Latest / Rusty's Garage / Paul Radisich

Transcript

Paul Radisich · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:14
  I'm automotive commentator and journalist Greg Rust and this is Rusty's Garage.
• 0:32
  I'm in New Zealand for this one, on the North Island's beautiful Coromandel Peninsula.
• 0:38
  You could be forgiven for thinking what kind of motoring or motorsport event takes place there.
• 0:44
  Well each year, for nearly a decade now, there's been a Goodwood-style meeting called the Leadfoot Festival.
• 0:51
  Competitors race all kinds of machines up a long driveway, a hill climb, and it attracts some fantastic cars, bikes and big names like Paul Radisic.
• 1:02
  The quietly spoken former touring car racer, he became a household name during the famed 2 litre super touring era.
• 1:11
  He won the World Cup not once, but twice.
• 1:14
  His nephew now races, and Paul's dad competed too.
• 1:18
  The family's love for it was a huge influence.
• 1:22
  It was all about family to start with because who was going to fix the car and who was going to get it out there and, you know, all that sort of thing.
• 1:30
  So, yeah, my dad being a Formula 5, you know, former Formula 5000 driver and touring car driver, I mean, you know, we used to go on picnics to Bay Park rather than going to the beach, you know, and Frank had a Mazda Rotary and a March.
• 1:46
  72 single seater and at the age of eight and ten I was out round Bay Park pounding around this 300 horsepower monster of a thing you know so I had no option I was always going to go motor racing our whole family if we didn't sell cars we fix them or race them you know so um
• 2:04
  You know, the interest was there and the support.
• 2:07
  You know, the typical motor racing family put everything on the line.
• 2:12
  Family went, had the family business, went bankrupt twice, just to keep me, at the end of the day, to keep me going.
• 2:19
  And when I think back, you know, think back now, I mean...
• 2:24
  Yeah, tough times, you know, but hey, I managed to keep it going.
• 2:28
  He recovered, family recovered and, you know, he got to a stage where he said, okay, Paul, I really can't help you anymore.
• 2:35
  I've got to rebuild finances and, you know, and you've got to go and do it yourself.
• 2:41
  I think in some ways that was probably the best thing he could have done for me.
• 2:45
  And, you know, and I was determined to have a motor racing career.
• 2:49
  And, you know, and I started chasing.
• 2:52
  I said, look, I'm not going to find the money, so I'm going to find the people that do, the teams that do, the car owners.
• 2:57
  And I set about hitting the world to do that.
• 3:01
  And that's how I managed to keep going.
• 3:03
  That's remarkable, the financial stress that would have caused on the family and things like that.
• 3:09
  Many people would just throw the towel in, but to do that twice and to keep at it, mate, for all of you to stay passionate about it is tremendous.
• 3:18
  Yeah, look, absolutely.
• 3:19
  It's, you know, that's, I guess, the motor racing drug, you know, and it's, look, yeah, the other side, it can cripple a lot of people, but, you know, we're able to get through it and recover and keep going, and, you know, everybody today is great.
• 3:38
  So, yeah, that's, you know, I guess it's what passion can do, you know, and I guess there's a fine line between...
• 3:47
  There's a fine line between getting somewhere and not getting somewhere.
• 3:50
  You know, there's been so many brilliant young drivers, particularly from New Zealand, that haven't been able to make that next step because of those financial restraints.
• 4:02
  You know, at some point you have to say, enough's enough, and I've got to join the real world and get a real job.
• 4:08
  And luckily for me, I didn't want to get a real job.
• 4:12
  And I just kept at it and at it and at it.
• 4:15
  And when I think back now, I think, Jesus, how, you know, I mean, it was a 20, nearly a 20-year apprenticeship before I had a full-time career and made it on the international scene.
• 4:28
  So, you know, it was, yeah, tough going, you know, but I guess that's what makes you what you are, you know, today.
• 4:36
  In addition to your dad, I mean, New Zealand has had its share of legendary drivers over the time.
• 4:42
  You know, the late Bruce McLaren, Denny Holm, Chris Amon.
• 4:45
  I mean, the list is, there's plenty of them.
• 4:48
  In addition to your dad, were there other influences like them?
• 4:50
  Were there guys that were sort of a source of inspiration in some respects?
• 4:54
  I think, you know, at that stage, I mean, they were at their top of the career when I was quite young.
• 4:58
  But just the, yeah, I mean, those three guys kept New Zealand motorsport, you know, in lights for, Jesus, decades, didn't they?
• 5:09
  And even today, it's still inspiring people, you know, Bruce McLaren, what he did, and Denny.
• 5:14
  I think Denny, for me, I had the opportunity to race with him twice.
• 5:18
  and he helped me initially to try and find funding for me to get to Formula 3.
• 5:25
  So the beer had quite a bit to do, and I had a bit to do with him as well.
• 5:30
  And, you know, he was a grumpy guy, but underneath it he had a heart of gold and...
• 5:35
  He was really, as far as inspiration was my dad, but Denny being a world champion and having him stand behind me in my early career was awesome.
• 5:50
  He died at Bathurst, quite sadly.
• 5:52
  Did that affect you at the time?
• 5:54
  What were the feelings at the time?
• 5:57
  Oh, it was devastating, you know.
• 6:00
  I guess we all consult ourselves to say, well, he went the way that he would have liked to have gone, but...
• 6:07
  That's probably not true.
• 6:09
  But, yeah, I mean, it affected everybody, you know, and for sure.
• 6:13
  I mean, my memories with him and spending time with him and Greta at, you know, Lake Rotowedi and, you know, his Can-Am boat that he had and all the toys that, you know, was, yeah, it was, of course, really sad and, you know, we managed to deal with it.
• 6:30
  This is a bit of a long-winded tale, and I don't know if I have the details right, so you might have to correct me here.
• 6:35
  In 2006, you did a Celebrity Speedway event with Steve Williams, former caddy for Tiger Woods, legendary New Zealand sportsman Greg Murphy took part, among others.
• 6:48
  Was that kind of like six degrees of separation?
• 6:52
  Because I think you may have learned some of your early driving on the Williams family driveway in Auckland in a Fiat or something.
• 7:01
  Is there any truth to that story or is that not quite right?
• 7:04
  Well, it's possible.
• 7:06
  It's too far.
• 7:06
  I can't remember.
• 7:07
  I meant my first car was a Fiat 500 Bambina.
• 7:10
  Wow.
• 7:10
  And it was the only car I could see over the steering wheel.
• 7:14
  How much?
• 7:15
  Where did you find it?
• 7:16
  Where did you get it?
• 7:17
  It was one of Frank's cars from the car yard, you know.
• 7:20
  We used to, it's possible with Steve Williams' driveway, but I do remember we had a workshop.
• 7:26
  Frank had a garage and every Friday night they'd clean the floors with kerosene and then they'd just go away and leave it.
• 7:32
  So when it was empty, I'd get this little bambina in the indoor workshop and I'd be doing these 360s around, around, around inside the workshop.
• 7:44
  Who did this?
• 7:45
  Yeah, of course they didn't if they looked too far.
• 7:48
  But going to the story, I mean, the Steve Williams thing, funny story.
• 7:55
  So I drove the stock car and I thought, oh, my God, what the heck?
• 7:59
  Because every time I hit the wall, it was like...
• 8:01
  I thought, oh, I just, it's like running your fingernails down the blackboard, you know.
• 8:07
  It was like a no rules thing too, wasn't it?
• 8:10
  Anyway, I went out and won the first race, right, and I thought, this is quite cool, you know, I like this.
• 8:15
  So the next time, of course, I didn't realise in Stockhouse, it was a bit like pack racing, they all gang up.
• 8:21
  So all of a sudden...
• 8:22
  You were a target.
• 8:23
  All of a sudden, I was a target.
• 8:24
  So some guy come out of the middle of the track on the grass and just smashed me in the side.
• 8:30
  And I thought, oh, my God.
• 8:32
  And all of a sudden, Tiger Woods, I'm stuck in the fence, and Tiger Woods is coming straight for me, right?
• 8:39
  And the deal was you put your arm out the window and wave, right?
• 8:42
  Yoo-hoo!
• 8:43
  And I put my arm out the window, but he didn't see me.
• 8:45
  And he slammed me straight in the side.
• 8:47
  And I broke my ribs.
• 8:49
  No way.
• 8:49
  Yeah, I broke my ribs.
• 8:52
  And I hopped down and said, Tiger, what did you do that for, you know?
• 8:58
  Oh, mate, I didn't realize you had broken ribs.
• 9:02
  Bloody golf players.
• 9:03
  Geez, they're aggressive.
• 9:05
  And anyway, it was, you know, the other side of that story is the following weekend with a broken rib, I had to go and race at Phillip Island.
• 9:13
  Can you imagine racing at Phillip Island with a broken rib?
• 9:18
  You guys always try and hide that stuff too, don't you?
• 9:21
  Well, we did.
• 9:22
  And I finished on the podium that weekend, but I couldn't even get on the podium.
• 9:26
  I was in so much pain.
• 9:29
  So Stock Cars is definitely a no-go.
• 9:31
  And doing it again with Steve Williams is a no-go too.
• 9:36
  And if he invites Tiger back, it's a triple no-go.
• 9:39
  What was the first racing experience for you?
• 9:42
  When did you get behind the wheel in a competitive sense, even just to sample something, whether it was a go-kart or whatever?
• 9:48
  And did you what impact did that have on you?
• 9:50
  Well, I started in motocross.
• 9:53
  We looked at go-karts, and at that particular stage, they were quite unreliable and wasn't that strong, but the motocross scene was big in New Zealand, and I started racing from about seven, and I won all the junior motocross stuff.
• 10:09
  So I raced motorbikes up until I was about 15, and then the car bug got hold of me, and I thought, hey, this is much easier.
• 10:17
  First competitive competition,
• 10:20
  car race with was with my brother my younger brother i was 17 and he was 14 and uh we we we took mum's master 323 and entered into the benson and hedges did she know about this well of course not she always get in the car go why is the car bouncing along the road because mum had had four square ties but anyway we um we grabbed the car
• 10:44
  Yes, we did tell her.
• 10:46
  And we had a bit of support from Mazda, and they helped us prepare the car with Frank.
• 10:51
  And every day after school, we'd sneak out to Pukekohe and go round, round, round, round, round, round.
• 10:57
  And so Chris and I, my brother, you know, I think we finished second or third in our first 500-kilometre race.
• 11:06
  So, yeah, that was really the first time.
• 11:07
  And then from there, it was like, hey, I really like this.
• 11:10
  You know, what should we do, Dad?
• 11:13
  And therefore, like him, I guess in many respects, I mean, he did saloon car stuff as well, but the open wheel direction really started to head you down that path, didn't it?
• 11:25
  Yeah, it did.
• 11:26
  We did that, and then I did another following year, another race with my dad and a Toyota Truno.
• 11:34
  a bit like a Celico, but only 1,600, and we sort of threatened all the big V8s, and I managed to pass.
• 11:41
  There was a hero at the time, Leo Leonard, and then people thought, oh, maybe the kid's got some talent, and I had a call from Gary Pedersen and Dave McMillan.
• 11:51
  And they had a Nissan-powered RALT-1.
• 11:54
  And he said, would you like to drive it?
• 11:57
  And I said, of course I would.
• 11:59
  So they dragged me out for the Grand Prix.
• 12:01
  I think it was 18.
• 12:03
  And unfortunately, we didn't make the race qualified and didn't make the race.
• 12:08
  The engine decided to expire on the road.
• 12:11
  So I didn't make the race.
• 12:12
  So I always would have been the youngest Grand Prix driver.
• 12:15
  Yeah.
• 12:17
  But from there on, that's where it started.
• 12:19
  And it just went on and on and on from that point.
• 12:24
  We sort of raced Atlantics.
• 12:26
  And it just kept me sharp for the, while everybody's hibernating in the...
• 12:32
  Northern Hemisphere, I was still racing down here, and I just set my journeys in America, Japan, Europe, UK.
• 12:42
  The racing I did here, I just run to a budget, and it enabled me to stay alive when I was travelling around the world, trying to be a stand-on-the-sideline reserve driver, and that's how I managed to keep myself going.
• 12:56
  You mentioned the New Zealand Grand Prix there.
• 12:59
  For any Kiwi competitor, even now, it is still... To win that, to have that on the CV, remains a huge thing, mate.
• 13:07
  How much did that mean to you?
• 13:08
  Oh, it was huge because, you know, my dad had tried to win it for many, many years and, you know, he spent most of his races down there sitting on the sideline with mechanical issues, as the way it was in those days.
• 13:22
  So, you know, he was...
• 13:24
  big not only inspiration but he kept the engine going he built all the engines for the car mechanic dirt you know yes we had other mechanics come in and work with it but you know he was right behind it so so it wasn't me winning it was him winning it too you know so it was pretty special
• 13:39
  Very, and the fact that you got to share a car, I mean, to do all those things together, and he's here today, even, and following you, isn't he?
• 13:46
  Yeah, look, he's, you know, he's the biggest supporter, and, you know, you only have to mention motor racing, doesn't matter, he's there.
• 13:52
  Yeah, so the interest has always been there, and, you know, that'll never change.
• 13:58
  You went to Europe, courtesy of a driver to Europe scheme that you won, and you got to race against the likes of Damon Hill and people like that, didn't you?
• 14:07
  Well, the New Zealand, it really sounded better than what it was.
• 14:13
  It was just a title where we tried to generate some funds from and we tried to get a national lottery behind it and unfortunately that failed.
• 14:22
  So once again, Murray Taylor, who was a Kiwi, ran in Formula 3 team in 84 and I went there and had pole for my first race.
• 14:31
  So that inspired everybody to try and...
• 14:35
  keep the oily rag thing going, you know.
• 14:37
  So I managed to do half a dozen races before I think Murray realised there was no money.
• 14:42
  And the cheque was in the post.
• 14:47
  So, yeah, it was, you know, we missed a couple of years and then had a film industry through, courtesy of Rob Whitehouse,
• 14:57
  who managed to put together some funding for a movie, and there was a legitimate tax break in there.
• 15:04
  We managed to raise some funds, David Oxton to run the Andy Rouse Sierra down here in the Wellington Street race and all that sort of stuff, and for me to go and do a season in Formula 3.
• 15:16
  So, and I teamed up with Damon Hill and...
• 15:20
  we set about doing Formula 3.
• 15:21
  Unfortunately, the route was a little outclassed to the Raynard for that year.
• 15:25
  And, you know, but I was just pleased to be able to get back and pick up where I left off and, you know, British Formula 3, which Formula, you know, all the drivers who'd done well in Formula 3 had gone to Formula 1.
• 15:37
  So it was the stepping stone to, you know, to Formula 1, which was always the, you know, always the aim for,
• 15:44
  There was a chapter in America as well that I wanted to get to with Indy Lights and other things.
• 15:49
  But clearly, before we got to you or get to your touring car chapter, Open Wheels was, as you say, the dream, wasn't it?
• 15:57
  Yeah, it was.
• 15:58
  And I didn't really look at anything else.
• 16:01
  I just wanted to go to Formula One.
• 16:06
  And that was it.
• 16:07
  But, you know, there was a crossroad like everything.
• 16:11
  And, you know, I'd started racing touring cars in Australia with Brockie and Johnson and Bill Bryce, who was down here.
• 16:20
  And I found it really easy.
• 16:22
  And the doors were opening.
• 16:26
  And then I had to make a decision.
• 16:28
  Was I going to keep trying to go down and become an Indy Lights, Indy Car Driver or Indy Lights driver, the single seater, or do I switch and go to touring cars?
• 16:40
  And, you know, that was where the crossroads, I had to make a decision what I wanted to do.
• 16:50
  It was a little noisy there a moment ago, so we've moved for this next chapter inside the car, fittingly.
• 16:55
  This is just enough room for our groceries, just.
• 17:01
  And you and I, Rusty, we're rubbing shoulders together going, would you like to come for a ride?
• 17:08
  We were talking before about your ultimate move to touring cars.
• 17:14
  Firstly, let's talk about your debut at Bathurst, 1988 in a BMW.
• 17:19
  How did that whole deal come together?
• 17:22
  It was Bill Bryce, and it was a little 325 BMW, so it was pretty in Class 2.
• 17:31
  And Bill, because I'd done a lot of single-seater racing, and he'd sponsored me, because he was part of Lockwood Homes, and so we had a good relationship, and he said, why don't you come over and drive the BM?
• 17:43
  So...
• 17:45
  Absolutely, so you know, because I think I spent most of the race looking in the mirror because you know the speed difference from class two to one was you know Dick charging around and the Falcon and you know that particular era those cars were pretty big so this thing
• 18:02
  struggling to get up the hills but it'll go like hell over the top i remember looking in the mirror going shall i pull over as i go through the top and down i thought nah i'll hang into it and sure enough i was quick down the hill but of course you know slow going down the straights and up the hill but great experience i think we finished runner-up in the in that class too i think for the even though we had some mechanical issues but it gave me the taste of bathys and i thought yeah this is this is a cool place it's
• 18:28
  Everyone talks about it as a place of legend, Kiwis and Aussies, but to steer it like your father had done, as we said earlier in the podcast, I mean, that must have been quite eye-opening and special at the same time.
• 18:41
  It was, because you've got to remember that I'd been to Bathurst as a kid.
• 18:46
  You know, when I was sort of eight to probably 13, we'd always been back and forth.
• 18:53
  So, you know, I'd gone from being in the pits, running around in the gravel pits in those days and jumping under the car and, you know, being sort of a semi-mechanic to all of a sudden racing out there was a slowdown.
• 19:07
  You know, I knew the place but didn't know the track.
• 19:10
  So, you know, it's quite amazing how just being in the atmosphere, you soak it all up and you obviously listen to things.
• 19:16
  And, you know, I'd probably learnt a hell of a lot about Bathurst before I got there.
• 19:21
  Even, you know, in those days, I think there used to be more accidents when the track was closed with the spectators falling down the bank.
• 19:29
  hammered out of their heads driving the track at night.
• 19:32
  So I remember it was always the hot gossip was, how many cars crashed during the night, you know?
• 19:40
  So as you know, those days are well gone.
• 19:43
  Only a couple of years later, 1990, you partner with Jeff Allum in a Shell Ford Sierra, and you finish on the podium, second in the great race.
• 19:52
  I mean...
• 19:54
  You talk about heading then toward a touring car chapter in your life.
• 20:00
  I mean, clearly that was the sort of stuff that convinced you, wasn't it?
• 20:03
  Yeah, look, and people around me, I guess as a driver you're always convinced.
• 20:09
  It's just getting the right place at the right time and all the stars to align, you know.
• 20:12
  So, yeah, I mean, that was a race where Jeff and I were quick all day.
• 20:18
  The main car, Dick's car and John had broken down.
• 20:21
  And we were leading it right at the top, right at the top.
• 20:26
  We stopped for the last stop and Dick wanted to get into the car.
• 20:31
  which was great, but unfortunately he hadn't tried to get in the car all week and the runner, because I was on a runner, jammed, and he tried for 12 or 15 seconds to get into the car.
• 20:45
  The seat wouldn't move far enough back for him?
• 20:47
  No, far enough back for him, no.
• 20:48
  And of course, luckily I was suited up, ready to go, and he couldn't get in, so he had to get out.
• 20:56
  I jumped in, so we lost 20-odd seconds, and we lost the race by 12.
• 21:01
  So in hindsight, if Dick had got in the car, he would have been able to...
• 21:07
  I'd say we would have won that race for sure, and if we hadn't lost the time, we would have...
• 21:14
  won it as well because we had a bit of a cushion on Percy and we lost it all in that change.
• 21:19
  So, you know, that's just the way it goes.
• 21:22
  And as I say, if Dick had got in the car, we would have won that race, yeah.
• 21:26
  Earlier in the series, I spoke with Glen Seaton about the development of the Sierra and the significant impact that Australia and even New Zealand made on the car, particularly towards the end of the racing life of the RS500 Cosworth.
• 21:41
  to drive one of those things at Bathurst.
• 21:45
  What was that like?
• 21:47
  But the sheer acceleration was, it's one of those things, you know, when you put your foot down and you've got so much power and your head pushes back into the headrest and you go, oh, that's fantastic.
• 21:57
  And that's what it was like every lap, you know.
• 21:59
  But the corners were a different thing because it had a lot of lag.
• 22:03
  And the more boost you gave it, the bigger the lag was.
• 22:05
  So you had to keep the momentum through the corner.
• 22:08
  Remember, I think we were running on, what, Fruits?
• 22:11
  small tyres, you know, 17-inch or whatever they were, they're pretty tiny.
• 22:15
  Things might even be smaller than that.
• 22:17
  So you had to keep the momentum through the car, put your foot flat mid-corner and hope like hell that the car was straight when the boost, when it all come in.
• 22:25
  So there was a technique to driving them.
• 22:28
  But I tell you, they were an awesome car to drive.
• 22:33
  By the time they come, they become reliable, well-developed.
• 22:36
  In the early days, their turbos were a bit of an issue.
• 22:39
  But Dick's car, and of course I drove the best cars.
• 22:43
  I drove Dick's cars, Peter's cars.
• 22:46
  And at that stage, they were well-sorted and great kits to drive.
• 22:52
  You talked about Peter Brock there a moment ago, and in the phase where Brock raced a mobile Sierra, that kind of came about in connection with, or working with, Andy Rouse to begin with, and that was when you would ultimately go super-touring.
• 23:05
  He was the man that you would drive for in the Ford Mondeo, wasn't he?
• 23:07
  Yeah, and it's all about stars aligning, right?
• 23:10
  So Alan Gow was the big mover for me in that, and it had all come about racing Bill Bryce's M3.
• 23:20
  Brockie was driving an M3 as well at Pukekohe, and I passed him, and he said to Alan, you better go and talk to that little shit and get him in the car.
• 23:31
  So Alan came up to me and said, hey, you little shit, do you want to have a drive for us next year?
• 23:35
  And I said, nah, get stuff that I want to drive for you and Peter.
• 23:39
  I'm kidding.
• 23:40
  Of course.
• 23:40
  Yeah, because I said, hey, I'd love to.
• 23:43
  And that's where it all began, really.
• 23:44
  So Peter and I shared the Nissan Mobile.
• 23:46
  We won the Nissan Mobile series the following year.
• 23:50
  And then I drove at Bathurst with the team with Bradley.
• 23:54
  Jones, yeah.
• 23:55
  Bradley, let's have a chat.
• 23:56
  It was fantastic.
• 23:58
  I've never laughed so much in all my life.
• 24:00
  He was actually half serious back then.
• 24:03
  He thought he was going to Formula One too.
• 24:06
  So we teamed up and I think he crashed the car, which was kind of good.
• 24:10
  It brought him down a peg or two.
• 24:12
  But Andy was in the team and drove with Peter and we struck up a relationship and I'd nurtured it and da-da-da and then all of a sudden he got the Ford contract and Alan Gale went to work for Peter Brock and he said, hey, why don't you give the little shit a go?
• 24:28
  And...
• 24:30
  That's how it all came about.
• 24:32
  It was a Mondeo, it was a world car, didn't need to be a British driver or European.
• 24:37
  They had the budget and they said, hey, let's put Paul in the car and give him a go.
• 24:42
  And that's how it all came about.
• 24:44
  They were a magic car.
• 24:46
  We'll focus on that just for a moment because it was such a highlight of your career.
• 24:51
  Where were you when you drove the Mondeo Subatura for the first time and what feeling did it give you?
• 24:57
  Yeah, well, it was slow.
• 25:00
  Andy decided he was going to go rear-wheel drive with the cars.
• 25:04
  And so, you know, you've just got a Ford contract.
• 25:09
  They give me an RS500 to drive on the road, you know, the new Escort.
• 25:14
  And I just thought I'd made it.
• 25:16
  There was my name on the side of the car.
• 25:18
  I didn't have to share it with anybody.
• 25:20
  And all of a sudden we get there and...
• 25:24
  car was slow and we tested with a group and we were about half a second off last, both Andy and I.
• 25:30
  The good part was Andy was too, you know, because Andy was like Peter Brock in England.
• 25:35
  Multi-time British touring car champion running the outfit at the time to beat really.
• 25:40
  Absolutely, yeah, he was, you know, he was God in touring cars.
• 25:43
  So I was only a few tenths behind him so he gave me some encouragement but we were last.
• 25:49
  We kept persevering whether we went to another test or last.
• 25:52
  So we tried some other things, didn't work.
• 25:55
  And then all of a sudden we missed three, I think maybe four races trying to develop the Mondeo for the 93 season.
• 26:03
  And then Ford just said, hey, Andy...
• 26:05
  do you want the contract or not, you better make this thing go.
• 26:09
  So Andy threw pretty much everything he had from the Toyota development into the front of the Mondeo and made a front-wheel drive, and we come out of Pembry.
• 26:18
  Now, Kevin and I have never driven front-wheel drive in my life.
• 26:21
  So, and Andy had done the testing and got everything going.
• 26:26
  So I went to Pembry, just got my car on that day, never driven front-wheel drive, qualified, you know, towards the back, but come through in the race and finish 10th, I think.
• 26:38
  That was my first experience with it.
• 26:40
  And then we went to the British Grand Prix with the next one, and I qualified on the second row and finished on the podium.
• 26:46
  And from that on, we started, you know, it was another four or five races, and I won a race and all those sorts of things that had developed.
• 26:54
  And we ended up finishing third in the championship.
• 26:58
  after missing four rounds, you know, so ifs and buts again, you know.
• 27:02
  So talk about stars aligned, and it all aligned.
• 27:05
  I had everything aligned, and it was done.
• 27:06
  I was standing on the sidelines, and literally standing on the sidelines, you know.
• 27:11
  For enthusiasts that are listening, trying to detect the sound of that car while we were chatting there a moment ago, it's a Ferrari 488 Challenge that's just pulled up in front of Paul in the line here, getting ready to do the run up the hill climb at Leadfoot Challenge.
• 27:24
  You said about finishing third in the British Touring Car Championship.
• 27:28
  I mean, golden era, some unbelievable manufacturers that came through in the early to mid and even late 90s.
• 27:36
  Their Formula One style development started to filter through in the cars in many ways.
• 27:44
  Although you finished third in the championship that year in 93, one of the real massive ticks, mate, and still for me is a big one, was to win the first of two World Cups in touring car racing.
• 27:56
  I mean, that was just mighty.
• 27:58
  It was.
• 27:58
  And look, at one stage we couldn't get in.
• 28:02
  We weren't entered for the race.
• 28:04
  Neither had, because New Zealand was not a, there were no other drivers from New Zealand in there.
• 28:10
  We couldn't, it was a team race.
• 28:11
  Couldn't they find it on the atlases?
• 28:12
  Yeah, yeah, and once again, you know, Alan Gowd moved from running Andy Rouse's engineering team to running the Toka series, and so Alan pulled all the right strings, and literally at the last hour, we got the okay from the FIA to be able to run in that event.
• 28:33
  So I didn't know if I was running in that event until pretty much the Friday.
• 28:38
  So over to Monza we went, never been to Monza before.
• 28:48
  The little rotary-powered Escort.
• 28:50
  I think they call it the Maz-scort, but anyway, that's another story.
• 28:52
  So you go to Monza.
• 28:53
  So we go to Monza, and I think there's 20 current world Formula 1 drivers there, and the best cream of Scaifey was there, and everybody from around the world had driven touring cars or hadn't was in the field.
• 29:08
  There was about Alison McRae.
• 29:11
  He's really worried about this car.
• 29:14
  shouldn't be, you know, went out the practice pole.
• 29:21
  I mean, the Mondeo was, I was on form.
• 29:23
  I just won a whole lot of races in Britain.
• 29:26
  I was the guy to beat.
• 29:27
  And as it turned out, I was the guy to beat in the world.
• 29:30
  So on pole by a reason, I think Tarquini and Lurini was right.
• 29:36
  And the Alfa, can you imagine beating the Alphas on an Italian track?
• 29:41
  Man, they were really annoyed, you know.
• 29:44
  So, you know, off we went for two.
• 29:47
  We did two, whatever they were, pretty long races.
• 29:50
  One was wet, one was dry.
• 29:51
  I won them both and won the World Cup.
• 29:54
  So all of a sudden I went from obscurity to being, you know, being the best driver in the world in touring cars.
• 30:03
  What reaction did that have back home here in New Zealand?
• 30:07
  Oh, it was huge.
• 30:09
  I had streets named after me.
• 30:10
  I had cars that were, you know, it was a whole series of cars.
• 30:14
  A Radisic car was built by Ford.
• 30:16
  Don't play that down.
• 30:18
  The Ford Telstar Radisic, they made 200 of them.
• 30:21
  A little, what are we trying to, I'm trying to think, had Michelin tyres, Bilstein shocks maybe.
• 30:27
  You actually had a bit of, it wasn't just in a badge sense, you had a bit of development in it.
• 30:31
  Yeah, we did.
• 30:32
  Louise Teasdale and Gary Jackson were big movers within Ford, and they were keen on motor racing.
• 30:39
  Plus, in those days, New Zealand could do things down here.
• 30:43
  They had a production line of cars, so special colour was done.
• 30:48
  aesthetics inside, signed steering wheels, bigger wheels.
• 30:52
  I played a bit with the suspension.
• 30:54
  And, yeah, there was more like, it was over 1,000 of them built in the end.
• 30:59
  So they, you know, they managed to clear out what was a very, the Telstar was sort of, you know, not a great car.
• 31:08
  And by the time we finished and turned into the Radisic Telstar, it was actually a mighty little car, yeah.
• 31:13
  You know you've made it in life when you get a car named after you, I reckon.
• 31:17
  So, you know, at that stage, I'd come here with people running down the road after me for autographs.
• 31:24
  So the, and of course everything was live, or not live on TV, was broadcast on TV and Murray Walker ran a siege.
• 31:33
  So everyone's calling me Radisich, which is fine.
• 31:35
  They can call me what they want.
• 31:37
  And I tell you, around the world, it didn't matter if I come here.
• 31:40
  I went to South Africa, through Europe, Australia.
• 31:43
  You know, people knew me as British touring cars, touring car driver.
• 31:50
  And I reckon it took about 20 years for that to really die away.
• 31:54
  It was mega.
• 31:56
  You know, talk about Murray Walker, I can't impersonate him very well, but, you know, it was Paul Ratasic, you know.
• 32:02
  And he's off.
• 32:02
  And he's off.
• 32:04
  But there was a story of legend going around at the time that someone in the family had perhaps tried to gently let him know that that wasn't the correct way.
• 32:11
  I mean, he's a legend.
• 32:12
  You can't correct Murray Walker, but is that true?
• 32:15
  Did someone try and gently let him know that that's not how you say he's surna?
• 32:18
  I did, but I figured when I produced a whole lot of T-shirts with Radiceach written on it, and they sold like hotcakes, it didn't really bother me at all.
• 32:28
  So you go back to back.
• 32:29
  In 1994, you win the World Cup again in the Mondeo.
• 32:33
  You were recently reunited with one of the World Cup winning cars too, because there's this great...
• 32:39
  In New Zealand, on a per capita basis, the love for motorsport here is phenomenal.
• 32:44
  And there is a lot of great old cars in this country.
• 32:47
  So you got to drive it again recently, didn't you?
• 32:49
  Yeah, I did.
• 32:49
  And look, it was like time stood still, the cars.
• 32:53
  It was a beautiful little car to drive, you know.
• 32:55
  And it still has brought back some great memories and had a little dice with Stephen Richards and showed them old cars can still be competitive.
• 33:05
  You don't need the big arm muscles now though, do you?
• 33:07
  I think it's got power steering these days.
• 33:09
  Yeah, it had power.
• 33:10
  Poor old, when we brought that car out for Pukekohe and Wellington, it didn't have power steering and poor Glenn Seaton shared the drive with me and he literally lasted two or three laps and was looking for the door handles to get out.
• 33:24
  It was a beast of a thing without power steering, I talk, steer and...
• 33:28
  But because I drove it so much and drove, you know, all you've got to remember, we had cars in all sorts, all parts of the world.
• 33:34
  And Andy sent me out to test all of them.
• 33:37
  So I was in a car, you know, if not once or twice a week, you know.
• 33:40
  So I didn't notice it as much, you know, as what, somebody who'd never driven from a driver.
• 34:32
  Magic sounding car, it was at a point in time too where sequential shifting in touring car or saloon car racing really went that direction.
• 34:43
  And, you know, it seemed from the broadcast like people were fairly friendly away from the circuit.
• 34:51
  But man, they were animals.
• 34:54
  That was fierce racing once you got on track, wasn't it?
• 34:57
  Yeah, look, I think people thought we'd hit each other and it didn't really matter.
• 35:04
  But it got really serious towards the end.
• 35:08
  How serious?
• 35:09
  Well, everyone needed a lawyer at the track.
• 35:13
  So the manufacturers were deadly serious about winning it because it was world exposure.
• 35:20
  And then you had the likes of Williams coming in and TWR and...
• 35:24
  you know, Ray Malek, and you know, there were Formula One teams that were spending big money and turning these touring cars into single-seater cars, you know.
• 35:33
  Kind of budget.
• 35:35
  They were saying around to sort of 10 to 15 million pound mark.
• 35:38
  Per year?
• 35:39
  Per year, yeah.
• 35:40
  You know, when you looked at development on DIFF, it was fully electronic.
• 35:43
  You know, there's two or three million pound of development in just the DIFF.
• 35:47
  So it was getting out of hand.
• 35:49
  And, you know, at the end of the day, that's what killed super touring.
• 35:56
  You would go for the bulk of your time there, you know, driving for Ford.
• 36:00
  But there was a brief stint with Peugeot as well, wasn't there?
• 36:04
  Yeah, there was.
• 36:05
  It was, look, after a number of years, the promise was, you know, next year, next year, next year.
• 36:12
  And it just never came.
• 36:13
  And then the decision that Ford were making, they were getting later and later.
• 36:17
  And you couldn't develop a car if you started building it towards the end of the year.
• 36:22
  Yeah.
• 36:23
  you could just about forget about it.
• 36:25
  It needed to be done the year before.
• 36:28
  So Ford couldn't commit to a team, and I just sort of thought, look, it's time to move on and try something else.
• 36:36
  Peugeot, the car was just horrible, but the deal was the following year they were going to take the French, all the French equipment, and run it as a French car, which was a beautiful car.
• 36:47
  It was winning everything in Europe.
• 36:49
  So I figured one more year of pain for something that could be really good.
• 36:54
  It looked long term.
• 36:55
  Yeah, it did.
• 36:56
  And then unfortunately, at the end of the year, Peugeot decided to stop pulling out of racing.
• 37:00
  So that was the end of that.
• 37:02
  Before we conclude this British touring car chapter, I want to talk about that road car you mentioned before.
• 37:10
  Because that was a sexy road car that they gave you.
• 37:14
  You and your wife, Patricia, had an apartment in the UK there, and I think you were able to park it by this sort of area that had quite a tall wall, and it looked hidden or protected, but that did not stop the thieves, did it?
• 37:31
  What happened?
• 37:32
  Well, look, that was just one car that got signed.
• 37:35
  You've got to remember, at the time, the brand-new car, this Escort Cosworth, big rear wing, you know, you've got...
• 37:41
  Gorgeous car.
• 37:42
  Enthusiasts will know what I'm talking about.
• 37:44
  All the spoilers and there's a few stories about that car I can tell about Alan Gow, which I should.
• 37:50
  But anyway, probably I remember going to the supermarket.
• 37:54
  I just had a plain white one.
• 37:55
  I had black ones and bright blue ones.
• 37:57
  And I thought, no, I'm just going to get a plain white one.
• 38:00
  And I went to the supermarket and left.
• 38:03
  I've come back.
• 38:03
  I said, where's the car?
• 38:05
  Gone.
• 38:06
  So it was the first one.
• 38:08
  The second one, yeah, we were sort of hidden behind a door where we lived in an apartment.
• 38:13
  And I'd come out one day and I opened the door and I couldn't lock it.
• 38:17
  I thought, that's really strange, but didn't think too much of it.
• 38:21
  And then a couple of days after, I come out from the apartment, look into the...
• 38:29
  parking space and it was gone.
• 38:32
  The annoying thing was that was the last RS500 made and after I'd driven it they were going to put it in the museum.
• 38:40
  So I had to make the call to head office in Ford.
• 38:43
  How did that go?
• 38:44
  You know that purpley, you know, bright-coloured RS500 you gave me?
• 38:50
  Yeah.
• 38:51
  Sorry, but it's stolen.
• 38:53
  I always got the feeling, I think because it was the last one, I'd probably put it in a container and send it back to New Zealand or somewhere, you know.
• 39:01
  That's right.
• 39:02
  that was never found, is that right?
• 39:03
  No, I think, well, there was a lot.
• 39:04
  The thing was probably broken up and taken somewhere in Europe, but who knows?
• 39:08
  But they were a popular car, and, yeah, a few...
• 39:12
  I'll tell you the other story with the 500.
• 39:14
  We're going down the motorway, flat out, and I had Alan Gale with me, and he said, he's hitting all the airbag stuff, you know, as Alan does, and he said, what happens if we put it in a reverse?
• 39:23
  And all of a sudden he grabbed the gear layer, and it went, boom!
• 39:26
  LAUGHTER
• 39:30
  Another call to Ford.
• 39:31
  So Alan said, yeah, not very strong reverse gear, is it?
• 39:35
  So we took the car to take the car to the Ford dealer, and I said, oh, it's got no reverse gear.
• 39:41
  Could you fix it for me?
• 39:43
  And they took it away, and then he rang me back and he said, does it have any idea what happened here?
• 39:50
  Because there's parts everywhere.
• 39:54
  I said, I just put it in reverse and went backwards and the thing went boom, you know.
• 39:58
  I didn't have the guts to tell him we put it in reverse at 100 mile an hour.
• 40:04
  More with Paul Radisic in a moment.
• 40:07
  In this series I speak with some of the most passionate designers, collectors, riders and drivers I know, like Toby Price, who won the most gruelling race on the planet, Dakar.
• 40:20
  You run, yeah, 9,500 kilometres over the 14-day period.
• 40:25
  Most of the time you're up at least 3 o'clock in the morning to be on the bike at 4.
• 40:30
  Our biggest day here we have is 1,100 kilometres in a day, so it's like that's riding a motorcycle from Brisbane to Sydney.
• 40:37
  Listen to the full episode with the first Aussie to win the Dakar, Tubby Price, here on Rusty's Garage.
• 40:50
  In New Zealand, the racing is intense.
• 40:53
  In Australia, it's just something they sleep in.
• 40:58
  You get an opportunity to come and drive supercars in Australia.
• 41:01
  The V8 Formula is absolutely taking off.
• 41:04
  And you get a chance to hook up with Dick Johnson again and drive in the supercars championship.
• 41:11
  So incredibly different machine to the Mondeos and the Peugeot that you've been used to driving.
• 41:16
  How did the opportunity to come and race back down under all come together?
• 41:21
  Well, I get with the Peugeot deal, I was out of contract.
• 41:25
  John Bauer decided to move on.
• 41:28
  Move to Briggs, wasn't it, I think?
• 41:29
  Yeah, I think it was, yeah, and run sort of his own program, effectively, with John.
• 41:35
  So, you know, it was their relationship come to an end, and Dick's manager at the time... Was it... Wayne Kennedy.
• 41:48
  Wayne rang me and said, what are you doing, blah, blah, blah.
• 41:52
  So it's sort of, you know, here's an opportunity if you want to come down.
• 41:55
  And we said, hey, come down to Christmas and chat about it.
• 41:59
  And the next thing was sort of a one-year deal to come and do it.
• 42:02
  I thought, look, it'd be nice to get out of the cold and come spend a year in the heat.
• 42:08
  So that's what we did.
• 42:10
  We teamed up and, of course, a brand-new car with the EAU, which, you know, was a disaster in itself.
• 42:16
  So...
• 42:17
  It went a great looking car.
• 42:18
  I think many fans would probably agree with that sadly.
• 42:21
  But you were on course to win Bathurst that year, mate.
• 42:26
  And you've said earlier in the chat that ifs, buts and mobys, that's not your style.
• 42:30
  But that really was the one that got away.
• 42:32
  Yeah, it was.
• 42:33
  And look, it was...
• 42:36
  The year of...
• 42:37
  The aerodynamics were wrong in that car.
• 42:39
  It was just horrible.
• 42:41
  We just couldn't get it to work.
• 42:43
  Even though we did have a pole, I think, at Tasmania.
• 42:47
  And then we went to Bathurst and had a good engine.
• 42:51
  And it sort of handled reasonably well.
• 42:54
  But...
• 42:55
  I'd also run the old EL around the streets of Surface and won all the races there.
• 43:02
  So I'd driven, because remember I hadn't driven a supercar before and I thought, shit, this is really well balanced.
• 43:08
  If only we can get the front end.
• 43:10
  get the AU to work like the old EL, and we sort of worked hard on trying to do that, just give it a huge amount of understeer and worked our way through it.
• 43:17
  So it sort of started to understand what that car needed.
• 43:21
  Yeah, in Bathurst, you know, we were quick all day.
• 43:23
  We led pretty much all day.
• 43:24
  The last 15 laps...
• 43:28
  literally just I mean we've got a puncture I mean it's as simple as that and you know leading it and by the time we come in and then trying to get into the pit with a flat tyre scooped up a whole lot of rubbish in the radiator but I mean the race was over at that stage and I handed another one to Murph so yeah it definitely was you know without a doubt the one that or the second one that got away anyway
• 43:52
  It was a tough to take, mate, in the sense that, you know, the vision, most people will recall you out of the car on the side of the road.
• 44:00
  I think you even padded a horse or something, which is very unlike you.
• 44:04
  And you were clearly devastated, weren't you?
• 44:06
  You knew that it was, you recounted the story in 1990 before and Dick trying to jump in and things like that.
• 44:13
  But the 99, nearly a decade later, was, you know, clearly potential to be top step.
• 44:18
  Yeah, look, it was.
• 44:19
  But look, at the time, it was, you know, hey, really disappointing.
• 44:22
  But, you know, I've been conditioned through life.
• 44:26
  It's like, hey, there's the next year.
• 44:27
  There's the next year.
• 44:28
  I think it's like everything.
• 44:31
  When there is no more next year, then it becomes disappointing.
• 44:34
  So, you know, it's another 10 years to become probably more disappointing now.
• 44:39
  than what it was at the time you know just shrug your shoulders and it was one thing about i've always tried to do it always give it my best shot and and least i when i get about say i gave it my best shot if it's mechanical or whatever those things happen that's you have to accept that with motor racing and and i've always tried to live by that and as long as i can i i know that i always did the best that i could do
• 45:01
  Those years in the Supercars Championship were highly competitive, weren't they, among all of the team?
• 45:08
  We just went through this remarkable growth, didn't we?
• 45:11
  Yeah, it did.
• 45:12
  And I've, you know, the touring cars in Europe, I'd caught the wave and that was dropping off.
• 45:19
  And then I went to the next, you know, the next thing, the next happening thing, which was V8 supercars.
• 45:26
  And that turned into be the most competitive touring car racing in the world as well.
• 45:31
  So I really caught the wave on the touring car side of it.
• 45:34
  But yeah, you know, they were...
• 45:37
  The two-litre cars, when you went testing, was rather boring, laborious, because they weren't that fast, but of course the racing was spectacular.
• 45:47
  And then you went to the V8s, and the testing was exciting, but the racing wasn't, because you had so many other factors, you had tyres dropping away, and just bigger cars, bigger, heavier cars, and you were locked into one sort of line, where the small cars you could...
• 46:04
  zip and manoeuvre around and do whatever you needed to do so it took a bit of getting used to too you know that was my next question because you may not remember but in in that uh i don't know whether it was 99 or 2000 you actually took me for a ride at queensland raceway and i can remember how uh fearsome you were mate you you great you literally grabbed the thing by the scruff of the neck and
• 46:25
  It must have been very different to get used to.
• 46:27
  I mean, you're a racer.
• 46:28
  You guys adapt.
• 46:29
  That's your nature.
• 46:30
  But just 180 of what the front-wheel drive on Dayo was like.
• 46:35
  Yeah, look, I think, I don't feel I was always that aggressive until I went to Europe and all of a sudden I had to wake up.
• 46:41
  What caused that?
• 46:43
  Why did you feel you needed to do that?
• 46:45
  Just the nature of the racing.
• 46:46
  They were short races and if you didn't make your move on the first couple of corners, you could find yourself stuck where you are.
• 46:53
  So you had to be on your game and fully with it.
• 46:58
  from the get-go, you know.
• 46:59
  Not that you're not, but, you know, if there was a slight gap, you had to make one.
• 47:04
  Or there wasn't a gap, you had to make one.
• 47:06
  Where, you know, the supercars are not quite so much.
• 47:09
  But I think, you know, I felt I was probably aggressive, and that was me, you know.
• 47:15
  I just, I had to get myself up and going, and that's how I, you know, that's what worked for me.
• 47:23
  I can remember my colleague, Lee Diffie, running with the nickname The Rat.
• 47:29
  Now, he tells me he didn't christen you or give you that nickname.
• 47:33
  That had come about in Europe.
• 47:34
  How did that all happen, and how did you feel about it?
• 47:36
  Well, no, it did actually start in Australia.
• 47:38
  Did it?
• 47:39
  Yeah, it started with, shall we call him, press mogul Paul Gover, you know, for the sun, you know, or the...
• 47:50
  Harold Sun one of the big papers of Australia so he's keen motorsport so I sort of started them and he decided to chat to the marketing people in Shell because he had this great idea as Paul does why don't you call him the rat you know so Ross Brody come to me and he said we've got this idea, well what do you think I said, you know
• 48:15
  It sells a few things, that's great.
• 48:16
  So all of a sudden, you know, started producing merchandise with the rat on it and go the rat and the rat rat this and all of a sudden it won some award for there's a rat on a hat.
• 48:28
  And all of a sudden people started buying it.
• 48:30
  But I say now we're also starting to win races and be competitive too, you know.
• 48:34
  And Dick's team's got a huge following.
• 48:36
  So it didn't take long to start selling out a rat merchandise, you know.
• 48:42
  And that's sort of how it stuck.
• 48:45
  And then the fans really took to it.
• 48:47
  And as I say, you can call me anything, but I was making some money off it, so I was even happier.
• 48:53
  What was Dick Johnson like as a boss?
• 48:55
  And I asked that with almost a leading question here because you and I were at a function recently and you shared a story about going boating with Dick Johnson and parking up or endeavouring to park up beside him.
• 49:10
  I think it's Stradbroke Island or something, wasn't it?
• 49:12
  What happened that day?
• 49:15
  Well, firstly, working with Dick was great.
• 49:18
  You know, he's... Dick tells you how it is, and that's great.
• 49:21
  That's, you know, you can ask for it sometimes.
• 49:25
  It was difficult for Dick because he went...
• 49:27
  I did the 99 season, it was his last season, and then he tried to settle in to be the team boss for the following year.
• 49:35
  And it was a hard transition for him, as you can appreciate, you know, with...
• 49:38
  in so many years of just, even though it was his team, you know, you could get away from the team and put your helmet on and do your stuff.
• 49:45
  So he was going through quite a big transition, you know, looking back on it now.
• 49:50
  But, yeah, when I, going back to your boat story, you know, Dick's always been a huge boaty and my experience with boats was zero.
• 49:58
  So all of a sudden, I did it there with Mustang, Gary, Garoni.
• 50:02
  He said, what size boat do you want, Paul?
• 50:03
  Oh, well, the biggest one you've got, you know.
• 50:07
  So luckily he didn't do that.
• 50:09
  He gave me a 32 Mustang, which is a beautiful boat.
• 50:13
  And I'd never driven it before, and I'd got my license by driving a jet ski.
• 50:17
  So Dick said, well, come out to Stratty, and we'll have a bit of an afternoon out there.
• 50:23
  So anyway, I got to found Stratty.
• 50:26
  God knows how, but found it.
• 50:28
  Anyway, when I get there, Dick's got all his mates lined up on the shore.
• 50:31
  I thought, you know, he'd be throwing an anchor down, but no, no, no, everyone's parked on the shore.
• 50:36
  So here's this little spot.
• 50:39
  that Paul has to try and back this 32 Mustang into, right?
• 50:43
  So that sounds really good.
• 50:44
  But, of course, the wind's blowing one way and the current's going at 120 mile an hour the other.
• 50:51
  Like, they knew I was, you know, I was on to hiding to nothing.
• 50:54
  So they set me up beautifully.
• 50:56
  So, OK, I'll back it in there.
• 50:59
  So I spinned the thing around, you know, backwards.
• 51:03
  And, of course, the tide got me and the wind got me.
• 51:06
  And I managed to get it right in there.
• 51:08
  But in the last minute, the last bit of the wind got it, swung the hull around and smack straight into Dick's boat, knocking a big hole in the top of it.
• 51:18
  So, you know, he was...
• 51:21
  He was pretty quiet from there on in.
• 51:23
  I was too frightened to ask him, firstly, how much to fix your boat?
• 51:28
  And secondly, really sorry.
• 51:30
  And I think he held it against me for the rest of my time.
• 51:35
  The podcast is about anything with an engine.
• 51:37
  So we'll just keep the boat theme going here just for a moment because for a time you were almost neighbour to a colleague of mine, Daryl Beattie, who is...
• 51:48
  He is mad.
• 51:49
  I don't know how you survived that period living near him.
• 51:52
  But anyway, one particular afternoon, he and I are out on his...
• 51:58
  on his wakeboarding boat and it runs out of fuel and we're desperate because it's it's just drifting in the breeze but we're not we're not all that far from home and we could see we thought we could see that you were home and so we rang you and said hey can you come and can you come and rescue us so you left your daughter asleep
• 52:18
  good good father thanks musty jump jump jumped on no he's a good father jumps on on the jet ski and you come out to rescue us and it was just one of those freakish if it could have gone wrong it went wrong moments you you turned we threw the rope out to get for you to catch it and it got sucked up by the jet ski and yeah and next thing we're all drifting
• 52:44
  mate's dumb and dumber isn't it it was terrible we had to drift to some poor random's house that we didn't know go in and call for help oh terrible anyway I think with Daryl I mean probably alcohol poisoning was still in my system and still haven't really worked out the wind and the tide thing in the boats you see so I'll tell you what there's so many stories like that you can't believe didn't
• 53:10
  you go down one day and he was trying to launch his, what did he have?
• 53:13
  It wasn't a gyrocopter.
• 53:15
  It was a big fan when he struck his back.
• 53:18
  With the parachute.
• 53:21
  Yeah, and he's standing on his jetty with the thing going, and a million mile an hour trying to launch off from the jetty.
• 53:28
  But I think what he had to really do was go up to a big hill and jump off the hill to get it going.
• 53:33
  But that was Darryl.
• 53:34
  I mean, it was a fun time.
• 53:37
  Darryl's just the loveliest guy, fantastic motorbike rider, and just fantastic neighbour other than having alcohol poisoning every other weekend.
• 53:47
  You got to do a bit of two-wheel stuff with him at the time.
• 53:48
  You had a Harley, I think, didn't you?
• 53:50
  Was it a V-Rod maybe?
• 53:51
  Yeah, it was when the V-Rods first come out.
• 53:53
  Patricia, my wife, bought it for us for my 40th, and Daryl said about teaching me how to ride it.
• 54:03
  This is how you do a wheel stand.
• 54:05
  What?
• 54:06
  This is how you get sparks off the bottom of the chassis when you lean it over.
• 54:09
  So, yeah, I don't think I'm...
• 54:13
  I was not brave enough to be a motorbike rider, that's for real.
• 54:16
  Most of us aren't, mate.
• 54:17
  They're a special breed.
• 54:18
  Back to your supercars career.
• 54:20
  Let's get serious again here for a second.
• 54:23
  The hardest aspect for me in talking to you about Bathurst is the injuries.
• 54:30
  Firstly, the Team Kiwi crash in 06.
• 54:35
  What happened that day?
• 54:37
  It was Brake Fardier, I think, wasn't it?
• 54:38
  What went wrong?
• 54:39
  And can you recount for us the crash that day?
• 54:44
  Brakes were fine.
• 54:45
  When I come out of the chase hip and I was going round the outside of a slower car and just misjudged it and he moved over, touched the left side.
• 54:59
  right wheel and it just broke the steering arm and just went straight into the... Well, unfortunately for me, you know, they've changed it now, but there was an earth bank and it just, you know, because you can appreciate you're accelerating, you know, may not have been that high speed, maybe, you know, 120 mile an hour.
• 55:18
  But it was straight into an earth bank, you know, and it just, car dug in, flipped on its side.
• 55:24
  And, of course, my feet just went through the firewall and broke, I think, broke my left, you know, left ankle and shattered a few bones in there.
• 55:33
  So it wasn't too bad, but I remember the car lying on its side and I've got something falling inside my helmet, you know, and I'm heavily winded.
• 55:44
  And I think, oh, my God, it's fuel.
• 55:46
  Luckily it was water, but for a brief moment there I thought, this thing's going to go up and I'm going to be a goner.
• 55:55
  So, yeah, and heavily winded the time.
• 55:58
  So, look, we recovered from it.
• 56:01
  It was just one of those things.
• 56:03
  I shouldn't have been on the outside, but I misjudged it.
• 56:05
  I should have given him a bit more room, but, you know, just touched the wheel at the right angle and just shattered the steering arm.
• 56:13
  You would rebound from that, as you say, and race with the Kellys at Bathurst.
• 56:19
  I mean, you had success at a podium at Sandown.
• 56:21
  And then in 08...
• 56:24
  Was it a stuck throttle?
• 56:26
  And that was the checkered flag, wasn't it, in some respects?
• 56:30
  What happened?
• 56:31
  Yeah, it was.
• 56:32
  And look, Rick Kelly and I were having great success.
• 56:34
  You know, yeah, second at... No, at Phillip Island.
• 56:41
  Oh, sorry.
• 56:42
  Yeah, and we were really competitive.
• 56:43
  And I was enjoying the role of stepping back and actually being a co-driver because in actual effect, my full-time racing had sort of...
• 56:52
  really, you know, I would have been just happy to continue with top teams as being a co-driver and probably had a good another five years of doing that, you know.
• 57:00
  So, yeah, practice on Saturday up over the top of McPhillamy, you know, flat out, new set of tyres, ready to punch in something that fried the hell out of anybody.
• 57:12
  And as I went over McPhillamy, lifted my foot off and the throttle jammed wide open.
• 57:16
  And I tried to do everything as you can do at 200,000.
• 57:20
  You know, even trying to think about flicking the switch off, but, you know, you're talking just fractions of seconds, but clutching on the brake, but, of course, the momentum and everything.
• 57:30
  The car just went straight off the track and once again head on into, this time, a concrete wall.
• 57:36
  And the impact has shattered both my feet, broke my sternum, spinal damage, and of course rattled the skull.
• 57:48
  So it just took a long time to recover.
• 57:52
  A good couple of years, you know, ringing in your ears and headaches and all those terrible things, let alone having, you know, because I'd done spinal damage, it was being a cast up into my neck
• 58:05
  or lie down for three months.
• 58:07
  So I just took a sleeping tablet for three months and just lay down and effectively woke up in three months and tried to learn to walk again.
• 58:17
  And hours and hours of trying to... People carry me to the swimming pool to learn how to walk and get everything working again.
• 58:23
  So it was a terrible time, not only for me, but my family.
• 58:28
  And it was tough, you know, really tough.
• 58:30
  So we got through it and...
• 58:34
  And, you know, by that time, I think I sort of said, and Patricia was keen for me to maybe think about taking another career, but I couldn't find one.
• 58:43
  So here I am at Ledfoot, yeah.
• 58:46
  Did you make the call ultimately to stop, or was there a doctor that made that call for you, or was there a hope that you would come back, and how did that... Because it's a really difficult thing.
• 58:59
  When I talk to any of you guys, it's a really difficult thing to stop business.
• 59:03
  It is.
• 59:04
  It takes a real, you know, some real willpower to say that's the end of it.
• 59:11
  You know, like Dario Franchetti, you know, for instance, said, oh, I've had enough, OK, he's had an accident too.
• 59:17
  But, yeah, it's a real, I think in the head you'll always go, well, I think I can go better, I think I, you know, all those sorts of stupid things.
• 59:25
  But...
• 59:26
  For me, I think I could have come back and probably picked up where I left off a couple of years later, possibly, but time just goes on and you've got to find another way of supporting the family and hence we got involved more into business and that's where we are today.
• 59:46
  Let's talk about that because it's a family business, it's automotive based.
• 59:49
  Your dad ran it for almost 30 years, didn't he?
• 59:52
  Yeah, he did.
• 59:52
  Well, I helped him get it, you know, we initially took it on as a, it's an oil company and started out as a recycled oil company and we've turned it into just a blending plant in the last 25 years.
• 1:00:05
  Yeah, look, I helped, you know, I was there the day it all started.
• 1:00:09
  I took on the Auckland area and sold oil before I disappeared on my racing career.
• 1:00:13
  So, you know, to come back, it's still there, still running.
• 1:00:18
  And, you know, now I've picked up where he's left off.
• 1:00:21
  And he's still involved, though.
• 1:00:22
  You know, at 80 years old, he's, you know, it keeps him going every morning just to be involved in, you know, what he started.
• 1:00:30
  It's got a strong agricultural side, which is very appropriate for New Zealanders.
• 1:00:34
  Yeah, it is.
• 1:00:35
  Look, we're in every area of automotive and trucking and through to the ag sector.
• 1:00:40
  And, you know, we're not huge in any, but we cover the whole lot.
• 1:00:44
  And, you know, we're up through the islands as well.
• 1:00:46
  So, you know, the Aegis Oil is the name of the brand.
• 1:00:50
  And what it means in Greek is shield of protection.
• 1:00:53
  And as it's turned out, we're the only company that's producing and manufacturing automotive lubricants in New Zealand.
• 1:01:00
  So, you know, we're really proud of that.
• 1:01:03
  It will always be a small little company, but it's still a family company.
• 1:01:07
  All right, let's talk about a couple of fun things.
• 1:01:10
  Firstly, craziest thing that's happened to you as far as any promotional activity is concerned.
• 1:01:16
  I understand, I think maybe during a hot lap once, a guy proposed to a girl or something or other.
• 1:01:21
  Did that happen?
• 1:01:22
  Yeah, that was true.
• 1:01:23
  Ford had a request that he wanted the husband to be, wanted me to drive the couple around Donington at high speed and then they would rush off and go and get married.
• 1:01:37
  So that's what I did.
• 1:01:38
  So that was pretty exciting.
• 1:01:40
  They were thrilled and obviously big fans of touring cars and of Ford, the Ford brand as well.
• 1:01:46
  So I don't know about the craziest, but it's one that comes to mind straight away.
• 1:01:51
  As we're sitting here in the queue with you getting ready to have a run up the hill climb, there's a couple of rotaries parked beside us.
• 1:01:56
  The family has had a long association with rotaries over time.
• 1:02:01
  You had one in an open wheeler and you've driven several of them, haven't you?
• 1:02:04
  I think I had all the range as I was growing up.
• 1:02:07
  We had RX2s, RX3s.
• 1:02:08
  We were sort of, when my dad was running the service stations and the automotive repairs, we were sort of known as the Mazda repairer.
• 1:02:17
  He had a 13B and a single seater.
• 1:02:19
  our car so we were rotary mad you know we're all deaf that's part of the reason why favorite race car of all time can you do that and it's probably a hard one to answer because they're they're all good for different reasons but is there one that's specialty the one always the ones that would compare the ones that were winning they were always the best car i said to me you know do you have fun in racing i said the only time i really have fun is when i'm winning
• 1:02:45
  Well, you have the fastest car, but if you pick the car, I mean, all the single-seaters were great to drive, but for me, the Mondeo, the most success, that really brought my name to the fore.
• 1:02:56
  It gave me a career, gave me some spending money on the weekends, and it also gave me the title of best touring car driver in the world.
• 1:03:06
  Is there a little resto project, or has there been one in recent time, in the Paul Radisic garage?
• 1:03:11
  Look, we've got a whole lot of my old racing cars sitting there, so at any time I can pick up the restroom if I really want to.
• 1:03:18
  But look, at the moment I've got one of my old Mondeos that's down in the museum at Tony Quinn's in Highland.
• 1:03:24
  And as a family, we've got all sorts of cars that need restoration, but no big projects at the moment.
• 1:03:30
  What's your daily drive?
• 1:03:31
  And I think it's one that we have shared a bit of a love of.
• 1:03:36
  I had up until recently a Golf GTI and I loved it.
• 1:03:38
  It was a couple of years old, but a great car.
• 1:03:40
  Is that your roadie?
• 1:03:41
  Yeah, this is my roadie.
• 1:03:42
  I've gone through one engine, one gearbox.
• 1:03:47
  And I should really have a diesel from a fuel economy point of view.
• 1:03:50
  But, you know, I really enjoy driving the Volkswagen's everyday car.
• 1:04:03
  I want to ask you a bit about the car that you're competing this weekend.
• 1:04:05
  Firstly, we're at Rod Millen's Leadfoot Festival.
• 1:04:09
  It is my first time here.
• 1:04:10
  It's up on the Coromandel, Ha-He on the North Island.
• 1:04:15
  What he's done here is amazing, isn't it?
• 1:04:17
  Look, it sure is.
• 1:04:19
  It really is, you know...
• 1:04:22
  South Pacific Goodwood, you know, let's put it, you know, it's, Rod, this event, I've been in it two or three times now and the event has grown and grown and grown each year and, you know, if you think of Goodwood, you know, this is a mini Goodwood and I guess Rod wants to grow it to be a Goodwood.
• 1:04:38
  and it's just a great atmosphere.
• 1:04:40
  People can come to touch and feel the cars, and there's some real oddball stuff down here as well as some real exciting stuff.
• 1:04:48
  So it gives the fans an opportunity to come down and just be really part of the whole event.
• 1:04:54
  It's very relaxed and just a lot of fun.
• 1:04:56
  cool hill climb up what is effectively his driveway big turnout of fans all kinds of cars and motorbikes as you say and and some stars that that drive and ride them you have something interesting that's probably an understatement so it's badged a nissan march we know them in this part of the world as a nissan micro but this thing's got 650 horsepower
• 1:05:19
  I know, it's literally out of control.
• 1:05:21
  And, um, you know, Glenn Hodges, who's built the car is just a enthusiast from Hamilton.
• 1:05:28
  You know, I saw this car at Hampton Downs middle of the year, he was doing a club event.
• 1:05:34
  I went and talked, spoke to him and he said, uh, I said, is it four wheel drive?
• 1:05:38
  And he said, nah, it's a rear wheel drive.
• 1:05:40
  And I said, oh, it's a shame because it'd be great little car to take to Goodwood, something
• 1:05:45
  And, you know, lo and behold, within two months, he rang me back and said, you know, you said it should be four-wheel drive.
• 1:05:50
  It's now four-wheel drive.
• 1:05:52
  So literally, it's, you know, it's a tiny little car.
• 1:05:57
  It's four-wheel drive.
• 1:05:58
  It's got a V6 Nissan 350 engine in the back, V6.
• 1:06:04
  Turns out about 650 horsepower and literally all comes on and it's like a switch.
• 1:06:10
  and the wheels are doing, it's four wheel drive, but I think they're just, one's driving to the right and one's driving to the left, so it's, look, I'm really enjoying the experience, but once again, the car, it's an oddball car, it just fits the event, it's, you know, it's just, it's interesting, and this thing's, it's trying to tame me, but I'm going to tame it before the end of the weekend.
• 1:06:34
  It tips its hat to World Time Attack.
• 1:06:37
  I mean, it's got all these overgrown wings and fairings and all sorts of aerodynamic support.
• 1:06:43
  You mentioned before the fact that it's four-wheel drive, but there is no centre definite, is there?
• 1:06:48
  No, there's not.
• 1:06:48
  And I think that's...
• 1:06:50
  you know, more people I talk to, they're sort of, it's just probably the best way, you know, that the car could be set up as far as 50-50 goes, 50-50 split.
• 1:07:01
  But it takes a bit of getting used to because you never quite, you just don't know where the car's going to end up.
• 1:07:06
  And as I said, it's got so much power and it all comes on so quick that all of a sudden you think you've got it under control, but it wants to go to the left and the right.
• 1:07:16
  But, you know, it's, it's, it's,
• 1:07:19
  Yeah, it just takes a bit of getting used to.
• 1:07:21
  And I'm hoping that today, if the weather clears up a little bit, we'll be able to push it quite hard.
• 1:07:27
  It's got so many noises inside.
• 1:07:29
  It frightens the shit out of me.
• 1:07:54
  Favourite piece of road that you enjoy to drive on, maybe here in New Zealand or somewhere in Europe, or racetrack, it can be your choice.
• 1:08:02
  What would it be?
• 1:08:05
  Well, the UK experience a lot of road...
• 1:08:10
  kilometers in the uk and there's some awesome roads there too believe me if you get off any of the a roads or b roads you know it's um but i tell you you know new zealand like even coming up to high hay here you know when you're not stuck behind a camper van or another car there's some you know there's some awesome roads around this country you know wherever you go it's just of course you know you can't exceed the speed limit anymore to really enjoy them
• 1:08:35
  If you had an unlimited budget, the Grail car, the dream car for Paul Raddus, which doesn't have to be a current supercar or hypercar, it can be something from the past, what would be in the garage in that category?
• 1:08:48
  Yeah, that's a tough one, Rusty.
• 1:08:51
  Unfortunately, you know, road cars, you can pick any road car, you know, but you take it to the track and it sort of turns into, you know, an average car.
• 1:09:02
  I mean, there's a few there, some of the Ferraris and, you know, when you get up into the Veyron sort of aspect, but, you know...
• 1:09:13
  That's a really hard one to answer.
• 1:09:14
  And the answer probably is the car that's going to win.
• 1:09:20
  And, you know, if I put my hand on my heart and be really honest, it's even coming here, it's a lot of fun, but you have more fun when you're in the fastest car.
• 1:09:29
  You've just gone two seconds faster than you were yesterday.
• 1:09:34
  Just to clarify, that's seconds, two seconds quicker.
• 1:09:38
  You still have that competitive drive in your mid-50s, mate, don't you?
• 1:09:41
  I know, and it's a worry for me.
• 1:09:44
  I just had to put my helmet on, and there's something in that helmet.
• 1:09:48
  There's something wrong with it.
• 1:09:49
  It's obviously too tight.
• 1:09:50
  It just flicks some sort of switch which goes, hey, I'm 21 again, you know, let's get to it.
• 1:09:58
  And you know something, it's a real problem for after, when you finish competing, you need to have something else to go to.
• 1:10:06
  And I have to say, I haven't found that next thing.
• 1:10:10
  I've tried golf and unfortunately my running days are over and things like that.
• 1:10:16
  And I still like to keep fit.
• 1:10:18
  But I haven't found something that takes the...
• 1:10:23
  It's the exhilaration and it's on the line and it's you.
• 1:10:28
  For me, hopefully I'll find something.
• 1:10:30
  Maybe I won't.
• 1:10:31
  Maybe I'll just keep going like Ken Smith.
• 1:10:35
  He'll set the record and I'll see if I can beat it.
• 1:10:38
  He is still going and still winning trophies.
• 1:10:40
  He's a remarkable driver.
• 1:10:41
  You've gotten onto something there that is an important subject, I think, in many ways for competitors, drivers or riders.
• 1:10:50
  I mean, a lot of bike guys in particular really struggle with that because there is just no obvious replacement for that exhilaration, is there?
• 1:10:59
  You're taking that out of your life.
• 1:11:00
  It's been a part of your life for 20-plus years, and there is no substitute.
• 1:11:05
  Probably 40 plus years and everybody's the same when you get to this stage because you started in single digits and ending in, you know, the luxury of ending in late double digits.
• 1:11:17
  But, yeah, it's, you know, and the bike guys...
• 1:11:21
  are even crazier.
• 1:11:22
  I think the car guys are out there, but the bike guys are even more.
• 1:11:27
  And I tell you, every bike guy I've met, doesn't matter if it's doing Simon Craver, Darrell, they're such nice guys, you know, and great company, but out there, but they're just great people.
• 1:11:39
  And I think it's because they enjoy life.
• 1:11:41
  You know, they also know how bad things are when they can turn.
• 1:11:46
  And so they enjoy every moment.
• 1:11:48
  I think that's most important.
• 1:11:50
  you and I share a little complaint, and that is we get hay fever.
• 1:11:56
  And you have... We're sitting on a hay bale.
• 1:11:58
  We're sitting on a hay bale talking.
• 1:12:01
  And to combat this, when you were mowing on your property, on your ride-on mower, you did something different.
• 1:12:10
  There is photographic evidence I have been sent of this.
• 1:12:13
  Just describe for my listeners how you best combat hay fever on the ride-on mower.
• 1:12:20
  Well, yeah, luckily, you know, it was big enough property that not everybody could see it from the road.
• 1:12:24
  And so, of course, it was putting oxygen into a full-face helmet and sealing off the bottom.
• 1:12:32
  Just to clarify, you use your ride-on mower with a full-face helmet, is that correct?
• 1:12:37
  That is correct.
• 1:12:38
  That is correct.
• 1:12:39
  With an oxygen tank in the back feeding oxygen into me, so I couldn't smell a damn thing.
• 1:12:45
  And that was the only way that...
• 1:12:47
  I'm too tired to get someone to mow the lawn, so Patricia said, get somebody to mow the lawn.
• 1:12:52
  No, no, I'll do it.
• 1:12:53
  I'll do it.
• 1:12:54
  Plus, of course, it was a big, big ride on lawnmower, which, you know, it's the only way I could get some satisfaction.
• 1:13:00
  Otherwise, you know what hay fever's like.
• 1:13:02
  You block up, you can't breathe.
• 1:13:04
  It's a horrible thing.
• 1:13:06
  when you get it so um yeah there's there's a way around everything there is a way around everything righto your proudest um moment of your career the thing that that is at the the top of a very impressive list of things that that you've done and perhaps the toughest moment as well reflect on those
• 1:13:26
  Well, firstly, getting married to Patricia and having my two beautiful daughters is top of the list, way above the career stuff.
• 1:13:36
  You know, as far as career goes...
• 1:13:39
  I mean, the toughest...
• 1:13:42
  When you're hopping into cars for the first time, it's always unknown.
• 1:13:46
  It's a little bit like this march that I'm driving now.
• 1:13:50
  Luckily, I've had a few goes at it, but I'm starting...
• 1:13:53
  It takes a while, but when you've got to put it all on the line and you don't know the car, you don't know what you're driving, you don't know the mechanical history, you're putting a lot of faith in people.
• 1:14:03
  And it is a people game, you know.
• 1:14:05
  You have to put your faith in it.
• 1:14:07
  But for the scariest...
• 1:14:11
  Probably the scary, I mean, you know, the accident's always scary, but I tell you, the worst one I had was I drove a Mack truck at Pukukoe back in the win-win days when you could drive cars with jandals.
• 1:14:26
  and I come, you know, hairpin out, coming off over the mountain, and all of a sudden the throttle jammed.
• 1:14:33
  This sounds familiar, doesn't it?
• 1:14:35
  But the throttle's stuck on this big track.
• 1:14:38
  I'm not talking a Mack, a big, you know, I don't know, five-ton, whatever it is.
• 1:14:43
  It was set for racing, but it opened, and I had my foot on the brake and the clutch, but it just, you know, once it went off the track, it had a mind of its own and slammed into the...
• 1:14:55
  I think about how lucky I was.
• 1:14:56
  It slammed into the bank and ran along the bank on its side and come to an end.
• 1:15:01
  And, you know, here I was just sitting in a seat, funny little seatbelts.
• 1:15:05
  And I remember when it come to an end, I thought, I'm never going to drive a truck again.
• 1:15:09
  I swear I'm never going to drive a truck again.
• 1:15:12
  That was my big warning, you know.
• 1:15:14
  And to the start, I've never driven a racing truck again.
• 1:15:17
  Yeah.
• 1:15:18
  But it was just...
• 1:15:20
  Because it was so big, so heavy, the inertia, and it happened so slow.
• 1:15:24
  It just, it's, you know, I'm going to die.
• 1:15:27
  Oh, no, I'm not.
• 1:15:27
  Oh, I'm going to die.
• 1:15:28
  Oh, no, I'm not.
• 1:15:29
  You know, and on and on.
• 1:15:30
  It went so scary.
• 1:15:32
  It has to be at this, you know, still, even after all my accidents.
• 1:15:36
  The good part about the accidents happened, they happened really quick.
• 1:15:39
  This one was really slow.
• 1:15:41
  Best piece of driving advice.
• 1:15:43
  You mentioned your daughters there a moment ago.
• 1:15:45
  What's the driving advice that Dad has?
• 1:15:46
  Yeah.
• 1:15:49
  Yeah.
• 1:15:51
  Slow down.
• 1:15:52
  It's all I ever hear myself saying.
• 1:15:54
  Amelia, slow down.
• 1:15:56
  Amelia, slow down.
• 1:15:58
  Oh, my God.
• 1:15:59
  Are you a good passenger?
• 1:16:00
  No.
• 1:16:01
  Well, I have got my hand on the handbrake, and for 100 kilometres when we're driving, I'm always leaning to the right.
• 1:16:09
  So I guess the answer's no on that one, but she's a great little driver.
• 1:16:13
  It's just...
• 1:16:15
  This is funny.
• 1:16:16
  This is funny.
• 1:16:17
  She... And I'm saying to her, slow down, and she looks in the mirror, and she sees somebody catching her from behind on the road, so she speeds up.
• 1:16:24
  I said, what are you doing?
• 1:16:25
  She said, the car behind's catching.
• 1:16:26
  LAUGHTER
• 1:16:29
  So it's going to be a...
• 1:16:30
  I can't see her getting a full licence, to be honest, because if I'm not in the car and the instructor's there, God knows what speech he's going to be doing.
• 1:16:37
  But, yeah, so it's a funny little story.
• 1:16:39
  Determined like a dad.
• 1:16:41
  It's been tremendous to look back over your career.
• 1:16:45
  You've done some phenomenal things.
• 1:16:48
  Congratulations on those.
• 1:16:49
  I know ultimately stopping was a very, very difficult thing to...
• 1:16:54
  to do, but it is great that you can come to an event like this and still have an outlet and still enjoy some cars.
• 1:17:00
  Great to catch up.
• 1:17:00
  Thank you, Paul.
• 1:17:01
  I really appreciate it.
• 1:17:02
  Look, brought back some great memories, things I've forgotten about myself, you know, and once again, time takes care of a lot of things when you're in your most competitive.
• 1:17:10
  You never have the time to
• 1:17:12
  look around you and take it in because you're always thinking about the next thing.
• 1:17:14
  So, you know, I'm enjoying what I did.
• 1:17:17
  Would I have liked to have done better?
• 1:17:18
  Absolutely.
• 1:17:19
  But I'm proud of what I've done and I'm proud that I always gave it my best shot.
• 1:17:29
  Rusty's Garage is written and presented by me, Greg Rust.
• 1:17:34
  Series producer and editor is Alex Mitchell.
• 1:17:37
  Audio production by Darcy Thompson.
• 1:17:47
  Listener.