Latest / Rusty's Garage / The Motorsport Brief | Mark Winterbottom's ripper weekend at the Bend!

Transcript

The Motorsport Brief | Mark Winterbottom's ripper weekend at the Bend! · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:04
  Welcome to the Motorsport Brief.
• 0:06
  There used to be an old saying, a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker.
• 0:10
  How about a racer, a baker, a podium placer?
• 0:15
  G'day, everybody.
• 0:16
  Rusty here.
• 0:16
  That was terrible, wasn't it?
• 0:17
  Shortly to our guest, Mark Winterbottom.
• 0:19
  Great to get him back on the garage.
• 0:21
  A couple of pods that we did in the last week that I'd like to let you know about.
• 0:25
  We spoke with Dean Herridge, who I was following for a doco.
• 0:28
  He went on to win Sunraysia Safari for Subaru, and I caught up with his dad, a former Australian rally champion, Rob, in that combo as well.
• 0:36
  So, too, Tony Quinn, who won that event in the past.
• 0:38
  In recent years, his Dakar Spec Navarra is super impressive.
• 0:42
  All three are in our feature library.
• 0:44
  That's a nice little short cast.
• 0:46
  And then Jadon Ojeda joined us for a separate bonus episode for the week.
• 0:51
  The tough path that he's taken all the way to a Mercedes contract and his return to Walkinshaw and Dreddy United for the Enduros alongside Ryan Wood.
• 1:00
  The youngsters did a very good job at the Bend.
• 1:02
  The end of the week.
• 1:03
  To our guest, let's get straight into it.
• 1:05
  Fantastic to see him back racing a supercar.
• 1:08
  Looked like a great weekend for him in South Australia too.
• 1:12
  Hello, Mark Winterbottom.
• 1:13
  G'day, Greg Riles.
• 1:14
  How are you?
• 1:15
  I'm great, mate.
• 1:15
  Back on the podium.
• 1:17
  What a way to start the co-driving chapter.
• 1:20
  I felt pretty good, mate.
• 1:21
  One start, one podium.
• 1:23
  So I'm feeling pretty good at the moment, to be honest.
• 1:27
  But nice to be back in a Tickford car.
• 1:30
  It was...
• 1:31
  Pretty emotional, to be honest.
• 1:33
  Like, I had a really good career with those guys, and a lot of the same guys and girls are still there.
• 1:38
  And, I don't know, just putting that suit on and walking in that truck brings back lots of good memories.
• 1:45
  And not only that, all the Ford fans that embraced it and took me back, you know.
• 1:49
  So I had a great weekend and had a lot of fun.
• 1:53
  Tell me a little bit more about it, perhaps what you're most pleased about from a driving point of view.
• 1:59
  And were there things, you know, because you've gone, you've had such an amazing career as a full-timer where you're doing it a bit more regularly.
• 2:06
  Pardon the pun.
• 2:06
  Was there anything that was rusty, mate, that you needed to tune up?
• 2:10
  Definitely.
• 2:10
  Look, when you're not in the car regularly, right?
• 2:13
  There's little things.
• 2:15
  I feel like I drove really well and mistake-free.
• 2:17
  I felt okay in that aspect.
• 2:19
  But just closing speed on cars and that sort of awareness around you, normally I wouldn't look like at the start I could hear or feel cars when I'm in the mix regularly.
• 2:32
  But when I started, I had a good launch, but I had to visually look in the mirror a few times of when I could cut across where when you're in it full-time, you kind of feel those little things.
• 2:43
  when to just, you know, the little tap I'm ready to come across or whatever it is.
• 2:47
  But, you know, I think tail and bend's a great warm-up for Bathurst because there was a lot of mistakes at tail and bend and you don't get away with them at Bathurst.
• 2:56
  So I felt nice.
• 2:57
  I felt good to be back in the car, but I've got improvement for sure and come Bathurst I think you'll see hopefully a bit faster effort from myself, but I felt pretty comfortable.
• 3:06
  Yeah.
• 3:06
  I love that, that comment just around, I guess, the things that become a bit innate or autopilot and just getting it back to that level.
• 3:15
  Can I talk about, not co-driver pressure, maybe they're not the right words, but I mean, it was a mega performance by Scott Pye, who you know.
• 3:21
  I mean, Todd Hazelwood, I thought, did a really good job as well.
• 3:24
  Was the worth of a good co-driver such as yourself perhaps a bit more evident at the bend?
• 3:30
  It's funny, on the grid, gone are the days where you used to say, who's the main and who's the co?
• 3:35
  Because they're all fast now and they're in good cars.
• 3:38
  Like the gap between the co and the main, they're almost doing the same lap time.
• 3:42
  So it's almost like two little races.
• 3:45
  I had mine at the start and I had to hand the car over
• 3:49
  effectively your job is to hand the car over in a really good spot, brake still in check, steering straight, no panel damage.
• 3:56
  You do your stint, you get out, and you give it to the big guys to bring it home.
• 3:59
  That's kind of co-driver 101 spec, but they're all fast.
• 4:04
  Some of those guys in that first stint that you just rolled out, they're all worthy of main game drives.
• 4:09
  It's just a little battle in itself.
• 4:10
  But I had a lot of fun, and you do feel the pressure a bit because –
• 4:14
  I feel like the Enduro Cup has more importance than ever.
• 4:17
  And the way the finals are structured, the 25-point bonus, which is a bit complicated, but the 25-point bonus that you get to win the Enduro Cup to go to the guys' finals chances is huge.
• 4:29
  It's the same as what Feeney's done, his whole first part of his solo sprint round stuff in two races.
• 4:35
  So we've got try and win.
• 4:37
  We've got to be consistent.
• 4:39
  And a DNF could lose your main guy 25 points, which...
• 4:43
  has championship ramifications come December.
• 4:45
  So I think there's more on the line now than there ever has been.
• 4:50
  Can I just drill into a little bit on those that maybe went the alternate strategy and started their regulars first?
• 4:57
  Has that prompted a bit of conversation?
• 4:58
  Are people now starting to think whether that approach might have merit at Bathurst and so on?
• 5:04
  Always is.
• 5:05
  And I think that was why the rule was so controversial when it came in, of starting your main, not your co, because you've got to have the option.
• 5:12
  And what it does do is you always –
• 5:15
  do the checkered flag, and then you come back from there.
• 5:18
  And that's how you do strategy.
• 5:20
  Although we put a lot of emphasis on the start, it's about the windows and the safety car windows and all the numbers you can open to come home.
• 5:27
  So Bathurst, there's a maximum driver time that a driver can do for the main.
• 5:32
  I think it's three hours and eight minutes.
• 5:34
  So realistically, they can't get in the car until 80 laps to go.
• 5:38
  But if a safety car comes out with 85 to go or 80 laps to go,
• 5:45
  and you haven't done your co-driver laps, you're in trouble.
• 5:48
  So that's why you start co-drivers at the start to try and get their laps out of the way.
• 5:53
  But these days, if you have a good co-driver, it doesn't matter if it's Winterbottom v Kostecchi, Winkup versus whoever.
• 6:03
  We can sort of hold our own a little bit now.
• 6:05
  So strategy is very important and it depends on who you got, how they want to play it.
• 6:09
  But effectively, it's the last lap and work its way forward.
• 6:12
  So that's
• 6:13
  Strategy 101 in a pretty quick nutshell.
• 6:16
  Now, you've had a bit of time to ponder this next question.
• 6:19
  Sandown has great, rich history in our endurance aspect of the calendar.
• 6:26
  Fabulous new venue at Tayland Bend this time out.
• 6:28
  How do you feel a couple of days on having done, you know, 500 around there in the weekend generally?
• 6:34
  I like the track.
• 6:35
  The track's really cool.
• 6:36
  And the event themselves, the Shahins and the whole team there, they really put a lot on for the fans.
• 6:42
  So it would be nice if they had bigger numbers because the amount of effort they put into it, the numbers weren't as big as what they should be rewarded for.
• 6:52
  The only thing it had against it was no safety car.
• 6:54
  And I think the fact that it's too good a circuit with all the runoff and everything, there wasn't a safety car.
• 7:00
  Where Sandown has tyre deg, there's...
• 7:03
  bad weather pretty cool it's a track that hasn't had any any money spent on it it's hard you bounce off the curbs and reliability and everything so you get those safety cars and it narrows the gap so you know i think tail and bend the only downside to the race was no safety car there was big gaps but at the same time you saw some pretty cracking battles you know and you just had to look through the pack to see them sometimes but um
• 7:27
  Yeah, I thought it was a great event.
• 7:28
  I thought, you know, they did an amazing job and that's year one, so it's only going to improve.
• 7:34
  You know, they can look at it, see what worked, what didn't.
• 7:37
  I'd love to bring back that co-driver race that they had at Sandown.
• 7:40
  Yeah, great.
• 7:41
  Pretty well everyone just lost the plot and crashed into each other.
• 7:45
  It'd be good if they had one of them at Tal and Ben because –
• 7:48
  You picture that run to turn one in a sprint format with co-drivers.
• 7:53
  That'd be pretty cool.
• 7:54
  So there's probably a few little things I could spice up.
• 7:56
  But for year one, I thought it was a success for sure.
• 7:59
  I reckon that suggestion was something that Scott Pye talked about on his pod in the lead-up.
• 8:03
  And I'd second that suggestion.
• 8:06
  Tweaks to the Ford in the lead-up.
• 8:08
  I'm a bit of a believer you need a few races to really understand what that's like, what it does, and so on.
• 8:14
  Could you feel that?
• 8:15
  Do you think it will help at Bathurst?
• 8:17
  I'm not sure, to be honest, and I haven't been in it all year, so I can't really comment on the car too much.
• 8:24
  I'm out of that side.
• 8:25
  I'll turn up on Thursday and they gave me a race suit, a calendar, and an objective, and I just drove the car, you know.
• 8:33
  But it felt okay, but it actually...
• 8:36
  I don't know.
• 8:36
  I drove the Camaro last year, and the Camaro is very smooth.
• 8:39
  I think the engine in the Camaro and the way it operates was very smooth.
• 8:44
  And I think the Ford's always been strong at tail and bend too.
• 8:48
  It's hard.
• 8:49
  I just don't know the answer to that one.
• 8:50
  But come Bathurst, long straights, low diff ratio, that's when –
• 8:55
  We'll see if it's closer or not.
• 8:57
  But 100%, there's been a deficit from watching.
• 9:00
  You know, I think the chef team's underperformed at Talon Bentu, which we didn't get to see Feeney go head-to-head with Kostecki and Waters, which he would have, Cam Hill, you know, those guys.
• 9:10
  So, don't know.
• 9:12
  We'll find out at Bathurst.
• 9:13
  I hope my car's good.
• 9:15
  I don't really care about the others too much, to be fair.
• 9:19
  But always been a good track for Tickford, always been a good track for Brodie.
• 9:23
  Time will tell, you know, in a couple of weeks' time.
• 9:25
  Spoken like a true racing driver.
• 9:27
  Hey, I want to continue this pod for a little bit longer, if that's okay.
• 9:30
  Can we get your frostiness to hang on there for a bit for us?
• 9:32
  100%.
• 9:36
  This is the Motorsport Brief wrapping up the Bend 500 and a little look ahead to Bathurst with the baker, Mark Winterbottom.
• 9:44
  I was with Billy Brownless and James Brayshaw from Triple M's Rush Hour recently.
• 9:48
  They were really quick to tell me that they'd spoken with you.
• 9:50
  They loved the chat and so on, but they were focused on this move.
• 9:54
  When did this become a thing?
• 9:55
  Are you any good at making croissants, putting a knot in the knot rolls, or do you just sort of step back and worry about it from a business point of view?
• 10:03
  I don't think Billy Branless has any interest in motorsport, but as soon as you talk calories and donuts, he was my best mate.
• 10:09
  So I got his attention pretty quick.
• 10:12
  But, you know, funny, motorsport's funny.
• 10:14
  You race your whole career and that's all you're qualified to do.
• 10:18
  But when it stops, you have to do something.
• 10:22
  I'm good friends with a pastry chef and he's had very good businesses and he needed someone to come in to help with the business side, the staff, the front of house, the admin.
• 10:33
  Renee's doing the finances in the background and he's the man behind the tools and he's
• 10:39
  He pumps out some of the best bakery items, croissants, pies, donuts, whatever you want in the background.
• 10:44
  So it's really good.
• 10:46
  And you've got to team yourself up with really good, positive, happy, go-getting people.
• 10:51
  And that's who I found.
• 10:53
  His name's Simon.
• 10:54
  He's a cracker.
• 10:55
  So the Happy Bakers at Brunswick and Airport West.
• 10:59
  So if you can push your way past Billy.
• 11:02
  We can serve you well, mate.
• 11:05
  But really fun.
• 11:06
  Yeah, it's a lot of fun and it's a whole new sort of side of business that I haven't seen before.
• 11:11
  I have a sweet tooth, so I will check it out at some point.
• 11:14
  That naturally leads me to the book, and we'll put more details on that in the description.
• 11:19
  It's gone incredibly well from a sales point of view and I guess you'd call it like a ranking point of view.
• 11:25
  How cathartic was that whole process for you?
• 11:27
  You really opened up, mate.
• 11:28
  I was chuffed when you came on the pod today.
• 11:31
  for a feature episode late last year, but you went to a whole new level with the book.
• 11:35
  Yeah, I think, you know, it's funny, I'm a very private person, but the book sort of says otherwise, to be honest, because, you know, you open up.
• 11:43
  And a lot of the stuff I said in the book, I've never even told my best mates.
• 11:46
  So it was a nice way of putting pen to paper and kind of having a bit of therapy, because there's some stuff you hold on to as a kid.
• 11:54
  And I don't know, it builds the person you are.
• 11:57
  So when I did the story, I thought it was really important to start –
• 12:00
  the good stuff, the bad stuff, because it all moulds you as a person, you know.
• 12:04
  So, yeah, it was tough.
• 12:07
  It took about 18 months to do the book and some of the chapters, you know, around mum and that side was very hard to write because, you know, it is someone that I miss every day, you know, and I can't pick up the phone and ring her.
• 12:20
  I miss those moments.
• 12:21
  So it was really nice.
• 12:23
  When she passed away, her last words were, never forget me, you know.
• 12:27
  And it was a bit of a...
• 12:29
  I don't know, tribute to her too and just the battle she had.
• 12:31
  And I think it's important to cover that stuff.
• 12:33
  So very tough to write down.
• 12:35
  But on the flip side, when I've done a few signings, there's been one girl come up actually the other day, 18 years old.
• 12:42
  Her mum's going through breast cancer, exactly the same sort of story.
• 12:46
  And she said that the book gave her inspiration.
• 12:49
  And that was really important to me because I think if people can connect and feel like
• 12:54
  you know, we're going through bad things.
• 12:57
  If there's someone else who you can relate to, it kind of gave her a bit of hope as well.
• 13:01
  And it was nice.
• 13:02
  I really enjoy those comments.
• 13:03
  You know, Ross, it was nice to...
• 13:07
  you know, talk in depth, but have people relate to it.
• 13:10
  That 18 months worth of work in that one moment makes it all worthwhile, mate.
• 13:14
  And I hope that Phelps has a bit of time and some column space for what hopefully will be another Bathurst win that you can add to this story.
• 13:23
  You've been mentoring on the Super 2 side of things.
• 13:26
  Have you enjoyed that?
• 13:27
  How have those drivers come along during the year?
• 13:29
  They're good kids.
• 13:30
  They're really good kids.
• 13:31
  All young men.
• 13:32
  They've
• 13:33
  I'm worried.
• 13:33
  One of them's 18, 19, and I've got an outlook on what my 14-year-old's going to be like in five years' time.
• 13:39
  So I'm trying to learn what they're doing.
• 13:43
  So I've got a bit of a hand on my young fella.
• 13:46
  They're good kids, very talented, super respectful, and they're so passionate for the sport.
• 13:52
  And it sparked another little inner thing in me that that was me on day one.
• 13:57
  And they're just so hungry.
• 13:58
  They're like a sponge.
• 13:58
  They ask you so many questions.
• 14:01
  They give you a hug.
• 14:02
  They appreciate what you're giving them.
• 14:03
  And it's really cool.
• 14:05
  Like, I really, really enjoy it.
• 14:06
  Yeah.
• 14:07
  It's made me not miss driving because I'm seeing other kids succeed and try and live their dreams.
• 14:13
  So it's been really good.
• 14:15
  There was a lot of pressure on the weekend.
• 14:16
  I raced three of them, three of the four of them, and I give them a rev up about their starts because their starts haven't been that great.
• 14:24
  And I had to make sure I got a good start.
• 14:26
  I can tell you on that start line at Tail and Bend, I have not been more worried about a start because I were all watching.
• 14:33
  And I think I beat three of them.
• 14:36
  So I still have some street cred, but that was one of the most nerve-wracking starts purely for that reason, just to show them that, you know, what I've been telling them has some merit.
• 14:48
  You know, there was a bit of pride on the line for that one.
• 14:51
  Leading by example two to get us to the finish line of this episode.
• 14:55
  Austin Sindrick will be with Tickford at Adelaide.
• 14:57
  A lot of chat around that.
• 14:58
  I think he's talked about on a US pod spending a month down under, which is awesome.
• 15:03
  Cool wild card story.
• 15:04
  He's got NASCAR to think about in the interim, obviously.
• 15:07
  Will you kind of help there at all with either some advice around preparations?
• 15:11
  I mean, that's a massive grand final weekend, isn't it?
• 15:13
  Yeah, I'm not sure what the team will get me to do, but I've got the Super 2 boys, which they're going for their own championship, so I'll be hanging out with them, but I'm not sure.
• 15:23
  Like, I think these endurance races, it's funny, you really build a camaraderie with the team and there's aspects that I can bring that I'm not emotionally invested.
• 15:33
  Like, I can kind of come in, see things and get out, where when you're there all year, you sometimes look at things and, I don't know, they're in the back of your mind and they trigger.
• 15:42
  So I think...
• 15:43
  At Adelaide, I might be able to, if Cam is still in the mix, which I really hope he is, just be a bit of a sounding board for him, that interim between the team and driver.
• 15:52
  Nice.
• 15:54
  I really want to see him win it, so I'll do whatever I can to help him.
• 15:57
  And the Super 2 boys, I think if we can finish first, second, third and fourth, which we're currently sitting, that would be huge for them.
• 16:04
  So I'll get out Sunday night, let them party at the gala because those young blokes, I don't want to be anywhere near them.
• 16:10
  Nice.
• 16:10
  once they celebrate with alcohol because I can't keep up with them when we're sober.
• 16:15
  So I'll let them party.
• 16:17
  But it's a massive weekend for the whole Tickford program.
• 16:20
  It's going to be huge.
• 16:21
  And you have squeezed in this year some broadcasting, which I think you've done a super job at, an alternate kind of freshness that you've added.
• 16:29
  Have you enjoyed that?
• 16:30
  What's perhaps been the biggest learning on that side for you?
• 16:32
  Yeah, it's a new appreciation for, you know, that I've always ranked you as one of the OGs, mate.
• 16:38
  So I have a new appreciation for what you do.
• 16:41
  And it's funny, you see good in everyone, which when you race them, you see them all as the enemy.
• 16:46
  When you commentate and talk about them, you actually see all the stuff they do well.
• 16:50
  So it's actually really nice to see,
• 16:53
  good in people, not break down the weaknesses when you're competing, you know.
• 16:57
  So really enjoyed it.
• 16:58
  You know, even guys like Garth, when we raced, we went head-to-head and, you know,
• 17:03
  I don't think we spoke much.
• 17:04
  It was a couple of grunts really at each other where now you chat and everyone's got so much in common.
• 17:10
  So you see the good side of people and I've really enjoyed it.
• 17:13
  And then, yeah, chatting to the drivers and watching a bit more in depth through the coverage and taking that interest, it's been really cool.
• 17:21
  But it is hard.
• 17:21
  Some of that stuff, when they say to you, we're crossing, ask a question and you ask it and then they go one more and you go,
• 17:29
  Oh, that was a really good question.
• 17:30
  I can't come up with another one.
• 17:33
  It gives you that spare of the moment, what do I do with my hands type thing, you know.
• 17:37
  So new appreciation, but sport's cool.
• 17:41
  You're talking about something you love, and if you show that you love it, then people will be infectious by it, you know.
• 17:47
  Very lucky to do what we do, so I've had a good time.
• 17:49
  Terrific.
• 17:49
  It oozes through the coverage, so well done.
• 17:52
  Go well at the mountain.
• 17:53
  I will see you up there.
• 17:54
  Make sure, surely on Tuesday or Wednesday, there is time for a chin-up competition against Cam.
• 17:59
  Make sure you show him that you've still got the edge against him there at the mountain, mate.
• 18:03
  I've got him covered for chins.
• 18:04
  No worries.
• 18:06
  No worries at all.
• 18:09
  Fantastic to get Mark Winterbott on the pod today.
• 18:12
  I will be there with the Triple M team for a special radio coverage of the 1000.
• 18:16
  That is it for today.
• 18:17
  We'll catch you next week.
• 18:18
  Bye for now.