still chasing those, you know, despite the fact that I've probably, you know, hit some of the goals that I had.
• 13:54
  I've still got to keep creating more.
• 13:56
  And there's so many great people that I get to work with.
• 14:00
  And I'm sure that's been the say for you in all the different arenas that you've worked.
• 14:04
  It's all about the people and about the team.
• 14:07
  And there's been a fair few that have been there just as long as I have, which is pretty cool in TV these days.
• 14:14
  I love the passion and you haven't aged a bit, so I know you've got lots of great stuff still to come.
• 14:18
  I feel like I have.
• 14:20
  No, you don't look at it at all.
• 14:21
  Kevin McGee.
• 14:23
  Can we get a little memory of McGoo?
• 14:25
  He's a great fellow who you and I probably still have a bit of dialogue with.
• 14:29
  I mean, he was at one point there, I think, like the longest serving freelancer in Fox history.
• 14:34
  He was just sort of entrenched in the whole two-wheel coverage and MotoGP especially, wasn't he?
• 14:39
  Yeah, Kev is like a piece of furniture there at Fox Sports.
• 14:42
  He's been around a really long time and you won't meet a nicer guy or a more passionate person particularly about, you know, the product in MotoGP or Superbikes or whatever it was that we've worked across together because there's been a couple of things.
• 14:55
  But, yes, we've spent many a late night at Fox Sports.
• 15:00
  Watching the bikes and tossing around, you know, plenty of debate around who, what, why.
• 15:06
  But he's a great guy.
• 15:07
  And, yeah, like I said, there's a fair few like that that have, you know, become part of the furniture of Fox Sports over a long period of time.
• 15:15
  And I think that's what makes it so special because it really is like a family.
• 15:18
  Yeah, it is.
• 15:19
  Before we get to the four-wheel chapter and supercars and a bit of Formula One and so on, just while we're on the two-wheel theme here, that naturally with your role there and with the position that Fox has covering MotoGP extensively means that there are times we've had the chance, I guess, to travel overseas, see some events.
• 15:37
  You have interviewed some of the guns of that sport as well from Mark Marquez, I would imagine Valentino Rossi as well.
• 15:44
  Were those moments, because you're such a pro, right?
• 15:48
  Were those moments daunting?
• 15:50
  Were they things that you grabbed with both hands?
• 15:51
  What did they feel like?
• 15:53
  And did one of the greats sort of stand out for you on the two-wheel side when you spoke with them?
• 15:58
  Well, Rusty, this year I got to go to Le Mans, which was an unbelievable experience.
• 16:02
  It was one of the racetracks that I've always wanted to go to.
• 16:05
  And I've been to a couple now, as you say, globally.
• 16:09
  Last year I went to the Circuit of the Americas and then the year before that,
• 16:13
  I went to the ASIN for the ASIN TT, which was unbelievable.
• 16:18
  What a circuit.
• 16:20
  And I think there have been really exciting opportunities for me and ones that I don't take for granted at all.
• 16:26
  So I think, yeah, always a little bit nervous, but also so excited to make the most of the opportunity and to find a point of difference because I guess...
• 16:35
  Being female in motorsport, I've got a different tone and I come from a different angle.
• 16:39
  I've got a different point of view and I really try and exercise that because, I mean, these guys do so much media globally.
• 16:46
  So, I'm really conscious of trying to bring something a little different and tap into something that maybe someone else hasn't thought of or…
• 16:53
  challenge them to think about things in a different way.
• 16:56
  So yeah, Valentino Rossi, absolute highlight.
• 16:59
  Mark Marquez, I had a great interview with him last year at the Australian Grand Prix.
• 17:04
  We had probably 15 minutes, which is...
• 17:08
  an eon of time, right?
• 17:10
  Because those guys work in sound bites of, you know, you get five minutes and that's it.
• 17:14
  And he was so relaxed.
• 17:15
  It's probably the most candid he's ever been talking about, you know, what it was really like to him having to come back from injury to make a decision to leave to caddy.
• 17:24
  You know, the dynamic with his brother, it was a real highlight for me.
• 17:27
  I still look back and think that was such a great chat.
• 17:29
  It was so great to get, you know, insight from him.
• 17:33
  So, yeah, I feel really lucky every time I have the opportunity to speak to these guys because they're the best on the planet.
• 17:40
  You've been around all sorts of athletes in your role, right?
• 17:43
  So, I mean, there's rugby league experience, surfing and more.
• 17:48
  Riders are a special breed though, the way they're wide.
• 17:52
  And I do often think in their post-professional life, the reason some of them don't always latch on to the next successful thing immediately or make a go of it immediately is
• 18:02
  is I think because it's very hard to replace that sensation that they've been used to for 10, 15 years, whatever it might be.
• 18:08
  They struggle with that, don't they?
• 18:10
  Absolutely.
• 18:11
  It's such a dynamic environment.
• 18:13
  There's so much adrenaline.
• 18:16
  There's so much risk.
• 18:17
  And I think that's probably for all athletes one of the hardest things to replace is that risk-taking.
• 18:22
  that they're so good at and that they're so used to.
• 18:26
  And, yeah, it doesn't always necessarily translate in life post-sport.
• 18:30
  And that's one of the things I'm really interested to understand, you know, the psychology behind all is that.
• 18:36
  I'm really lucky I get to work with lots of great athletes, but it doesn't, you know, working in the media doesn't always translate for them either.
• 18:44
  And it's really interesting to see for some of those guys, like a Valentino Rossi, you know, what still makes him tick, how he gets that purpose.
• 18:52
  finds that purpose in his life and it's been obvious to see for him he's still very much entrenched in MotoGP and running his team and all the other things that he does.
• 19:03
  Yeah, I really love the psychology of athletes.
• 19:08
  It's a really fascinating thing to me and something I try and really explore in the long-form interviews that I get to do.
• 19:13
  Well done.
• 19:14
  And as you say, not all of them translate to broadcasting.
• 19:17
  There are those who make the transition and absolutely grab it with both hands and properly understand what it means to be a broadcaster, not just someone who walks in, bundies on and offers expert comments and walks out.
• 19:27
  There's a very big difference in that.
• 19:49
  Bathurst and supercars legend Mark Scaife shared cracking yarns in his chat with Rusty, like the time he played stunt double for his co-driver to ensure the car qualified for the great race.
• 20:00
  We had the same suits, but I put his helmet on and straight out we went.
• 20:04
  And I had to do a mad lap to do a time that was going to get my car driver in or we were going home.
• 20:11
  So that's true.
• 20:12
  That's not an urban myth.
• 20:16
  That's actually true.
• 20:17
  You're the first one to have picked up on it.
• 20:18
  But you wouldn't get away with it today.
• 20:20
  In fact, you'd get hung for it today.
• 20:23
  Mark's gay for the stick.
• 20:25
  Let's get back to Mark's colleague on the Supercars coverage, Jess, now.
• 20:31
  Fox get the rights to supercars in 2015, nearly 10 years now.
• 20:36
  Staggering to think how fast that chapter has gone.
• 20:38
  You're front and centre of that.
• 20:40
  You've talked about university at Bathurst.
• 20:43
  Before the first for Fox, had you been there doing reporting and other things like that?
• 20:47
  Had you been there in the lead up other than university?
• 20:51
  Well, you might remember the Speed Channel on Foxtel.
• 20:54
  Of course, of course, of course.
• 20:55
  I fronted that.
• 20:56
  And so that was sort of an all-encompassing motorsport channel.
• 21:00
  So whilst we only had the rights to certain things, we had a show called...
• 21:06
  Speed News Australia, I think that's what it was called.
• 21:08
  And so we would often have the eight supercar drivers come on.
• 21:11
  We'd sort of try and have a bit of a news report about what was going on in the championship.
• 21:15
  We'd go up to Bathurst and try and do a preview show despite the fact that we didn't have the ride.
• 21:19
  So that was sort of a push to try and get more motorsport properties on Foxtel.
• 21:25
  And I think that absolutely helped.
• 21:27
  Now we had a change in direction and that channel no longer exists.
• 21:31
  But that was probably a really good breeding ground for me to have a bit of an idea
• 21:34
  We had more of an idea about supercars and what it was about.
• 21:38
  But I always watched it.
• 21:39
  I mean, particularly the Bathurst 1000.
• 21:41
  It's such a rich thread in the fabric of Australian sport.
• 21:45
  Even though I didn't come from a car racing family, when the Bathurst 1000 was on, we'd all sit down and it was on the telly.
• 21:53
  It was much like the Melbourne Cup or the NRL, AFL Grand Finals.
• 21:57
  You don't have to be rusted on fans of those to want to partake in the spectacle.
• 22:01
  I agree.
• 22:02
  I think going to Bathurst, it was very much on my radar.
• 22:05
  And then when the opportunity came up to be front and centre of
• 22:11
  Supercars, I absolutely grabbed it with both hands.
• 22:14
  And it wasn't always a sure thing, despite the fact that I'd been hosting our motorsport coverage on Fox Sports.
• 22:19
  To have a woman front, you know, the premier racing category in the country wasn't necessarily going to be a sure thing.
• 22:26
  So I really had to put my case forward and show that I was really committed to making it work, that I wanted to be a part of it.
• 22:33
  And that was going to be the next part of my career progression.
• 22:37
  And I remember when we got the rights there,
• 22:41
  And the executive producer said to me, so Yura, are you really ready for this?
• 22:45
  Do you really know what's about to happen?
• 22:47
  I said, I am 100% ready and I have no idea how this is going to play out.
• 22:51
  But I'm ready.
• 22:52
  I'm up for it.
• 22:52
  I'll do whatever it takes.
• 22:54
  And I can remember the first round.
• 22:56
  It was the Adelaide 500.
• 22:58
  And it was the first time that we'd shown absolutely every single session.
• 23:03
  I mean, we are the buffet of supercars on Foxtel.
• 23:06
  And I got to the end of that week and I thought, oh, my God,
• 23:10
  how am I going to do this for the rest of the year?
• 23:12
  Because at that point too, I think we had 15, 16, 17 events and I felt like I'd run a marathon.
• 23:17
  I was buggered.
• 23:18
  I had no more words to say.
• 23:21
  It was just, it was such a big weekend, but I just remember thinking, this is amazing.
• 23:26
  This is exactly what I've always dreamt about in my broadcasting career, being front and centre of something so exciting, so on the edge.
• 23:35
  It was awesome.
• 23:35
  Yeah.
• 23:36
  Thank you for reminding me about Speed Vision too.
• 23:38
  That was a great, great chapter for fans, especially that were diehard, right?
• 23:43
  Scaifey spoke to me in the lead up for this, right?
• 23:45
  And he reminded me of the way that you've just talked about, you know, in setting off there at Adelaide in 2015, but it's the way you have applied yourself, right?
• 23:54
  To continue this kind of willingness, a willingness rather to learn, particularly the complexities of the sport, the terminologies and all facets of the game, to get them right.
• 24:05
  That's the stuff that you've done away from the camera.
• 24:09
  And you said you were tremendous and continue to be tremendous at that.
• 24:12
  but importantly, how to make best use of that in the coverage, right?
• 24:18
  And what intrigues me here is that that is in part you and wanting to do a good job, but I sense that you're curious about this stuff too and properly getting your head around it.
• 24:29
  You're not just a face of the coverage.
• 24:32
  You want to understand it and how to communicate it on that fine line, Jess, between a rusted on fan but also a casual viewer that will join you for Bathurst and so on, aren't you?
• 24:42
  Yeah, because I think, Rusty, I've been all of those things.
• 24:45
  And I think in the end what endears you to something is the people.
• 24:50
  And I love the people that are involved in this, particularly, you know, I have to –
• 24:55
  say a huge thank you to Mark Scaife and Neil Crompton who have been incredible to me.
• 24:59
  They have been unbelievable mentors to me.
• 25:02
  I have asked them a gazillion questions.
• 25:06
  They've never said no.
• 25:07
  They've never laughed at me.
• 25:08
  They've always been an open book.
• 25:11
  And I guess they could probably sense my thirst to learn.
• 25:14
  I don't ever think that I'm an expert because I'm not.
• 25:19
  I'm always learning too.
• 25:20
  And I feel like, you know, I am the viewer.
• 25:22
  So I really want to be that expert.
• 25:24
  conduit so that the people that are watching at home sitting on the lounge are probably asking the same questions that I'm thinking and I really want to be their representative to make sure they're getting the very best bits of what we do out of all of that.
• 25:36
  I love storytelling.
• 25:37
  It's my favorite thing and there are so many opportunities for that in supercars.
• 25:41
  So many wonderful people that are involved.
• 25:44
  It's a tough sport.
• 25:46
  I mean, it's just the time and energy and money and passion that you have to have for it is extraordinary.
• 25:53
  And the access that we have to all of that is extraordinary.
• 25:57
  I think that's probably what's inspired me.
• 25:59
  to be so dedicated to it and to want to make sure I'm representing our audience, but also the people that work so hard to bring it to life as well.
• 26:09
  Just to underscore what you've said there, he says, a great point about you is that you understand the narrative latching onto the importance of the personalities that you've just talked about and how that narrative
• 26:21
  best works within the broadcast or telecast run sheet that we have for every event.
• 26:26
  You have this great mind for the storytelling, which I think is something you just summed up so beautifully there.
• 26:33
  You road tripped with him to Bathurst in 2019 and you actually recorded a podcast together, which I think is
• 26:38
  is to reveal this great conversation that sort of ventured into all sorts of different territories and fundamentally previewed the race for people like Scott McLaughlin and others.
• 26:48
  Did you learn a little something about him that day, or maybe you've learned something about Scafie along the way?
• 26:53
  Because he's still, even in post-race life and all those championships, all those bathers, he's still just this immensely driven and competitive human being, basically, isn't he?
• 27:02
  He certainly is.
• 27:03
  Skating is one of my best friends.
• 27:04
  We have the best time together.
• 27:06
  I think it's probably why we've, you know, enjoyed the last decade working on this.
• 27:10
  It's been a lot of fun.
• 27:12
  And I think that was one of the things that we said to each other from the very beginning.
• 27:15
  You know, let's make sure we have a good time with this because...
• 27:18
  you know, this is a good time.
• 27:20
  This is a lot of fun.
• 27:22
  We want to bring that to life for people.
• 27:23
  Mark is incredibly articulate, but he's also very analytic too.
• 27:28
  He loves numbers.
• 27:29
  There is not a number he has ever forgotten.
• 27:32
  So if you want to know what time he did, you know, the first sector time through, you know, Bathurst in, you know, 1921,
• 27:42
  He'll be able to tell you he does not forget anything.
• 27:47
  He's incredible like that and I've learnt so much from him.
• 27:51
  Mark is one of the best storytellers that I've ever met.
• 27:54
  He knows how to hold an audience, whether you're at the pub or you're on TV in the palm of his hand.
• 28:00
  And I think that's why we get along so well because we share that passion for storytelling.
• 28:04
  But yeah, he's incredible and he's definitely challenged me to be the best and to always bring my best.
• 28:12
  We're not here to muck around.
• 28:14
  We want to make sure that it's 110% every single time.
• 28:18
  And he rallies the TV group much like a race team.
• 28:22
  Like we definitely all feel like in the pre-brief or the debrief, you know, everyone's got their role.
• 28:27
  Everyone needs to be able to give their feedback.
• 28:30
  And I can only imagine what it must have been like to be part of the race team with him back in the day because I'm pretty sure he runs the broadcast team in much the same fashion.
• 28:40
  I reckon there's some unbelievable parallels between race teams and the television team in many, many ways, from the dynamics to, you know, the hunger to succeed and do it right and so on.
• 28:58
  That's the end of part one of my podcast with Fox Sports host Jess Yates.
• 29:02
  Despite the massive workload in the build-up to the Bathurst 1000, Jess kindly gave us a full hour for this interview, so there is a part two for you to enjoy, perhaps on the road trip to the mountain or while you're getting ready for one of the biggest weeks in Australian sport, motorsport especially.
• 29:18
  It's all loaded up and in the library and ready whenever you are.
• 29:22
  There's a sneak peek of what we can expect from the coverage this year.
• 29:26
  A window into the preparation the TV team does weeks and months beforehand.
• 29:31
  And keep an ear out for a little side project that Jess is working on too.
• 29:35
  Let's just say young fans are going to love it.
• 29:39
  It's all ahead in part two here on Rusty's Garage.