Transcript

Ryan Briscoe · Rusty's Garage

0:02
A listener production.
0:14
I'm automotive commentator and journalist Greg Rust and this is Rusty's Garage.
0:29
In this episode, I'm at Mount Panorama for the biggest weekend of racing on the Australian calendar, the Bathurst 1000.
0:37
To celebrate the Falcon's final race here, Ford has decided to stage a speed comparison with various cars, including the awesome Le Mans winning GT.
0:48
Ex-pat Aussie Ryan Briscoe knows the car well and has flown out from America to drive it.
0:54
We found a quieter spot in the 23 Red Racing Team Transporter in the paddock to talk about his diversely successful career and how it all began.
1:06
You know, Uncle Doug, for sure.
1:08
My dad was rallying as well at the same time.
1:11
Doug kept it going a long time after dad stopped.
1:14
I think dad committed more of his time to work and to me and my go-karts and stuff.
1:21
But, yeah, no, definitely racing in the blood.
1:25
Yeah, my dad and Uncle Doug loved the rallying and...
1:31
You know, it was funny just catching up with them, you know, this week and talking about the old rally times and cars that they had and how they raced them and how they drove.
1:39
And it's very different to what I do.
1:41
But at the same time, it's, you know, all the same sport.
1:45
It is the antithesis of what you've gone into from a career point of view.
1:48
Were you ever tempted by rallying?
1:49
Have you ever had a steer of something like that?
1:51
Um, no, well, I, uh, I drove Neil Bates's, uh, Toyota, uh, back when I was, you know, test driver at Toyota F1.
2:00
So, um, we did a thing out at Orrin Park.
2:03
There was a dirt track out there and it was a four wheel drive.
2:06
Uh, I think it was a Corolla or something, but, um, it was, it was really cool.
2:09
So different to what I was driving the Formula One car at the time.
2:13
Um, and to make it turn, you actually had to get on the throttle, um,
2:17
you know, being a four-wheel drive, which was completely different to what I was used to.
2:20
But other than that, actually, my first taste was probably back when I was racing go-karts and I was teammates with Rosberg and I'd go on holidays with them every now and again.
2:32
And one time, Keki took us up to Finland in the winter and we went to this sort of
2:40
I guess it was kind of like a driving school.
2:42
I forget what the car was.
2:44
It was a rear-wheel drive, and we went through a series of courses.
2:47
So Nico and myself and Keki did some driving too, but we started on, like, this big oval, and the goal was to drive the thing sideways the whole way around the oval and just learn how to drift on ice.
2:59
And then there was a slalom course, and then we ended up on this about a one-kilometer circuit and just thrashed doing laps around that.
3:07
The walls were just snow banks.
3:10
So that was just a really, really good experience.
3:13
I'll never forget just, you know, really learning about car control.
3:17
And I was just racing go karts at the time.
3:19
So it was pretty memorable.
3:21
Have you retained contact with him?
3:22
I mean, he obviously went on to win the Formula One World Championship and then shocked everyone by pulling up stumps.
3:28
Were you surprised by that?
3:30
And have you maintained contact with him?
3:32
Yeah, yeah, we're in touch.
3:35
It was surprising.
3:38
But at the same time, I, I, I understood where he was coming from, but I mean, it was surprising, no doubt, especially when you are retiring from a winning program where he could have very well come back and won the championship the next year and the year after that, you know?
3:55
So, um, but yeah, I think, you know, he's, he just loves what he's doing, you know, and it's, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets back in, into racing again, but, uh, yeah,
4:05
He's been keeping so busy doing everything outside of actually driving, but within motorsport, I'm not sure if you agree.
4:13
I've never really talked to him about that specifically, but it was definitely an interesting call, wasn't it?
4:20
Absolutely.
4:20
We'll get to your karting career in a moment, because it was stellar, some great achievements there.
4:24
What were the cars in the driveway when you were growing up?
4:28
You talked about your dad and your uncle before.
4:29
What were the family cars when you were growing up?
4:32
Family cars.
4:33
Well, Dad always enjoyed having something down in the garage, you know, restoring.
4:38
I remember he had an MG that he was restoring for most of my child life.
4:44
MGB?
4:45
MGA?
4:46
MGA, I think it was.
4:48
I don't think it was an MGB, but...
4:51
Yeah, I just remember a beautiful thing.
4:53
And, you know, at the very beginning, he had his Ford Escort down there, which is what he used to race.
5:01
And then he had the MG.
5:04
But then, you know, Dad's in the car business, so there were always different cars coming back.
5:09
And when I was about...
5:12
uh 10 or 11 he brought home a Datsun 1200U and that's what I learned to drive on so that was my car to basically drive and reverse and drive up and down the driveway and stuff like that we lived in a cul-de-sac so that was sort of what I learned to use a clutch on and and all that you know so yeah awesome how did the foray into racing start and and where was the first race tell me about the first go-kart and so on
5:39
Yeah, well, Lithgow actually is where I started.
5:43
All that far from where we're doing this interview, really, is it?
5:45
No, and I actually called in on the way up here yesterday.
5:48
So I was driving up and I saw the sign for Combined Districts Kart Club and I was like, oh, I've got to go in there.
5:55
So I just pulled in.
5:56
I was hoping some carters might have been there testing.
5:59
It was raining, but no one was there.
6:02
But I just sort of walked around a bit and took a photo.
6:08
you know shit probably the mid 90s to early 90s so i mean because i raced there when i started and then you know 95 97 yeah then i left here and and went to race full-time in europe but um yeah lithgow that's pretty much where it started the first time i ever drove a go-kart uh which was just i don't know dad just
6:32
I don't know if it was our go-kart or just a friend's, but I went to Raleigh, or Raleigh, sorry, Raleigh Kart Club up near Coffs Harbour.
6:40
Yes.
6:41
Which still probably rates as maybe one of the best go-kart tracks in the world.
6:45
Yeah.
6:46
But yeah, I drove that when I was...
6:49
maybe nine.
6:50
So I just remember I drove a cart then.
6:52
I don't really remember it, but I've got pictures.
6:54
I'm there with my motorcycle helmet on and the motorbike leather gloves and my sneakers, which are worn out with holes in them from skateboarding and stuff.
7:05
And there I am driving a go-kart.
7:07
And then I didn't start racing until I was 11.
7:10
And my first race was at Lithgow.
7:11
Fantastic.
7:12
Did it come easily to you?
7:14
Did you immediately think, man, this is a bit of me?
7:20
Yeah, I don't know.
7:22
It did come easy, for sure.
7:23
I never felt like I had to go outside my comfort zone to do anything special to race a go-kart.
7:32
And I just started and...
7:35
you know, dad as a mechanic, it was just so meticulous.
7:40
So we always showed up with the best looking, you know, the cleanest, the cleanest go-kart.
7:46
And, and I think that always made a big difference because, you know, our stuff was always straight.
7:50
Nothing was bent, you know, it was like, uh, you know, really good preparation and a lot of thanks to dad for, for the hours he put in down in the garage, preparing carts every weekend.
8:00
I have more respect for what he did back then now than what I did at the time.
8:04
Uh,
8:04
Um, but yeah, I mean, we, we started the first couple of races were okay.
8:08
I was on a, a DAP chassis that was way too big for how small I was.
8:13
I was a tiny 11 year old.
8:16
I'm not that big of a 37 year old right now, but I was a tiny 11 year old.
8:20
And, uh, so soon after that, you know, after a few races, we saw that all the, all the fast guys were winning on a Dino chassis or Dino chassis.
8:30
Um.
8:31
And so we got a Dino chassis, and then as soon as we got that, I started just winning races, and, yeah, it all sort of happened pretty quickly.
8:38
I mean, it was all – it's a bit of a blur now because, yeah, we just kept winning.
8:43
I was running different classes, and before I knew it, Dad was like –
8:48
Let's go to the World Championships in Portugal.
8:51
Because Courtney was going.
8:53
He picked up sponsorship from Tony Cut.
8:56
And so they invited him to go over to the Junior World Championships in Portugal in 95.
9:01
And so...
9:05
Sort of pretty much last hour, I think Dad was like, you know, we could go and do that.
9:09
So we just packed up.
9:11
We rented a couple of carts from CRG and took all our own engines over, took our engine builder, who was Brian Lindsay.
9:19
And he had experience with racing in Europe from years before.
9:24
So we just went over there, spent the month, got set up at the factory in Italy, and they gave us a van to go to the local track to just test the karts at.
9:34
And then we did this one race in Portugal in the cadet class.
9:40
So they sort of split juniors into two because there were over 100 entrants in both classes, and only 32 would make the final.
9:48
So we went there.
9:51
And we were just like, oh, if we can make the final, this will be an accomplishment, you know, just to show up and be a presence.
9:58
And, well, in the end, I qualified second after all the heats.
10:03
We did five heats.
10:04
I was on pole for the pre-final.
10:06
And then you would run one set of tyres for the whole weekend.
10:09
And I ended up graining the front tyres a bit and ended the final, I think, 11th.
10:15
You know, the front tyres were just finished.
10:17
But came back home.
10:20
to finish the Australian Championship.
10:23
And then it was a couple of months later and we got a phone call from CRG and they said, hey, you know, we'd love to sign you up as a factory driver.
10:32
So from then, basically all my racing was paid for and, you know, sort of led to me then a year later when I was old enough to race in the senior class to move to Italy and race full-time on the World Championship circuit.
10:48
The record books show Australian titles, titles in North America and Italy and things like that.
10:53
Was that moment you just talked about pivotal in changing it from what perhaps would have been an all-consuming hobby to... OK, this is serious.
11:02
I think I'm going to chase this as a career now.
11:05
Yeah, well, I mean, when I started racing go-karts and even when we went to do this one race in Portugal, I mean, I was just a kid who was never...
11:16
even a thought of mine that I was pursuing a racing career.
11:20
Like, I just, it never, it's not like I was racing go-karts.
11:22
I was just having fun.
11:23
I was just having fun and racing.
11:26
And, no, honestly, I mean...
11:29
where we don't have the money that it takes to go to professional racing, or even that level of go-kart racing that I went to in Europe, that's just something that my parents couldn't afford.
11:45
And so without having that opportunity...
11:52
Yeah, I don't know.
11:53
I would have had to learn some sort of trade in Australia that wasn't racing, I think.
11:59
I'm not sure.
12:00
Who knows?
12:01
Who knows?
12:02
Maybe we would have worked something out.
12:03
I don't know.
12:04
But I think it was pivotal, and it wasn't an easy decision because I was 15, and I went to a really good school in Sydney, and, you know, we knew that I was going to be sacrificing education to go and pursue my racing.
12:18
And, yeah.
12:21
I'm sure there was more of a conversation between mum and dad, but the part of the conversation I remember being a part of was that this really was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
12:31
And maybe it would work out, maybe it wouldn't, but if it didn't work out, I could always come back and get your education and pursue degrees or whatever you needed to do.
12:42
So I left, and I continued my schooling in Italy, and...
12:47
But no one was really on my back, you know, preferring me into it.
12:50
So that sort of lasted about a year.
12:52
And then, so I guess the equivalent of what was, you know, end of year 10, I was just committed fully to my racing and working at the go-kart factory.
13:01
Am I right in saying you can speak Italian and French fluently?
13:05
And did that come out of necessity because of where you were living and, you know, working with the mechanics?
13:10
And, you know, that becomes an important thing, doesn't it?
13:13
It does.
13:13
I mean, it was funny.
13:16
So I move over there and I'm working at the go-kart factory every day and spending time with the mechanics.
13:23
And they didn't really speak English, you know, a few words here and there.
13:27
But, you know, the mechanics are in their early 20s too.
13:29
So, you know, they're young guys.
13:32
And so I was hanging out with them and just learning language came naturally.
13:35
I wasn't studying Italian.
13:38
Invariably, they're funny conversations too, mate, aren't they?
13:40
Because you talk some...
13:41
Whether it's girls or whatever, you talk funny stuff.
13:43
Well, and obviously they were telling me to say stuff that wasn't what I thought I was saying.
13:49
And I had my fun with that because then I had a Japanese teammate a couple of years later and I remember being a part of doing that stuff and saying he wanted a water or something from the barmaid and so we'd tell him to say something.
14:00
It was...
14:02
Absolutely not.
14:03
Can I have a glass of water, please?
14:05
But that had all happened to me as well.
14:07
But it was actually interesting because in Italy there are a lot of dialects and every town sort of has its own very strong dialect.
14:17
And where I was living, which was up near Brescia, they have this dialect called Bresciano.
14:22
And it's pretty crude.
14:24
And so they just had a blast teaching me dialect.
14:27
So what I was learning wasn't Italian.
14:29
It was their dialect.
14:31
And so it wasn't until a couple of years later that I realized that...
14:39
I wasn't speaking Italian.
14:40
I was speaking this dialect.
14:42
And then I started studying Italian.
14:44
I started going to Italian school to learn proper Italian, which was great because then I was able to learn, you know, past tense, future tense, grammar and the rest of it.
14:54
you know, just really improve my Italian.
14:57
So yeah, I ended up spending eight years in Italy, between racing go-karts, and then when I started racing cars, I stayed in Italy, just a different part of Italy.
15:10
But yeah, then, you know, you asked me about French.
15:13
I don't speak fluent French.
15:16
I did learn French for a while.
15:18
When I was doing Formula 3, I was doing the Euro Series and we raced in France a lot.
15:23
There was a lot of French media.
15:25
And so for a while I was studying French from Italian to French.
15:29
I had a teacher, you know, so I picked up enough where I was doing interviews.
15:36
which was really good, but I never kept after the French, and I've pretty much lost it all.
15:43
I wish I did.
15:43
I'd keep it up, but I've still got Italian, so that's good.
15:48
Tell me about the transition.
15:49
You touched on it there a moment ago from karts to car racing.
15:53
Am I right that it was about the turn of the century, Formula Renault, and how did that opportunity come about, and how much did you grab it with both hands and love it?
16:06
a sequence of events, how things turn out, you know.
16:09
And I'd been racing karts in Europe for a few years.
16:14
I'd been with CRG for three years, and things were going well.
16:17
I mean, we'd won a couple of championships, but, you know, then in 99, I was...
16:24
They put me on the tyre that wasn't really competing for the European and World Championships.
16:28
I wasn't really at the front for the very big races.
16:35
Peter Collins.
16:36
Sorry, Peter Collins.
16:37
He was sort of making a...
16:42
He was hanging around the go-kart tracks and he approached me as sort of a manager role.
16:49
I didn't have a manager or anything.
16:51
You know, I was just racing for CRG and doing stuff.
16:53
And so he really started showing interest in me and talking to me.
16:59
And he ended up setting up a change in team for me where I went to Tony Card.
17:06
for the year 2000.
17:09
And I think that's really a move that really opened up all the opportunities that led me to move on with my career to get out of go-karts.
17:19
So I go to Tony Kart for 2000 and nothing really against CRG.
17:29
But when I went to TonyCart, it was just another level of professionalism.
17:34
Just from the contract, I'd never had a contract before, and so I go to TonyCart, they sign me up to a two-year contract with a salary, which I'd never had before.
17:43
I was just racing for free.
17:44
So now I'm like, now things are getting serious.
17:47
I've got a contract, I've got a salary, and...
17:53
And now, you know, you do a practice session, I come in and they have me do, like, debrief sheets and start writing about what the setup of the cart's doing corner by corner.
18:01
Yeah, which we never did at CRG.
18:03
We should have.
18:04
We sort of talked more about engines and stuff at CRG, not so much the chassis.
18:08
But, so anyway, I start the year 2000 at TonyCart.
18:13
And, um...
18:15
It's going well.
18:15
I'm adapting to the new team.
18:18
And it was early.
18:19
It was maybe April or May.
18:22
And Toyota was getting into Formula 1.
18:26
They were testing the Formula 1 car.
18:29
And they were starting this young driver program.
18:32
And so they were starting to scout young drivers from different, from go karts, you know, and from various places.
18:43
So the team manager at Toyota was Ange Pasquale.
18:47
And he was heading up the Young Driver program, and he'd heard of this tourney cart driver, Frank Pereira.
18:55
And he'd won the, I think he'd won the Junior World Championships and Formula A World Championship.
19:01
So he was like the hot shoe, young, really fast French driver.
19:07
And so he came to Tony Cutt, to Mr. Robazzi, to ask if he could arrange a meeting with Frank at Monza to talk about the future.
19:18
And Robazzi talked Ange into meeting me as well at the same time.
19:25
So, which was massive to me because Mr. Robazzi was very intimidating, never really showed what he thought.
19:33
And I always just thought he hated me, although he just hired me.
19:36
But, you know, it was like you never knew.
19:40
And just for him to really...
19:42
pushed Toyota to make this meeting with me was massive.
19:46
So I remember I drove to Monza, you know, the F1 cars were all testing out there.
19:52
So I go out there and have this meeting with Ange Pasquale, who's Corsican.
19:57
So he's like half French, half Italian.
20:00
He's Corsican.
20:03
So we do this meeting, and we did it all in Italian.
20:05
And I think that, first off, was very impressive to him that I spoke Italian.
20:10
And so anyway, it led to, okay, we'd like to try out on this program.
20:16
So for the rest of the year then, we did, well, it was two big sort of scouting tests in Formula Renault cars.
20:24
So we did one at...
20:27
We did one in Maggione in Italy, just a small track.
20:31
And we did another one at the, I think it was the A1 track in Austria.
20:37
And there were a couple of drivers there that had experience in cars.
20:45
V-Lander was one of the drivers that went.
20:50
Kubica was one, Frank, myself.
20:53
But there were a lot of drivers.
20:54
There were a few Swede drivers they kept on trying out because Uwe Andersen really wanted a Swede driver to be a part of the program.
21:03
But anyway, I went through all the tests and...
21:06
Came out and I must have done really well.
21:09
And by the end of that year, they pulled me out of the Tony Kart contract, put me into the Formula Renault winter series at the end of 2000.
21:20
So I did the winter series and then signed me up to do full time Formula Renault the next year.
21:25
things progress pretty quickly from there.
21:29
I mean, that's the thing to let our listeners know.
21:31
If they were to look purely at your CV, it looks like this seismic jump, mate, because the next thing you get an opportunity, you know, an extension of what you've talked about with Toyota that leads to testing opportunities and then later Friday, the Friday driving role.
21:46
I mean, that's huge.
21:47
Yeah.
21:48
It was crazy, actually.
21:49
I mean, because here I am at...
21:52
just out of go-karts.
21:54
And now, so my first year in cars, I'm doing Formula Renault.
21:57
We had a really good year.
22:00
I won the Italian championship.
22:01
I won a couple of races in the Euro Cup championship, which we weren't doing the full season in.
22:08
So just the few races we did, I won two of them, which was amazing.
22:12
And then in September, they offered to give me a test in their F1 car.
22:21
Like, really?
22:22
So this is, you know, like... You did a double take when you looked at me then, so you must have done that at the time when the call came through or whatever.
22:28
Where was the test?
22:29
I mean, this is in a great period of Formula One.
22:32
Admittedly, Toyota at this stage are kind of the new kids on the block, but...
22:37
You know, fans that love the sport, love the engines in that era and so on.
22:41
Where did you drive it?
22:42
What did you think?
22:43
Was it mind-blowing?
22:44
It was mind-blowing because here I am just out of a Formula Renault car, barely out of go-karts, and we went to Paul Ricard, which was, you know, Toyota had their, you know, garages and everything, so that was the test track.
22:58
Yeah.
23:00
And it's got long straight as well.
23:03
So here I go in the F1 car and it was just mind-blowing.
23:06
I mean, the power, the downforce.
23:09
I mean, it was just such an amazing experience.
23:12
So I did the test.
23:16
And then they offered to sign me up as, you know, test driver the next year and do Formula 3000 at the same time, which is a massive step from what I'd been doing in Formula Renault.
23:28
So things probably progressed a bit too quickly looking back, to be honest.
23:32
But, you know, they would ask me, so do you feel up to it?
23:34
You know, is this what you want to do?
23:35
I'm like, yeah.
23:36
Yeah.
23:37
Of course I do.
23:38
No, I wasn't going to say no, but, you know, the next year was, you know, it was a bit of a challenge.
23:42
I was testing F1 cars.
23:45
I was racing F3000 with drivers that have been racing cars for years and years and years.
23:53
And, you know, it was a bit of a difficult year, you know.
23:56
I...
23:58
The team I was racing for won the championship the year before with Justin Wilson.
24:04
But the year I came in, everything changed.
24:06
They were brand new cars.
24:08
So everything was new.
24:09
Teams were changed.
24:11
needed to do new setups and everything.
24:13
And, you know, halfway through the year, you know, I'd had some decent, like, mid-pack results, but I wasn't competing for wins or anything.
24:24
And I think- You made a pretty decent or significant change in the racing side of it then, didn't you?
24:28
Yes, yeah.
24:29
And I think a lot of it was me, you know, just lack of experience in a car that was that big and heavy to drive.
24:36
And I was little still.
24:37
Like, I was still pretty little.
24:39
And a former 3,000 car was a car that you really needed to muscle around.
24:43
I mean, no power steering, big, heavy car, very comparable to an Indy car.
24:48
And it was just a bit of a struggle.
24:51
And Toyota, mid-year, they decided this...
24:55
This isn't really working, whether it's me or the team.
25:00
And they put me into German Formula 3 to finish out the year.
25:03
And it was fantastic.
25:05
I mean, I finished the year in German F3.
25:06
I got a couple of podiums.
25:08
And that was, you know...
25:10
the most competitive Formula 3 championship in the world.
25:14
And so I went in and it went really well.
25:17
So at that point for the next year, so now we're going into 2003, they said, all right, let's just let Ryan focus on racing.
25:26
We'll do less of the Formula 1.
25:28
So it was sort of a bit of a, I wouldn't say demotion, but it was like, let's focus on still honing his skills in the racing world.
25:38
And...
25:40
So I did F3 that year, the new Euro series, and it went awesome.
25:47
We won eight races and won the championship and finished the year testing the F1 car.
25:54
And then that turned into then being full-time sports.
25:59
F1 test driver travelling to the Grand Prix's and then doing Friday practice sessions at Grand Prix's and so forth.
26:06
So, yeah, things were going well.
26:10
Sometimes there are cars that fall a certain way that help in that regard too.
26:14
And I think the story went that... Did they not promote Riccardo Zonta to replace Cristiano Di Marta?
26:19
That opened the door, didn't it?
26:21
Yes, it did.
26:21
So we had two test drivers.
26:23
It was me and Zonta.
26:25
And then DeMata left the team mid-season and Zonta moved up into the race driver role, which then promoted me to the Friday sessions.
26:36
So all of a sudden now I am Friday sessions reserve driver and I did the last six Grand Prix's of 2004 in that role.
26:46
There was chat, mate.
26:47
There was a rumour about a potential move to Jordan.
26:51
Was that rumour, I mean, did it have legs and how serious did it get?
26:55
Yeah, it had legs.
26:57
We were trying to make it happen.
26:59
And I mean, firstly, I was hoping that I'd get the seat at Toyota.
27:07
You know, also being part of the Young Driver program, and they brought me up through the ranks.
27:11
And I was hoping that's where it was leading to, which had been the initial idea of the whole deal.
27:19
But Toyota hadn't been performing, so...
27:23
They'd been spending a lot of money and not getting the results.
27:26
And basically from above then they were...
27:30
It came down from Japan.
27:33
We need two drivers in our race car that have won Grand Prix.
27:37
And that wasn't me.
27:39
I'd never raced in Formula 1.
27:42
So at that point they signed...
27:46
who was it, Truly and Schumacher, Ralph Schumacher, to pretty long-term contracts.
27:53
So at that point, we're like, okay, what are my options?
27:56
Because I was at the point where, okay, this is my time to either try to get a race seat or... At that time, I was thinking it's easy to fall into that role as a test driver and be...
28:07
Because some drivers would just be test drivers then sort of for the rest of their careers, and it's not what I was looking at.
28:15
And so Toyota were talking to Jordan about providing engines, so there was going to be that link.
28:23
They were still short like $1.5 million and Toyota wasn't prepared to really spend that for me to race for a team that wasn't theirs.
28:33
But they said you could do it if you find the money.
28:35
So I actually came out here and did a little bit of
28:39
you know fundraising which is i'd never done it before and i don't think i was very good at it didn't really know where to go but i remember going to uh lindsey fox's office in melbourne and i met with lindsey fox and i don't think it went well at all
28:59
He asked a lot of grilling questions and I probably didn't have the right answers, but it wasn't for him.
29:05
And so during this time, I'm like, fuck, how are we going to make this happen?
29:12
During this time, Max Angelilli, who was looking after me now and racing in the States, got contact through Chip Ganassi.
29:20
And they were interested in giving me a test in an Indy car.
29:25
So I was like, all right, let's do it.
29:27
So I flew out to America, did a test at Phoenix.
29:32
We did one day on the road course and then one day on the Oval.
29:36
Did the test.
29:37
It went awesome.
29:38
I had a blast.
29:39
Loved everyone on the team.
29:40
It was such a different atmosphere to Formula One.
29:43
It was just so enjoyable.
29:45
And then at the end of it, pretty soon after, like maybe a week or two or something, they're like, we'd love to have you...
29:53
race for us next year uh we're gonna pay you x and you know we want you to be our man next to scott dixon and darren manning racing for target in the car you know i didn't know much about indycar at the time but
30:10
One of my all-time idols is Alex Sanati and him winning at Surfer's Paradise, doing donuts in Target car.
30:19
And I was just like, geez, I've got Chip Ganassi Racing asking me to race their IndyCar in Target colours.
30:25
And I just never even...
30:29
I just completely dropped any Formula 1 aspirations at that point and just said, that's it, that's what I'm doing, and just went blind into oval racing.
30:38
It's a big change, but a little surreal at the same time.
30:41
I mean, Ganassi, Legendary, you talked about the famous colours, to be a part of that operation is huge.
30:47
I want to understand how, can you share with our listeners how different the car was to drive, and particularly on ovals for the first time.
30:55
I mean, that's something very different, isn't it?
30:58
Yeah, it is.
31:00
I was just so ignorant going in.
31:02
I hate to say it, I'd never really watched IndyCar outside of Surfers Paradise and a few laps at the Indy 500, but I was so engrossed in Formula One.
31:14
That's all I really used to watch.
31:16
And so I went in thinking, pretty confident young guy.
31:24
I didn't really know what a car should feel like on an oval.
31:27
And so I went in and, you know, we had a lot of accidents.
31:33
And it wasn't an easy year for the team either.
31:37
We were running Toyota engines underpowered.
31:41
massively underpowered and trying to make up the difference by running less downforce.
31:47
And so I think for a rookie coming in and doing IndyCar, it was one of the more difficult situations.
31:54
There wasn't much testing.
31:57
But I had some really good races and I think it was the second race of the year.
32:03
albeit it was a street course, back sort of more in my wheelhouse, but I almost won my second IndyCar race at St. Petersburg and then got tangled up with Canaan and took me out of the race.
32:16
But, you know, I had a...
32:19
Just such a good time racing the cars and great new challenge and doing the Indy 500 for the first time.
32:25
I mean, I just, I had no idea how big it was.
32:29
And just that first time walking through Gasoline Alley out to the starting grid, I'll just never forget it.
32:37
Like, it's always special, but that first time I ever did it, I just...
32:41
it's just electrifying and to see that many people in one place.
32:44
And so those sorts of experiences, they were just, uh, unreal.
32:48
You know, I got a pole position at Sonoma that year.
32:51
Um, and then, and then I had the massive crash at Chicago and that sort of put everything to a stop for a while.
32:58
Um, but you know, I, I knew that, you know, basically America was, you know, where my future was, was going to be in racing.
33:08
Um,
33:11
More with Ryan Briscoe in a moment.
33:15
In this series, I speak to some of the most passionate riders, drivers, designers and collectors I know.
33:22
Like Merrick Watts, the radio funny man and stand-up comedian who loves a good road trip and has been known to buy a resto project or two after a long lunch.
33:32
I'd been drinking.
33:34
I got on a gum tree.
33:37
And because I'd seen this bike, if only enough, in Adelaide, I'd seen this old bike.
33:42
And I went, that looks great.
33:44
It's an ex-police bike, isn't it?
33:45
It's an ex-police bike.
33:46
And it was in concourse condition.
33:49
And I bought it.
33:49
And then I literally woke up the next day and I went, God, I had the weirdest dream last night.
33:54
And I bought a police bike.
33:56
Oh, my God, I bought a police bike.
33:59
And it wasn't even like in Adelaide.
34:01
It was like miles away.
34:03
And I've still got that.
34:04
That's at my house.
34:06
Ask me when the last time I rode that was.
34:07
Yeah, when did you last ride that?
34:09
Not this year.
34:10
Not this year.
34:10
Listen to the full episode with Merrick Watts here on Rusty's Garage.
34:23
The Bathurst 1000 race held at Mount Panorama.
34:26
Once a year, fans come from all across Australia for this fast-paced, tin-crushing, loud and highly competitive weekend of drinking.
34:35
They might even watch some of the races well, as long as it doesn't get in the way of the drinking.
34:40
You talked about that massive crash in 2005 at Chicagoland Speedway.
34:46
The vision is still kind of etched in my mind.
34:47
I think the car climbed over Alex Barron's car, is that right?
34:52
What triggered it?
34:54
Do you mind reliving it?
34:55
I mean, it looks frightening to watch even now.
34:58
Yeah, I mean, I remember.
34:59
I think, you know...
35:04
there were sort of unwritten rules in oval racing where if you, you know, enter on one groove, you hold that groove and this and that.
35:12
And I think I was a little bit too stuck on what the etiquette rules were, you know, and, um,
35:22
I remember we went into turn three at Chicago, and I went in on the middle groove, one groove up from the bottom of the track, overtaking Alex Barron, and he sort of came down, and I think my lack of experience, and we just tangled wheels.
35:39
I think if that same scenario would have happened a few years later, I would have...
35:44
gone down with him and the crash wouldn't have happened so in the end I think it was probably my lack of experience and and whatever but um we tangled wheels and next thing I've ridden a wheel of his side by side open wheel cars and next thing it's just vertical and you're doing you know 215 mile an hour whatever that is
36:10
Big in case.
36:12
360 or 70, I'm not sure.
36:14
Yeah, and so next thing it's just vertical.
36:19
It was a beautiful day.
36:20
I remember the blue sky.
36:21
But I knew, you know, I'm not really religious, but I remember...
36:28
you know, praying to God for a second, like, can we come out of this?
36:31
And, yeah, just, you know, I was okay in the end, you know, broke a few bones.
36:37
But that's some injuries, though, yeah.
36:38
Yeah, I mean, it was a massive impact.
36:41
I think they saw on the car the G-Force spiked at between 170 and 190 Gs.
36:47
Whoa, whoa.
36:51
I mean it went straight into the pole.
36:52
The engine stuck on the pole and just dropped to the ground like right where we went in and I pirouetted and
37:01
But there was fire too.
37:03
We were using methanol back then, so there was fire in the cockpit when the car came to a stop.
37:07
And I remember the...
37:10
I must have blacked out, but when I came to, I remember there was fire and it was hot and everything and the officials came to get me out of the car.
37:18
And I just remember being in there.
37:20
The first thing I did was wiggle my toes.
37:21
I was like, okay, I can feel my feet, so that's good.
37:24
And then there they're trying to get me out.
37:26
And I remember telling them, like, go away, go away, because I didn't want them to get burnt.
37:31
meanwhile I'm in there burning but no but they dragged me out of the car and put me on the stretcher and put the fire out and I just I didn't have like bad burns but I just inhaled some and so I had burns on the insides of my lungs a little bit so I had to use oxygen for about 8 days I think after the crash just cause of the scabbing inside um but I had you know micro fractures to 7 vertebrae I broke both collarbones and um
38:00
maybe a toe in my foot, I can't remember, but I mean, relatively small injuries, you know, in hindsight.
38:10
So, yeah, I mean, I was extremely lucky for how big of a crash it was.
38:15
It's a brutal game, mate.
38:17
You would part ways with Chip.
38:20
How difficult was that to negotiate?
38:23
Because you talked a moment ago about what... Everything had kind of come together.
38:28
Legendary outfit.
38:29
You were a part of this operation.
38:30
That must have been tough to tell.
38:33
Yeah, I mean, I was...
38:35
There wasn't any sort of negotiation.
38:37
I was pretty much on a hospital bed.
38:42
I think...
38:43
You know, there were probably a lot of doubts whether I would want to come back and race IndyCar.
38:52
And I wasn't sure I wanted to at the time either.
38:57
Yeah, I mean, I had doubts as well.
38:59
I just wasn't sure how I was going to recover and if I was going to enjoy it anymore.
39:05
How did you get on top of that?
39:06
What did you do to, you know, make Ryan Briscoe say, yes, I've got to get back on the horse?
39:11
Well, it was interesting.
39:12
I mean, it was kind of a funny sequence of events.
39:16
So I went to Italy to do rehab and heal.
39:21
And then it was...
39:22
So the crash actually happened on the 11th of September.
39:26
Wow.
39:27
And then, so it took about three months to heal up.
39:32
It was December and I'm in Homestead doing some pre-Daytona testing.
39:37
I was going to do the 24 hours with Max, Angelili, Wayne Taylor.
39:42
And I'm on the timing standard.
39:44
I hadn't even driven the car yet.
39:45
So I hadn't driven any car since the crash.
39:48
And so I'm a bit nervous.
39:51
I'm excited.
39:51
I'm nervous, you know, to get in a Daytona prototype.
39:55
And I'm on the timing stand and I get a phone call and I look down and it's plus four nine, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
40:02
So I'm like, the only plus four nines I have are Toyota.
40:06
So I'm like, okay, I'll take this call.
40:10
So I answer it and it's Richard Cregan, you know, general manager at Toyota Formula One and...
40:18
He's like, hey, Ryan, how's it going?
40:20
I'm like, oh, I'm good.
40:21
I'm just at the racetrack.
40:22
He's like, oh, good, good, good.
40:24
Hey, would you be interested in coming over and doing a test for us in Spain?
40:31
I'm like, yeah, I'd love to.
40:36
He's like, well, we're going to need you here tomorrow.
40:44
So I'm like, okay, I don't know if we can do that.
40:48
But anyway, four hours later, I'm on a flight out of Miami, heading straight for Spain and thinking, am I doing the right thing?
40:57
Like, is my neck going to...
41:00
hold my head on top of my shoulders for this because i haven't driven a car since i just had a massive crash but i had been working out you know as you do when you injure yourself you almost work out more than what you did before but i went and did a three-day test at um hareth which is one of the hardest tracks for neck and g-forces and stuff um it was just funny though because they just he said you know we just we can't you know truly's
41:27
in Italy doing something.
41:28
Ralph, we're not sure where he is.
41:30
Zonta's unreachable in Brazil.
41:34
Like, they didn't have any drivers.
41:36
So they just rang me up, and I just said, yes, I'll do it.
41:40
The irony is it was good for you, wasn't it?
41:42
It was good for you to realise, okay.
41:44
It was great.
41:45
It was great, because I got in the car, I did three days.
41:47
in the car and ran really well.
41:50
We did tire testing and aero testing and the, it was just fantastic.
41:55
It was so much fun to be back in a Formula One car.
41:59
And actually we organized a champ car test for the following week.
42:02
So from Spain, I flew straight back to Florida and then did a champ car test in Sebring.
42:09
And so then things were rolling and I was confident and felt
42:14
strong and i was like you know mentally um i was like yes this is i can do it nothing's changed and uh you know let's let's get on let's get on with business and so you know i um started you know trying to find a indy car or champ car ride for uh 2006 um and
42:38
The thing was with the champ car, I did the test with PKV, which was a Calcovan team.
42:46
And they sort of dragged that on.
42:48
I did a couple of tests with them.
42:50
It went really well.
42:51
And they implied that it was all going to happen.
42:53
And then it was like at the last hour, they signed Catherine Legg in 2018.
43:00
you know, instead of me.
43:02
And I think there were other reasons, you know, political reasons or whatever.
43:06
And so, but that was a bit unfortunate because it sort of left me high and dry a little bit that late in the off season.
43:13
So then I started talking to some IndyCar teams and I remember talking to Ray Hall and I really got the impression that people were a bit...
43:26
nervous about how I was going to handle ovals again.
43:31
Champ car didn't do ovals.
43:33
And so that was never even a problem.
43:35
But IndyCar was still like 90% oval racing.
43:38
They had three road courses.
43:40
And, um...
43:43
You know, and I'd sort of made a vow to myself after the crash.
43:46
I was like, I have no problem going oval racing, but I'm only going to do it with a top team that I know that it's, you know, the equipment is safe.
43:54
And, you know, there was sort of a new respect for the danger of oval racing and super speedway racing.
44:02
So I was like, okay, I'll only do it with a top team.
44:04
And then I started talking to Drayen Reinbold, which is a small team.
44:12
and went to them and they were really interested in me.
44:15
They wanted me to do like the full season.
44:17
And we went back and said, no, I just want to do the road courses.
44:21
So I think there was, I definitely had a barrier still.
44:25
And it wasn't just from me.
44:26
It was from Max as well.
44:27
And, and my parents.
44:30
So, and, and, um, so I said, I'll just do the road courses.
44:36
And then, you know, as the year was going on and, um,
44:41
We were starting to realise that it was going to be difficult for me to go back IndyCar racing unless I made the impression to everyone that I can go oval racing.
44:52
And I think I still had to prove it to myself too.
44:55
So then with Drayn Reinbold I said they had two races available for me to do.
44:59
It was Nashville and Milwaukee.
45:03
So I ended up doing four races with them.
45:05
I did Nashville, Milwaukee, Sonoma and Watkins Glen.
45:11
And it was the best thing I did really to just get back into the IndyCar scene because I went out and ran competitively.
45:22
We actually picked up the podium at Watkins Glen.
45:24
I had a really good race at Nashville.
45:28
We ran, I think, top 10.
45:30
which for that car was really, really good.
45:33
And for me as well, it was the first time back on an oval since I'd had the crash.
45:37
So I sort of proved to myself that I could do it, and I felt good doing it.
45:46
So things were getting back on track.
45:49
And then it was at the end of that year then that Penske came and asked if I'd be interested in joining their sports car program.
45:59
in the RS Spider.
46:01
Um, I went to, uh, I think I, I did a test in France.
46:07
We went, I went first to Germany.
46:10
We did the test at, uh, on their test track, which an RS Spider should never go on.
46:18
But, you know, so that was happening.
46:19
And then, but I hadn't met Roger yet.
46:21
And, um,
46:23
I was actually already living in North Carolina, so Tim Sindrick, I remember, it was crazy.
46:29
He was like, we're going to...
46:30
He asked if I was available this night of the week to go and meet Roger, and we'll go and have dinner.
46:37
So it was like, I don't know what day of the week, a Monday or a Tuesday.
46:42
So we jump on the plane, on Roger's plane, fly to Detroit, have dinner.
46:51
And during dinner, it was funny because Roger just sprung it on everyone.
46:57
I guess he hadn't talked to anyone about it, but we met.
47:00
He liked me.
47:01
We got talking and then he just sprung it at the table.
47:04
He was like, we should run Briscoe at Indy next year.
47:09
let's do that.
47:10
And like, I remember looking at Sindrick and he's just like, really?
47:14
Like how, how the hell are we going to do that?
47:15
And they had the, you know, Marlboro sponsorship still.
47:18
And I think there was like a two car contract with that.
47:20
And, you know, they couldn't run three.
47:21
And so wheels are turning then.
47:23
And, um, so we flew back home that night and now I'm like, Oh yes.
47:28
And, um,
47:31
What was really cool about that whole deal then that I learned afterwards that I think they had long-term plans for Hornish.
47:39
They knew that he wasn't going to be staying on the IndyCar team, that Hornish had NASCAR aspirations.
47:47
So they were starting to look to who was going to replace him and I was that guy.
47:53
So they actually ended up signing me to a...
47:56
to the Porsche contract to race the Spyder, but they also put me on a separate contract as reserve driver for the IndyCar team.
48:08
And then we sort of set up the Lusso Dragon Racing as a car that I would race the Indy 500 in that year, which was a third Penske car, but we weren't allowed to say it at the time.
48:22
I think I can say it now.
48:23
It's 11 years ago.
48:27
But it was great and, you know, came fifth, had an awesome race and so, you know, and then obviously had a great year racing the RS Spider that year.
48:39
And then I think everything sort of went to plan and Hornish stepped out of the IndyCar race.
48:45
went to NASCAR and that was, then I stepped into the, you know, Marlboro Team Penske IndyCar team.
48:52
Let's talk about some of these cool cars, mate, because, I mean, firstly, to hook up with an automotive icon, a racing legend in Roger Penske from, you know, your career point of view after leaving Ganassi and then, you know, the ups and downs of where am I going?
49:06
I mean, that's a huge tick for you.
49:09
Yeah.
49:11
Firstly, tell me about, share with our listeners what it's like to drive an IndyCar pinned at speed around the famed brickyard when it's full of people at Indianapolis.
49:22
I mean, that just, that's not, that's not something that's easily described, but it must be incredibly special.
49:28
It is.
49:28
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's just such a magical place.
49:32
I mean, it's.
49:35
And it's just the traditions and how Americans embrace tradition, I think, is really special.
49:42
I mean, the pre-race ceremonies for the Indy 500 last like an hour.
49:48
It's hairs on the back of your neck stuff, isn't it?
49:50
It is the whole time.
49:52
I don't think I've ever started an Indy 500 where I haven't actually gotten emotional and started crying.
49:58
Like on the grid before the race starts, just because there's so much.
50:01
You've got everyone coming up and just wishing you the best.
50:04
And like, it's hard for me to not like feel emotional just talking about it.
50:08
It's just something that's very unique that I've never experienced anywhere else.
50:16
I mean, nothing against, you know, Le Mans, but the emotions that I've experienced at Indy just don't compare to anything else.
50:26
So it's such a special place.
50:28
And, you know, back to your question, what it's like driving.
50:32
It's...
50:34
I think back with the old IndyCar, so like 09 and stuff.
50:39
Yeah, I just remember qualifying laps around there, and it was so hair-raising.
50:45
Put us in the cockpit.
50:46
What are we talking power plant-wise?
50:48
What are we talking speeds-wise?
50:51
What were we running, like 650 horse or something?
50:53
But, you know, you're running really long gears at Indy, so the horsepower doesn't feel astronomical, and it sort of takes the full, you know,
51:03
lap two and a half miles to two laps to wind the thing up and next thing you're doing you know 230 plus top speeds and and on a pretty narrow track and um you know you go out for qualifying and you've got the car trimmed out to levels that the car's just floating through the corners i mean really load like we were running four
51:29
1500 pounds of downforce basically at 200 mile an hour which is very light that's not a lot of downforce you know it's just very slippery top speeds um you've got like three top gears so you you sort of go through like third then you've got a massive drop to fourth gear it's like boy you pull fourth gear and then you've got
51:52
you know, fourth, fifth, and sixth gears that are all like just 100 RPM from each other.
51:56
So you're sort of talking about that fine tuning, depending on where the wind is, you're doing a little bit of shifting to have that peak RPM down one straight or the other.
52:07
But yeah, I mean, getting a little bit of a slide.
52:10
I mean, it's like you finish four laps of qualifying at Indy.
52:14
I remember, and I would just be destroyed.
52:17
And then you'd have to go back and do it again and withdraw your time that you just did to go and do it again.
52:23
I think it's still extremely stressful qualifying at Indy.
52:29
I think they've made it so that you can do more qualifying attempts and not withdraw your time, which is better for the fans because more drivers do more qualifying attempts.
52:40
But...
52:41
But back when you every time had to withdraw your time to go again, I mean, it was stress to the max.
52:49
Absolutely.
52:52
Yeah, I remember like qualifying third and I qualified second and third on the old car.
52:59
And it was just hard, hard, hard work.
53:01
And I remember the year I qualified pole, which was the first year on the new car, was actually a lot easier than when I had qualified on the front row the previous years.
53:13
But but only qualified on pole by like a.
53:17
one ten thousandth of a second or so it was so close with Hinchcliffe that part of it was stressful just watching him go for it and be so close but um but yeah I mean any time going at those speeds around Indy is uh is special you got your first one
53:31
win from Emory at Milwaukee.
53:34
How much of a relief was that?
53:35
And I want to, for the sake of people listening, I mean, you got to join a very cool Penske club by doing that to win your first race with that organisation.
53:45
Paul Tracy, Elio Castroneves, Rick Mears, the legendary Mark Donoghue, and here's Ryan Briscoe ticking that box too.
53:52
Very cool.
53:53
It was...
53:54
It was a massive box to tick.
53:56
It was really good timing.
53:59
Milwaukee always followed immediately after the Indy 500.
54:03
And so I'd gone to Indy.
54:05
It was my first race in a Marlborough Colours at Indy.
54:10
We were having an okay race, but it was sort of highlighted by me having contact with Danica Patrick in Pit Lane.
54:19
It was a racing incident on pit lane, but I copped a lot of flack for it, right?
54:23
And she was so popular.
54:27
And she really made a huge scene about it, you know?
54:31
And so then all of a sudden, you know, it's like everyone's rumouring, you know, Briscoe's out at Penske, this and that.
54:40
And it's just, you know...
54:42
Typical motor racing.
54:42
Crazy town, typical motor racing and...
54:46
I'm, what, four races into being a Penske driver and he hasn't won a race yet.
54:53
It's like there's a lot of pressure to be a winner when you're racing for Penske.
54:58
So to follow that up then at Milwaukee, which is...
55:03
One of the toughest tracks that you'll ever go to.
55:05
Yeah, it was extremely good.
55:07
It was extremely good timing to get that win.
55:10
And it was just a really fun race, good race for Dixon the whole way through and just a massive win.
55:15
It was number 300 for Roger.
55:19
And amazing to think that
55:22
almost exactly 10 years after that, he's got 500 now.
55:25
So, I mean, it's a massive record of wins he's got per year.
55:29
But, yeah, that was number 300 for him.
55:31
And, you know, then the year just kept getting better and better.
55:37
I think that took a lot of weight off my shoulders and sort of just really started coming into my own in the team.
55:42
And, you know, we followed it up with another win at mid-Ohio and finished...
55:50
I think fourth or fifth in the championship, which was good.
55:54
And then we got the win at Surfers Paradise too in the non-points race.
55:59
That was my next question to you.
56:00
I mean, to win in Australia with that organisation, I mean, that's a famous, famous race.
56:05
That must have felt cool.
56:07
Oh, it was.
56:08
It was amazing, actually.
56:10
It was, well, and as I said, like, earlier in the show, just one of my...
56:16
idols of racing was Alex Zanardi.
56:19
And one of my best memories is him winning at Surfers and doing donuts in the last corner.
56:24
And so...
56:28
For me to go and win at surfers on the exact same track in a car, I guess it was now basically 10 years.
56:36
I think he won in, it was 98 or 99, I think.
56:40
So it was 10 years later and I'm at that level.
56:43
And winning at surfers in IndyCar, I had to go and do donuts in the last corner, so I did.
56:49
How exhilarating was the ride around there?
56:52
I mean, it's an unforgiving joint.
56:54
It's a bit like a pinball machine if you get it wrong, but if you get it right, it must be cool.
56:58
It is, yeah.
56:59
I mean, it's, I'd say for sure, the toughest street course.
57:05
Well, sorry, there's Macau.
57:07
It was pretty tough, but didn't race IndyCars around there.
57:09
But, no, it's a tough place.
57:11
It was very fast.
57:13
I remember qualifying for that race.
57:16
race was in a drying track condition so it started wet and then it was drying and so every lap's faster and uh had a great battle with uh power and dixon i think power got the pole and i was second and dixon was third um but it's just a great battle really challenging and uh
57:37
Yeah, and so to win there was pretty phenomenal.
57:41
Fellow Aussie, Will Power, you're talking about, and Scott Dixon, the Kiwi, of course, who's done some phenomenal things in his career in IndyCar and continues to do so.
57:49
Let's talk about the RS Spider because you brought that up before in the range of cars that Porsche have.
57:57
It holds a bit of a special space in LMP2 terms or sports car terms, and you got to be a part of that great program.
58:02
Yeah, it was really special, and...
58:06
I think certainly one of the cars that will go down in history has been one of Porsche's iconic race cars that they've built.
58:16
Hard to drive at the limit?
58:17
What was it like?
58:18
What easy?
58:18
Oh, it was great to drive.
58:19
It was so good to drive.
58:20
It had so much downforce and it really was...
58:26
I mean, you know, any car you drive to the limit, you're on the limit and you're finding its limits, but it really was a really good car to drive on the limit.
58:36
Massive speeds, fastness.
58:39
It was actually, speed-wise, it was very similar to an Indy car.
58:43
I mean, and this was a much heavier car than an Indy car, but I think it was the following year.
58:48
It was in 08.
58:52
I can't remember the reasons.
58:55
I replaced, just as a one-off at Detroit, one of the...
58:59
I think it was Sasha Masson.
59:01
So I came in and just filled in for his seat.
59:03
And so I did the double header, I did the IndyCar race and the IMSA race on the same weekend.
59:09
So I was driving the IndyCar in the RS Spyder.
59:12
And the RS Spyder was a lot easier to drive in the IndyCar because it had power steering and stuff.
59:17
But I didn't overlay from qualifying.
59:19
And the lap time difference was exactly one second.
59:24
The IndyCar was faster by one second.
59:26
And the only difference was the straight.
59:28
Like, the IndyCar just accelerated and had a bit higher top speed.
59:31
And that's the only place where the lap time was faster for the IndyCar.
59:35
And everywhere else, the Spyder was braking as late, if not later, than the IndyCar.
59:40
The corner speeds, minimum speeds.
59:42
In the slow corners, the Spyder was quicker in the minimum speed.
59:45
So, you know, it really was an impressive car.
59:48
And we used to, you know, we'd go to Sebring and...
59:52
Just, it was a lot of fun.
59:55
With a good team of guys as well.
59:57
Great team of racers that you were paired with or partnered with.
1:00:00
Yeah, great team.
1:00:01
I was partnered with Sasha Masson.
1:00:04
We were using Emmanuel Collard as our third driver for the long races.
1:00:09
And then you had...
1:00:11
Timo Bernard, Romain Dumas in the other car.
1:00:15
And those guys were just so much fun.
1:00:18
They're like, and they're still the same.
1:00:20
They're just like inseparable twins, you know.
1:00:22
And they just went everywhere together.
1:00:24
But they did a fantastic job and they won the championship.
1:00:28
We came second and just had a great time racing with them.
1:00:32
You are back at Bathurst, which is fantastic.
1:00:34
And you are here with...
1:00:36
a very special car too, the Ford GT.
1:00:38
It's captured the attention of lots of people.
1:00:41
I thought Mark Winterbottom had a great comment today and he said that if we took a supercar, a V8 supercar to Le Mans, everyone would be like, man, show me this car, what's it like?
1:00:51
And it's that way for you with this machine, isn't it?
1:00:53
Tell us about it and what is it like to drive around the mountain?
1:00:56
Well,
1:00:57
So, you know, I think what's really special still about the Ford GT is just, you know, not many people have seen them.
1:01:03
And this is actually the first Ford GT to, you know, be in Australia.
1:01:09
It's still a very new product.
1:01:11
You know, there aren't that many that have been sold, you know, as road cars.
1:01:15
So I think it's still a car that...
1:01:18
when you drive it down pit lane, still, wherever I go, you drive it down pit lane and it just turns heads.
1:01:23
Everyone just wants to look at it.
1:01:24
And it's such a, it's so low, you know, it sort of looks like a Batmobile and it's got the buttresses over the back of it.
1:01:33
And it's just such an amazing car.
1:01:36
And still in keeping with the original like 60s GT40, it looks so much like the original car.
1:01:45
It's just modernized with aerodynamics and so forth.
1:01:48
But...
1:01:51
It's just such a cool thing to be able to come out here, show it off to everyone here at the mountain, to drive it around Bathurst.
1:02:00
You're talking about an amazing car on the best track in the world in front of my family and, you know, at home.
1:02:11
So it's just great to be out here and taking it for a spin.
1:02:25
What are we talking in terms of horsepower and some of the data on that?
1:02:28
3.5 litre twin turbo?
1:02:30
Yep.
1:02:31
Yep.
1:02:32
V6 twin turbo.
1:02:34
I mean, so the road car puts out 647 horse.
1:02:37
Which is impressive, isn't it?
1:02:39
Yeah.
1:02:39
It's just, there's, you know, and it sounds awesome.
1:02:44
You know, for a turbo, you can hear the turbos.
1:02:46
It's loud.
1:02:47
You know, the race car is, you know, tuned down.
1:02:58
uh you know you got the balance of performance and we we have to pull the boost out of it to race against um our other competitors and just for a speed target that you know imps and weck want us to race at um i wish we could just run it full tilt all the time because i think that's what this car's built for it's built to take you know 650 horse and uh and do those sort of speeds but um
1:03:24
Yeah, it's such a good car to drive.
1:03:28
As I said, the centre of gravity is so low.
1:03:30
You're sitting so low to the ground.
1:03:33
The Mustang is such a cool car.
1:03:35
I was sitting in the garage earlier.
1:03:38
And I had the Mustang, like, right in front of me.
1:03:41
And I asked the guy, I was like, is that thing on the ground?
1:03:42
Like, I was looking underneath the Mustang.
1:03:45
That's how low you're sitting in the Ford GT.
1:03:46
I mean, and the Mustangs are, you know, I mean, it's a race car.
1:03:50
It's, but, man, compared to the Ford GT, this thing is so low.
1:03:55
And...
1:03:56
Yeah, and so now what we're in our third year racing it in the States and I've had a lot of success.
1:04:04
You know, a couple of, you know, the team won Le Mans, we've won Daytona twice.
1:04:09
And I was in the Daytona winning car this year, which was amazing.
1:04:13
So the car's had a lot of success in the short time it's been around and...
1:04:19
I think it's just, I was so excited when Ford talked about bringing it out here to Bathurst to show it off in front of my home crowd.
1:04:27
I was stoked to be a part of that.
1:04:29
So much so that you were in the simulator prepping for it.
1:04:32
I saw some pics of that, which is great.
1:04:33
I was like, you know, the simulator, it's very cool and it costs a lot of money, but...
1:04:40
It's still a bit of a video game.
1:04:42
And I was like, who doesn't want to drive a Ford GT on a, you know, $10 million or whatever it costs video game at Bathurst.
1:04:50
So when they said we were testing at Atlanta last week and I'm at the test and they were like, hey, we just got Bathurst on the simulator because they didn't have the track before.
1:05:00
I'm there, I'm there.
1:05:02
They're like, if you want it, you can come up and drive.
1:05:04
I was like, oh, yeah, let's do it.
1:05:05
So I went up and...
1:05:08
Yeah, did some hot laps and tuned it all up.
1:05:10
I got the setup perfect.
1:05:12
And I had my, you know, soft tires on the thing and I put the long gear ratios in it.
1:05:19
And I was doing like 58s or something on the sim.
1:05:22
So it's got potential.
1:05:24
I mean, that car is perfectly suited for a track like Bathurst.
1:05:28
I mean, it's built...
1:05:30
for top end and fast corners, and that's what Bathurst is all about.
1:05:35
That leads me to an obvious question, and that is, is there some unfinished Bathurst business for you?
1:05:40
You've obviously been here with Jimmy Richards and the Holden Racing Team in supercars.
1:05:44
It's not...
1:05:46
new to you, so to speak.
1:05:47
But would you like to come back and have another crack at the 1000?
1:05:50
I'd love to.
1:05:51
Yeah, I mean, I love this race, the event.
1:05:55
I love driving the supercars.
1:05:57
You know, they're great cars.
1:05:59
Unique and difficult.
1:06:01
But I've always enjoyed it.
1:06:02
And so, yeah, I mean, the last time I did it was 2013.
1:06:07
And it's just been a bit difficult because you've sort of got to commit to the...
1:06:15
Pertec Enduro Cup, which is the three races, which is really cool.
1:06:21
It's just that when you're racing for a championship overseas and you've got to be flying back and forth.
1:06:27
And I remember the last time I did it in 13, it was really hard.
1:06:32
It was taxing and I couldn't come out and do any testing throughout the year.
1:06:36
And it was hard to sort of give 100% of myself to the team over here
1:06:43
because of the the busy commitment um in america um but yeah i mean absolutely and being here this weekend you know it's just like i want to get out there and have another go um but yeah i mean i wouldn't rule it out i mean i haven't been talking to anyone about it but uh i'd love to
1:07:02
Let's power through some stuff to finish here.
1:07:04
The podcast is called Rusty's Garage.
1:07:06
So firstly, what is Ryan Briscoe's daily driver?
1:07:10
I have a Ford Raptor F-150 Raptor in the States, which is my company car, which is, thank you Ford for that, because it's an awesome company car.
1:07:21
And I live where it snows a lot in the winter too, so it's just a beast in the snow.
1:07:25
It'll go through anything.
1:07:27
Are there any, like your dad had when you were growing up, are there any resto projects in the garage?
1:07:33
And if there aren't, what's on the wish list?
1:07:37
Well, there could be a Ford GT in the near future.
1:07:46
Like hint, hint, wink, wink.
1:07:48
So, yeah, I'm pretty excited about that.
1:07:52
Yeah, so, but no, I'm not much of a mechanic, so I'm not really into the restoring.
1:07:59
I love new cars a lot.
1:08:02
So, is there a Grail car?
1:08:04
If your wife said to you, okay, unlimited budget, knock yourself out, is there one that you would have to have?
1:08:09
And it doesn't have to be a modern car, necessarily.
1:08:11
Is there a supercar of some kind that you'd like to own?
1:08:15
Oh, man.
1:08:19
It's hard to beat.
1:08:19
I mean, this sounds like branding, you know, but the new Ford GT is...
1:08:28
pretty amazing and I've been able to test it and, you know, drive it and drive passengers and stuff and it's about as good as it gets as a road car.
1:08:38
I don't know, as far as anything else, I'm not really sure.
1:08:41
Like, there are so many cars and I've been able to drive a lot of great cars, you know, for people and just various events.
1:08:50
I do love Porsches.
1:08:52
I actually got to drive...
1:08:55
A couple of weeks ago, a 918 Spider, which was pretty mind-blowing.
1:09:01
But, yeah, I mean, it's, you know, I don't know.
1:09:04
I just... Cars are so expensive.
1:09:09
Typical race driver.
1:09:09
You've probably got the first dollar you own.
1:09:11
Right.
1:09:11
What do you listen to when you drive?
1:09:14
Are you sort of dictated to by the family and what the family wants to listen to?
1:09:19
What's on the radio or podcasts?
1:09:20
Hey, Dad, can you put the silly songs on?
1:09:22
It's like, oh, really?
1:09:24
Again?
1:09:25
Yeah, so, yeah, a lot of silly songs.
1:09:28
But I, honestly, I don't, I'm not stuck in one genre.
1:09:34
I love, like, 90s rock music.
1:09:39
Awesome.
1:09:40
But I also like EDM music too.
1:09:42
I listen to a lot of that.
1:09:44
It's just sort of, you can space out to... What drives you mad on the road?
1:09:49
What habits of fellow motorists get under you?
1:09:53
Um, oh, so many, so many.
1:09:57
I really shouldn't be allowed to drive on the road because I just get so annoyed with people on the road.
1:10:02
Um, and it's hard in America because there's just no etiquette, you know, like, you know, staying in the slow lane if you're not doing the speed limit or, you know, uh...
1:10:14
So here's one, someone overtaking a truck who's doing five under the speed limit and they sit in the fast lane and don't, like, finish the pass.
1:10:21
And they're just sitting there and you're like, let's go, you know.
1:10:24
Yeah.
1:10:25
I don't know, that general stuff, the stuff that everyone gets annoyed at, I guess.
1:10:29
You've had an incredible career, mate, and there's still more to come, but you've had success in all sorts of different categories and at all sorts of great racetracks.
1:10:40
Is there one track?
1:10:42
You talked about how Indy is such a special place for you, but is there one race, one result, one track that you have a soft spot for and, on that note, a race car from your career that you've got a bit of a mental attachment to?
1:10:59
I've never had a good run at Bathurst.
1:11:01
And I've done the race three times.
1:11:04
And, you know, it really was a special opportunity for me when I was able to come out and race with Jim Richards, you know, the legend Jim Richards, and I'm co-driver with him.
1:11:16
Unfortunately, I never got in the car that day.
1:11:18
And we had a rocket ship.
1:11:20
um it was you know i think we were going to have a good day but um you know bathurst you know i think every time i've gotten in the car for this race i've been a lap down or or you know close to or something so i just haven't really had a good run it would be nice to come back here and and run competitive and you know have a result um
1:11:41
You know, the Bathurst podium is one of those special podiums that you see the pictures of and stuff.
1:11:46
And I sort of compare it to, like, Monza, Formula One, that podium, Le Mans.
1:11:52
Yes.
1:11:53
That was really special.
1:11:54
Like, you go up on the podium and then it's just like a sea of people below you.
1:11:58
And I think Bathurst has that same kind of feeling.
1:12:00
So it's not just the whole, it's the event, it's everything, but it's the celebration after if you can actually get a result of it, you know, win or, you know, be on the podium.
1:12:10
I think Bathurst is pretty much as good as it gets for that sort of winning feeling.
1:12:17
Well done, mate.
1:12:18
Congratulations on everything you've achieved.
1:12:19
We wish you continued success.
1:12:21
And it's been great just to walk down memory lane about some of the great cars and the things over time.
1:12:26
Cheers.
1:12:26
Thank you very much.
1:12:32
Rusty's Garage is written and presented by me, Greg Rust.
1:12:36
Series producer and editor is Alex Mitchell.
1:12:39
Audio production by Darcy Thompson.
1:12:49
Listener.