Latest / Rusty's Garage / The Motorsport Brief - Wins and Acquisitions ft. Matt Payne & Matt MacKelden

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The Motorsport Brief - Wins and Acquisitions ft. Matt Payne & Matt MacKelden · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:04
  Welcome to the Motorsport Brief, where we try to aim for balance.
• 0:08
  And today, we'll even the ledger on one subject, and on another, celebrate a cracking supercars race with the winner.
• 0:16
  G'day everybody, Rusty here.
• 0:18
  Welcome to The Shortcast.
• 0:19
  Two interviews for you on this one.
• 0:21
  Shortly to Matty McKeldin from TA2 Australia.
• 0:24
  A bit happening in their world, new ownership, an awesome Easter at Bathurst with more than 40 cars, and why they're headed west in a few weeks' time.
• 0:33
  This stems in part from Paul Gover's appearance on The Shortcast in recent weeks.
• 0:37
  The category wanted the chance to kind of respond to a couple of his viewpoints.
• 0:42
  He's entitled to them.
• 0:43
  I love that.
• 0:43
  But we're more than happy to ensure that we have presented both sides.
• 0:47
  But first, the winner of an epic supercars race in Tassie last Sunday after some clever calls by Grove or Penright Racing.
• 0:55
  Matt Payne, brilliant drive, managed to fend off Brock Feeney, who had been fast all weekend.
• 1:00
  And it was one of the cleverest.
• 1:02
  closest finishes the sport has seen.
• 1:04
  I thought we'd get Matt Payne back on to talk about it.
• 1:07
  Hello, mate.
• 1:07
  Congratulations.
• 1:09
  Yeah, thank you so much.
• 1:10
  It's really good to be back on here.
• 1:12
  You've had some success at home in New Zealand.
• 1:15
  Now this, where does this kind of rank in the still relatively new and emerging career of Matthew Payne?
• 1:22
  Um, look, honestly, it was, uh, it was one of those races where like everything was just taken over and it was just emotion.
• 1:30
  Um, yeah, just driving off pure emotion right at the end.
• 1:33
  It was, oh man, it's gotta be, I don't know.
• 1:36
  Like it's, it's, it's one of those races where it might not have actually been my best all put together race, but certainly probably my best last lap that I've done.
• 1:45
  blocking so uh yeah it was just it was crazy for us to have the weekend we'd had and then uh and then to to sort of top it off with that with that one on sunday was cool it's the sum of many parts a race like that right in that final phase do the team leave you to your own devices is there a little bit of pump up calls on the radio are there suggestions how did you manage and balance all of
• 2:11
  Yeah, I mean, it's, look, like, for us, we've, between my engineer and I, we've definitely improved our communication a lot over the last couple of rounds, which has been really good.
• 2:24
  Just really digging into finite detail about, you know, driving the car and what he can help me with and everything like that.
• 2:32
  So, to be honest, like...
• 2:35
  I felt like I was asking the questions with a few laps to go to see how much more I could get out.
• 2:42
  Could I get another half a tenth out of this thing?
• 2:45
  Because literally it was half a tenth across the line.
• 2:48
  So for sure, like the last couple of laps, it was just me doing it, doing my thing.
• 2:56
  But I really do enjoy those races where you're so focused on getting everything out of it.
• 3:02
  You know that...
• 3:03
  you know you it's like you know the two strategies are out here and you know that at some point they're going to diverge and or you know come back together at the end of the race so you're always thinking about it but it's um it's what you can do in the in the present time that really changes the outcome at the end so that's why we were just working really hard every single lap realistically how much longer could you have held on
• 3:27
  Oh, I mean, I reckon I, to be honest with you, like, you know, 48 laps was a long way.
• 3:35
  But to be honest, like, I was driving that car pretty, very straight, like, very straight.
• 3:43
  And I felt like...
• 3:45
  I could have probably done another, I reckon I could have done another 10 laps probably.
• 3:52
  Before I'd really have started to fall off a cliff like we've seen in the past.
• 3:58
  So yeah, it was just, when I heard the radio call saying 48 laps for the stint, I asked how many laps I did.
• 4:08
  on Saturday because we did sides in the soft race.
• 4:13
  And I think, you know, the left-hand side would have done how many laps that race.
• 4:18
  And I sort of thought, oh, yeah, they actually didn't feel like they were too bad.
• 4:22
  So I knew it was possible.
• 4:24
  All right.
• 4:24
  The strategy decision, based on what you're talking about there, that's sort of my next question then.
• 4:28
  What was it?
• 4:29
  I think lap 29, you pit again shortly thereafter.
• 4:34
  There's some good people behind the scenes there, but did you kind of, in the back of your mind, question that at all?
• 4:39
  What were you thinking as you're going through that?
• 4:41
  Yeah.
• 4:42
  I mean, look, it's so easy for me to say, oh my God, I don't think that's possible.
• 4:46
  That's ridiculous.
• 4:47
  But
• 4:49
  We'd already spoken about it before the race and I knew that if there was going to be a safety car at that period that we were definitely going to do a double stop just because, you know, it seemed like it was actually a faster way.
• 5:02
  But we've had –
• 5:04
  had raises in the past like over the last two years that you know the team's made a pretty bold call on strategy and and I've never questioned them at all I've just said all right well you know you guys are going to be with me on this one because it's not easy you know being in the driver's seat when they're telling you that but I trust them every single time that they they've got you know really good numbers in front of them they know what they're looking at so if they think it's going to work then you know it's up to me to execute it but
• 5:30
  I'm definitely asking them for every single bit of help I can get along the way.
• 5:35
  There's a couple of ex-triple-eighters there.
• 5:36
  That's well documented.
• 5:37
  Is there a bit of extra satisfaction when you have a win like that over the Red Bull Ampile guys?
• 5:46
  Oh, man, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't.
• 5:50
  Especially for Couchy and Shippey, it's for them.
• 5:56
  They were working there for so long and had so much success
• 6:01
  I think for us, you know, it's definitely, I think even Jamie was probably a little bit more cut up about it, like, you know, for it to be us winning, especially, you know, with Shippie and that helping making the calls on the strategy and that.
• 6:17
  So, it's, yeah, it's definitely, I just think the race itself was, you know,
• 6:24
  as cool as it could have been.
• 6:26
  And I'm just glad I could have put, you know, we could both put a really good spectacle on for all the fans watching.
• 6:33
  with the added bonus of your lovely mum being there too.
• 6:36
  How cool on Mother's Day that she was able to get on the podium there with you.
• 6:40
  Yeah, I mean, look, it wasn't something that was obviously thought about during the day.
• 6:44
  You know, like, oh, if we win, you know, you can get on the podium.
• 6:47
  But it was really cool having them there on the weekend.
• 6:50
  And they love coming and watching the racing.
• 6:53
  So they went to Taupo, but they haven't been to one.
• 6:57
  in Australia this year.
• 6:58
  And they really liked Tasmania as well.
• 7:00
  So it was cool for them to be there.
• 7:02
  And I think it was just fitting.
• 7:03
  It was fitting that she got to go up on the podium.
• 7:06
  And I think she was more embarrassed that she had to wear a hat more than anything.
• 7:10
  You have been...
• 7:12
  been working incredibly hard behind the scenes for a little while now with Heath Meldrum, right?
• 7:16
  How beneficial has that been?
• 7:18
  We've seen him training other drivers in the supercars pit lane before, and I would imagine, even though you've had a bit of success on Sunday, he probably hasn't let you roll off the throttle this week, has he?
• 7:30
  Nah, nah, I went and saw him yesterday and just thought I'd roll straight back into the program.
• 7:36
  But nah, it's been really cool working with Heath.
• 7:40
  You know, he's an all-around great guy.
• 7:44
  You know, he's so nice.
• 7:46
  He's obviously been in it for very long, so he knows the drill.
• 7:50
  He knows a lot of people in the paddock as well, which is cool.
• 7:53
  So, yeah, it's been awesome doing, you know, even doing different stuff with him, you know, like trail running and entering some events, you know, that we might do in the future.
• 8:04
  And just, you know, really sort of taking my fitness to the next level, I think, has been cool.
• 8:09
  I definitely feel much better for it.
• 8:11
  There's no doubt about that.
• 8:13
  And driving the car, it's definitely an improvement.
• 8:17
  Yeah.
• 8:18
  Yeah, there's absolutely no way that we're rolling off the throttle anytime soon.
• 8:22
  I think if anything, we'll try and pick it up a bit more and go to the next level.
• 8:27
  But yeah, he's been a major role in the success for this year.
• 8:33
  So it's good to talk about him.
• 8:35
  Next couple of stops, Perth, obviously, to Wanneroo and then to Darwin.
• 8:41
  How do you feel about your chances now that you've debriefed Tassie and so on?
• 8:45
  It's going to be – it's still not going to be easy.
• 8:48
  You know, like I think those are the – literally, I think probably two, like, more tracks on the calendar that we probably haven't seen great speed at from us as a team.
• 9:00
  So –
• 9:01
  I think looking overall at the weekend in Tassie, we definitely have made a step forward.
• 9:06
  There's no doubt about that with our speed.
• 9:08
  I think if we put a good lap together, it could have been deeper in the 10.
• 9:13
  I think our race pace is better than our qualifying speed.
• 9:17
  It always has been.
• 9:18
  I think so.
• 9:20
  I think for Perth, it's going to be really important for us to sort of just stay on with the preparation and really take a bit of a deep dive into that track and really work out what we need to do with our setup to make it work.
• 9:36
  But Darwin's a different story again.
• 9:39
  It's hot.
• 9:41
  The track layout is quite different.
• 9:43
  I think that's probably going to be really a good sort of telling point for us to really see where our car's at year on year.
• 9:53
  Darwin's one of those places where I really want to go well there as well because I love the track.
• 9:57
  I think it's so cool.
• 9:59
  I've really struggled there in the past.
• 10:03
  It's nice to be heading into the next two rounds, obviously in the championship position we're in, but I don't want to give up any points at all.
• 10:11
  I just want to keep pushing forward so I can keep up with those two guys in front.
• 10:17
  and make sure I'm safe from the other, the pack that's behind me.
• 10:22
  Good stuff.
• 10:23
  You have, before we let you go, I mean, clearly on the couple of occasions that we've caught up and, you know, done an interview like this and so on, I can tell the immense growth, right?
• 10:31
  Even the way you reacted and interacted with Jess in the broadcast on Sunday and Garth, who has helped not just in a driving sense, but I think even behind the scenes there as well.
• 10:42
  Do you feel?
• 10:43
  like you're more kind of comfortable in that environment now?
• 10:46
  Is that getting easier for you too?
• 10:49
  Oh, yeah.
• 10:51
  I don't think I've ever found it...
• 10:53
  Daunting.
• 10:54
  Daunting, yeah.
• 10:55
  I think that's the right word.
• 10:56
  Like I've never been afraid of this area that our sport is in.
• 11:03
  I think for me it's just...
• 11:05
  enjoying everything a little bit more, really soaking it in.
• 11:10
  It's not every day you get to win a race or win three out of the last six races.
• 11:16
  So I think it's just ultimately we're having a really good year this year.
• 11:21
  There's no doubt about that.
• 11:23
  That's definitely playing a role in it as well.
• 11:26
  Yeah, I do quite like doing a lot of the talking and the interviewing and all of that sort of stuff.
• 11:33
  So, I don't know, maybe I might try my hand at commentating one day.
• 11:38
  Right.
• 11:38
  We'll let you go there now before you do me out of a job.
• 11:41
  Great to catch up with you, mate.
• 11:42
  Power on in both the West and I will see you actually in Darwin.
• 11:46
  I'll be up there.
• 11:47
  I'm looking forward to that.
• 11:49
  On a separate note, we were gutted for your great mate, Liam Lawson, who at the pod we feel deserved much better treatment.
• 11:56
  So when you're talking to him, give him our best and tell him to power on for the rest of the season.
• 12:00
  Thank you for coming on and chatting with us today.
• 12:02
  Will do.
• 12:03
  Thanks, Rusty.
• 12:04
  A quick break on this edition of the Motorsport Brief.
• 12:07
  When we come back from supercars to Trans Am and TA2, the new ownership deal is done, why they're headed west and what this great class has planned for the future.
• 12:17
  That's next.
• 12:20
  You're listening to Rusty's Garage.
• 12:22
  For this ep of The Shorty, we have two interviews, and we are literally going from one Matt to another, from Payne to Matty McKeldon, who has been a Trans Am racer himself, co-host of the Driver's Seat Show with the great Stephen Johnson on SEN.
• 12:37
  I've gone on and done some crook impersonations there from time to time.
• 12:41
  Matty Mac is also the CEO of TA2 Australia, and there's been a few big announcements in the past 48 hours or so, so I thought we'd get him on.
• 12:49
  Hello, mate.
• 12:50
  Welcome to the garage.
• 12:51
  Mate, this is sensational.
• 12:53
  In the last six or seven months since we finished with the driver's seat, I've held a bit of a bingo card, and I've done a bunch of interviews with different podcasts, and I can just nail this one off that it's Rusty's Garage.
• 13:05
  I'm one away from getting bingo.
• 13:07
  Good on you.
• 13:08
  And just quickly, not CEO, just category manager.
• 13:11
  Category manager, sorry.
• 13:13
  They get the irritable, I reckon, if they thought that I was rolling around as CEO.
• 13:16
  Thank you.
• 13:17
  But no, category manager, sorry.
• 13:18
  But it's great to be here, mate.
• 13:19
  Great to chat.
• 13:19
  That'll be me jumping the gun.
• 13:20
  Thank you very much for that.
• 13:22
  Tell us about that role now that you've been in it for whatever it is now, six to 12 months or something.
• 13:26
  How are you finding it?
• 13:28
  It's fantastic, right?
• 13:29
  You've got to love the sport.
• 13:32
  You've got to love the product, I suppose, like in life, everything that you do.
• 13:35
  You've got to love what you do.
• 13:36
  Yeah.
• 13:37
  And I love the TA2 platform.
• 13:39
  I loved it as a driver.
• 13:40
  I think it's a fantastic entertainment platform as well.
• 13:45
  And, you know, of all the years that I did for the V8 Ute thing commercially with Craig Denier, and I think that was, I don't know, however many years that was, I've really missed it.
• 13:55
  And I think I'm in my place.
• 13:57
  I'm with my village.
• 13:58
  I'm with my people.
• 13:58
  And a little bit like you, mate, just sit around talking around motorsport all day.
• 14:03
  It's a heck of a pleasure.
• 14:04
  So I am loving it.
• 14:05
  There was a handshake on it at Bathurst.
• 14:07
  The purchase from the Rogers is now complete.
• 14:10
  So some of that is commercial and confidence, which I completely respect.
• 14:14
  Just tell our audience, our listeners, what you can about this news.
• 14:18
  Effectively, TA2 and Trans Am as an organisation, if you will, are now under the one roof.
• 14:24
  Yeah, exactly.
• 14:25
  So we bought TA2, and I say we, I mean HCC, the three directors, Paul Hadley, Graham Chetty, Mark Crutcher, bought it in around, I think it was about November of last year.
• 14:37
  And they did that because the former owners, the Robinsons, they had their run with it and it was an opportunity for us to be able to grab it, grow it, a bit more infrastructure, a bit more investment and all that sort of stuff moving forward.
• 14:53
  I think
• 14:54
  Back then, we probably, well, I know we did.
• 14:57
  We threw the question at the Rogers, and it was a bit, nah, not really, because it's really starting to get some momentum.
• 15:03
  We've got some supercar rounds this year, and so we're going to keep it.
• 15:07
  We go, okay, no worries.
• 15:09
  So we pressed on with the TA2 route.
• 15:12
  That's been going fantastically well.
• 15:14
  Then maybe around January, we sort of threw the line out again, and then in February, and then in March.
• 15:18
  And it just happened that...
• 15:20
  just around Tasmania.
• 15:22
  The Tasmania, I think it was the high-tech oils race Tasmania.
• 15:26
  Question got asked again, and there was a little bit more of a door open this time.
• 15:31
  So a deal was struck and it was done.
• 15:33
  And what it enables us as a company, HCC, remembering that we bring all the cars into the country, we supply all the parts, we had a parts truck support going around to all of both TA2 and Trans Am events supporting our customers online.
• 15:47
  What it means for us is being able to take the direction of the platform in the direction that we want without there necessarily, and that's not saying that the Rogers were taking it in a different direction.
• 15:58
  It just enables us to have everything under one roof.
• 16:02
  Technically, commercially, broadcast, logistics, just brings it all together.
• 16:08
  And I think, again, for our customers, it's been difficult the last four or five years.
• 16:14
  We acknowledge that.
• 16:15
  It's been this weirdness between TA2 and Trans Am and our parts in the middle, but do we really like talking to each other?
• 16:22
  It's kind of like a...
• 16:23
  It's like a mum and dad divorced, you know, like you're staying in it for the kids, but each one's at the end of the house sort of thing.
• 16:29
  So all of that's gone now.
• 16:32
  And it's one direction.
• 16:33
  We're all rowing the boat in the same direction.
• 16:35
  A lot of enthusiasm around.
• 16:39
  And it's really positive moving forward.
• 16:41
  You mentioned the new owners there a moment ago.
• 16:44
  Worth sharing with our audience that they are racers, but properly successful business people too, aren't they?
• 16:52
  Yeah, they are.
• 16:54
  First and foremost, there were racers.
• 16:56
  So Paul Hadley, he's here and he's involved, but he's not overly visible.
• 17:05
  He is an ex-motorbike racer.
• 17:07
  And I think like a lot of motorbike racers, I think the old saying is, with age, get a cage.
• 17:12
  And so as he's gone through all of that, he's gone, oh, I think I might get a cage.
• 17:17
  He had some pretty big accidents and had some physical damage over the time.
• 17:21
  very successful businessman in from an engineering sense.
• 17:25
  And then you've got Graham Cheney, and Graham and Paul have joined at the hip.
• 17:30
  They've worked together in an engineering point of view and a company point of view for many, many, many years.
• 17:37
  Graham, they raced together.
• 17:39
  Graham Cheney is a motorcyclist as well.
• 17:42
  I think raced with Feeney's old man in Super Motard and did a whole bunch of stuff.
• 17:47
  with age get a cage uh and so we saw them in ta2 sort of four or five years ago um their cars are always immaculate like the engineers so the cars are just that if there's a if there's a splattered mosquito on it man it gets immediately cleaned right so so they have a real mindset of perfection and excellence and all that sort of stuff which we love and then mark crutcher
• 18:12
  Now, everybody knows Mark Crutcher.
• 18:13
  You either know him because you hear him 100 yards out from the pit garages hooting and hollering and all that kind of stuff.
• 18:20
  You've either watched him in the number four Crutcher Developments Mustang.
• 18:23
  It's either on the track or it's in the fence or spinning off or into another car.
• 18:28
  So he's a Bourne Entertainment package and just one of the world's great men.
• 18:33
  So the three of them have a background in engineering.
• 18:35
  Certainly Paul and Graeme have an engineering background.
• 18:39
  Mark's background is in supermarkets.
• 18:41
  He had a lot of IGA supermarkets.
• 18:44
  So he understands stock and stock control and customer service and all that sort of stuff.
• 18:49
  So, again, out the back here where all the parts are held, that's kind of his world.
• 18:56
  They saw an opportunity.
• 18:57
  They love the category.
• 18:58
  They love the cars.
• 18:59
  They love the people.
• 19:01
  And they have the ability to do it.
• 19:03
  So they work in and out of the business.
• 19:05
  Mark's the sort of the front guy for it all.
• 19:08
  He does a lot of the car sales.
• 19:10
  He's implementing stuff out the back in the workshop.
• 19:13
  Graeme Tinker's around the edge, technically, and Paul sort of comes in and checks and oversees everything, and he leaves again.
• 19:21
  And then my role as category manager is, well, when I signed on, I was TA2, and we've taken that upper level now on the High Tech or Super Series, and now we've got Trans Am as well.
• 19:33
  So to give a very broad overview, Liam Kirkpatrick, who has been running Trans Am, does an amazing job.
• 19:38
  He's a very professional operator, a ripper guy,
• 19:41
  He's going to stay in that role as we move through 2025.
• 19:47
  I will continue with TA2, but I will visit every Trans Am round as well.
• 19:52
  My June is absolutely out of control.
• 19:55
  And then we'll reassess at the end of the year which way we go and what we do.
• 19:59
  But it's all very, very exciting stuff.
• 20:02
  Awesome.
• 20:03
  We'll come to June in a moment.
• 20:04
  Just quickly, Paul Gover was on the pod recently, as you know.
• 20:07
  He was keen for more kind of big field races, like you enjoyed at Bathurst, where both TA2 and Trans-Anne ran together, more than 40 cars there.
• 20:15
  That won't always happen.
• 20:17
  Just explain the thinking there.
• 20:20
  It won't, and the reason being, as great as Bathurst was, as you say, 41 cars that shot up.
• 20:27
  Conrod straight with them all lined up together.
• 20:29
  I mean, it was sensational.
• 20:31
  And the customers had a brilliant time too.
• 20:34
  It won't be joined.
• 20:36
  And the reason being rusty is we had a real look at the marketplace of motorsport.
• 20:41
  We recognise...
• 20:43
  Two things.
• 20:44
  The most successful model of motorsport right now is the two-tier model.
• 20:48
  So, the supercars, Super 2, GR Cup, Scholarship, Cup Car Challenge, GT3, GT4, all that sort of stuff.
• 20:58
  So, what...
• 21:02
  TA2 does basically because of its customer base, which is, I say this with respect, it's the young guys and girls coming through, trying to build a career that possibly don't want to go and race the Moffats and the Goldings and all that sort of stuff and potentially get their head kicked in straight off the bat.
• 21:19
  That's not great for anyone's confidence.
• 21:22
  Then you've got guys and girls who have done well in business, but business is their focus.
• 21:27
  They might be in their 30s or 40s and they just get to come and drive a sensational race car.
• 21:31
  And then you've got what I would have called what I was, which was, again, with respect, what I call a fat 50.
• 21:40
  Again, you just get these race cars and you get to be on TV and you get to go on a race, great race tracks and dice or something.
• 21:46
  So that's TA2.
• 21:48
  Then you've got Transac.
• 21:50
  And when we look, as I say, Moffat, Golding, Jordan Cox, Jack Smith.
• 21:56
  Benny Barguana.
• 21:57
  Benny Barguana.
• 21:58
  So all these fantastic names and personalities and seriously talented dudes.
• 22:03
  That's where you go.
• 22:05
  for quite and quite like the main game, if you will.
• 22:08
  Again, we look at Bathurst.
• 22:10
  Jimmy Goldick qualified his car in a 9-1, at two minutes of 9-1.
• 22:15
  And he reckons he had a bit of a lift under the tree, so he might have actually been able to go into an 8.
• 22:20
  So these things are proper fast.
• 22:22
  Now, roll the clock back seven or eight years.
• 22:25
  I think George Medici maybe did a 15.
• 22:28
  And we all stood looking at the time sheets going, oh my God, how are we ever going to do that?
• 22:33
  Because we're all in the low 20s.
• 22:35
  There's been no fundamental change to the cars.
• 22:37
  There's been a couple of little bits and pieces for reliability.
• 22:40
  There's been a new gearbox, all that sort of thing.
• 22:42
  But they're going so much faster.
• 22:44
  I mean, into the nines, possibly the eights.
• 22:46
  So that's as a result of all of the testing that everyone does and the talent level.
• 22:51
  So we're positioning it very much like,
• 22:55
  quote-unquote like a super two with ta2 and then into the main game with trans am we may in 2026 purely and simply because of the feedback we've had from the customers we'll do the bathys thing again where we combine them all and you know who knows we might have 50 cars but um where we where we're going to go now and where we're going to go in 2026 will be ta2 and trans am separate
• 23:19
  Gotcha.
• 23:19
  TCR are negotiating a couple of speed hubs here in Australia.
• 23:23
  You filled the void there on the supercars bill at the next event in Perth, Kings of the West.
• 23:28
  Tell us a bit about how that kind of came together and how entries are looking there.
• 23:32
  Look, when supercars ring, you take the phone call and you be very respectful of the phone call because, you know, they are the thousand pound gorilla in the room and you've got to do that.
• 23:47
  Happened on Thursday.
• 23:48
  Yes, TCR.
• 23:49
  Again, I've openly said it on a bunch of interviews.
• 23:52
  There's two jobs in motorsport I wouldn't want right now.
• 23:57
  That's TCR category management and Oscar Piastri's teammate.
• 24:02
  I wouldn't want those jobs for all the money in the world, right?
• 24:05
  So they've got some struggles and they weren't able to get onto the grid at Perth.
• 24:10
  So we have a pretty strong Perth-based customer base.
• 24:15
  And yeah, they rang and said, could you put a grid together?
• 24:18
  I don't know.
• 24:20
  Lead it with me.
• 24:20
  Thank you for the phone call.
• 24:22
  within half an hour I had nine WA guys confirmed.
• 24:27
  We're going to bring three or four cars out from the East Coast as well.
• 24:32
  We're looking for a grid probably between 12 and 15.
• 24:34
  I'm hovering around 14 at the moment for Kings of the West.
• 24:38
  And, you know, if you roll up to Bathurst with 14 cars, it's a disaster.
• 24:42
  If you roll up to Warraroo, which is a pretty short, sharp type track, 14s with two weeks to go, with a Trans Am round, a TA2 round the week before, and a Trans Am round two weeks after, I think if we get 12 to 15, it'll be a great result.
• 25:01
  We want to make sure that for supercars and for their customers and their fans that we put on an entertaining show because that's what we're all.
• 25:10
  It's all we're all in this whole sphere of entertainment and watching cars go around and around and around and around is boring.
• 25:18
  So hopefully we'll be able to put on a show for the Perth fans and for supercars.
• 25:21
  And we're thankful for the opportunity.
• 25:23
  Good stuff.
• 25:24
  Just broadly on Supercars, you have a presence at a couple of their events.
• 25:29
  Just based on what you were talking about before there, this is not about you guys being a threat to them.
• 25:33
  I sense it's about complimenting them in the right way.
• 25:36
  Do you feel like you've got the mix on your own calendar with being a part of a few of their marquee events and then running your own show as well?
• 25:42
  Have you got that kind of balance right?
• 25:45
  Yeah, I think for 2025, certainly with Trans Am, we've got what we've got, right?
• 25:51
  So let me, on two fronts there, let me talk about this.
• 25:55
  I love the motorsport audience.
• 25:57
  They're passionate, super passionate.
• 26:00
  And that gets them into a bit of trouble sometimes and probably leads them down a path you don't want them to go down.
• 26:05
  Yeah.
• 26:05
  But I've read, certainly even when I was driving, I've read so much feedback saying, oh, this should be supercars and oh, this is going to take super two.
• 26:13
  And, you know, I did note Gover's comments that supercars, you know, are afraid of us or don't really want us or any of that sort of stuff.
• 26:21
  I...
• 26:22
  I'm at pains to say, and I've said it publicly, we do not want to replace Super 2, and we are not supercars.
• 26:30
  The word that you use, compliment, is probably the best word that we can do.
• 26:34
  If you think about the motorsport world right now, you've got GR Cup and scholarship in that world.
• 26:41
  So if you're a supercars team or a mum and dad, and you're bringing your driver up through that world,
• 26:47
  Once they get to the top of that, whether they win GR or whatever, there's a couple of options.
• 26:52
  You can go to Super U, who are doing a fantastic job, talk about an entertaining category, wow.
• 26:58
  Or you go to Super 2.
• 26:59
  And you and I both know that the world of Super 2 is $600,000 to $800,000.
• 27:05
  Some teams don't have it.
• 27:06
  Minimum.
• 27:07
  Some of theirs, minima.
• 27:08
  Some of their teams, supercar teams, if they've got a Junior Burger,
• 27:13
  under their wing don't have the money to be able to support that or find it difficult to get that mum and dad may not be able to come up with that sort of money so from a supercars point of view i look at it and i go we don't want the kid to leave the system because you know we want to keep fostering them and nurturing their talent for the future can't get them into super two don't want them to necessarily go this way or that way um
• 27:40
  TA2, Trans Am.
• 27:41
  That's where we can slot them at a budget that is far less than TA2.
• 27:46
  But on the same token, you are never going to be a supercars driver in this country without going through Super 2.
• 27:54
  I cannot imagine the day where someone gets plucked out of either a GR Cup or a TA2 or even a Trans Am to go, hey, you want to jump into our supercar and be a main game guy?
• 28:05
  You're always going to have to go through Super 2.
• 28:06
  So all we do is fill that void and we're going to go through Super 2.
• 28:10
  that a team or a family or whoever might be much more comfortable sliding into for a year or two before jumping to super two before jumping to supercar so we're not in any way shape or form looking wanting or trying to replace that top end of town they can have that
• 28:27
  The calendar from our point of view, yes, we've got three supercar rounds and we've got three rippers, right?
• 28:33
  We've got Darwin coming up.
• 28:35
  We've got Tayland Bend, and these cars were made to race at Tayland Bend.
• 28:39
  And then we've got Adelaide 500.
• 28:40
  So, like, if you're going to have three, they're three pretty rippers.
• 28:44
  They're very cool events.
• 28:45
  So is the mix right?
• 28:46
  It's what we've got this year.
• 28:48
  I don't know what 2026 looks like for either category.
• 28:52
  We've now picked up Perth, so that's four events for the platform in 2025.
• 28:59
  yeah would I like to see more supercar events of course they would would our customers like it of course they would but what that looks like in 2026 we're not entirely sure we's got to make sure that we put again be put on a great show at Darwin great show at Talon great show at Adelaide and see where the marvels fall but yeah we're very excited about those three rounds
• 29:17
  This is about a number of chess pieces coming together here, building, as you've talked about, right?
• 29:24
  I really enjoyed calling Trans Am immensely with Matt Nolte.
• 29:28
  He's a friend of mine, obviously, but great decision by you guys to get him involved.
• 29:32
  He's a wonderful custodian of all your statistics, too.
• 29:36
  You've got a lot of telly coming up, as you said there a moment ago, whether it's your own or on the supercars, Bill.
• 29:42
  And can I also weave a thought in closing on Craig Denyer?
• 29:46
  I mean, from your time in Utes and so on, he's been a great administrator, a great promoter in that sense.
• 29:54
  Did a fantastic job with TA2 as well.
• 29:56
  Is he still involved and how is he kind of helping?
• 29:58
  Yeah, he is still involved, definitely.
• 30:00
  And what a lot of people don't know about Craig Denier, like most people see Craig Denier as Grant Denier's father.
• 30:07
  Like that's all I say.
• 30:08
  And that's how he introduces himself a lot of the time.
• 30:12
  But he has been central to so many of the beloved things that we've seen on motorsport for the last 25, 30 years.
• 30:18
  Think back in the pro car days with Nations Cup and those amazing Monaros, inter-VA utes.
• 30:26
  Oh, what an era.
• 30:27
  Inter-VA utes, and we know where VA utes at that level went to with the forward and the holder and all that kind of stuff.
• 30:33
  Those were halcyon days, right?
• 30:36
  Then he was picked up to do this, you know, maybe five or six TA2 cars.
• 30:41
  What do you reckon, Craig?
• 30:42
  You reckon you want to come and just give us a bit of advice?
• 30:45
  Well, that was, I don't know, seven or eight years ago.
• 30:48
  And now we've got between Australia and New Zealand over 100 cars in the country and the thing's gone absolutely bananas, right?
• 30:54
  So he is still involved.
• 30:59
  He's a mentor of Vine.
• 31:00
  So, I mean, I just love having him to pick up the phone and say, hey, what do you reckon?
• 31:04
  I still call him boss.
• 31:04
  What do you reckon, boss?
• 31:07
  But he's here one day a week.
• 31:09
  He is an advisory to me and to the directors as well because motorsport is a very different business than it is to other businesses, quite normal businesses.
• 31:20
  So one of the great things with Craig is he's very commercially driven, very entertainment driven first and foremost.
• 31:27
  But with all of his experience, he's got knowledge of mistakes.
• 31:31
  We might go, oh, we want to go and do this.
• 31:32
  And he'll go, oh, just think about this or think about that.
• 31:35
  So from a knowledge-based asset, he is absolutely crucial.
• 31:39
  He's come to every TA2 race with me in the last four months, five months, just again, just to watch his transition, allowing me to take the reins and put my stamp on it.
• 31:52
  He's been unbelievable.
• 31:54
  And to be quite frank,
• 31:57
  Now we've bought Trans Am and now that there's some of the great things going on, I think he's actually reconsidering retirement.
• 32:03
  So, yeah, I think at the end of the day, he's still involved.
• 32:10
  We want him involved and we want that to continue as like a...
• 32:13
  almost like a consultant or an advisory role, but he's even floating around the building somewhere here at the moment.
• 32:18
  So, yeah, I love him.
• 32:21
  And with all this growth, as I say, I think it's rejuvenated him.
• 32:25
  But, you know, I won't tell you his age on...
• 32:28
  Yeah, but it does start with a seven, so he's still plugging along quite nicely.
• 32:32
  Don't worry about that.
• 32:34
  And I think the other option is that if he wasn't doing this, he'd have to retire or he'd retire down to Bathurst, and I'm not sure Brant Daniel wants him hanging around Bathurst for the rest of his life.
• 32:44
  So, yeah, Craig's unbelievable.
• 32:47
  Great asset.
• 32:48
  Like his son, he's got that same zing, mate.
• 32:50
  Great that he's involved.
• 32:51
  All the best to you with this.
• 32:53
  It is a fantastic time for you.
• 32:55
  And we really appreciate you coming on and sharing a little bit about the road ahead, if you will, now that it's all together.
• 33:01
  Best of luck with it.
• 33:02
  Thank you, mate.
• 33:03
  on your podcast.
• 33:04
  As I said, the bingo card's been ticked off.
• 33:06
  Highlight of my broadcasting career.
• 33:08
  Now that I'm an old retired broadcaster to come back onto Rusty's Garage and the Shortcast, absolute pleasure, mate.
• 33:14
  And anytime, just let me know and I'll grab the earphones, grab the cans and talk to you down the line.
• 33:19
  Terrific.
• 33:19
  Got to get your old sparring partner, Stephen Johnson, on at some stage too.
• 33:22
  Yes.
• 33:22
  Thank you, mate.
• 33:23
  You do.
• 33:24
  Thanks, mate.
• 33:24
  See ya.
• 33:26
  F1 is in Italy this weekend, Imola, and just days after the sport's 75th birthday too.
• 33:32
  Some really cool photos floating around on social media of all the different eras.
• 33:36
  Cool to see championship leader Oscar Piastri given the Lorenzo Bandini trophy in the lead-up too.
• 33:42
  Bandini was a bit of a rising star in the 60s until his death at Monaco.
• 33:47
  Ceramic Trophy is in the shape of his 67 Ferrari and it's about acknowledging rising talent for their efforts the previous year.
• 33:56
  You can only win it once.
• 33:57
  Lando Norris has one, so does Max Verstappen and Sir Lewis Hamilton.
• 34:01
  The ceremony takes place in Bandini's former hometown in the region where this weekend's race is happening.
• 34:08
  Oscar is the third Aussie to be awarded the trophy after Daniel Ricciardo and Mark Webber.
• 34:14
  Also on the calendar, WRC in Portugal this weekend too.
• 34:18
  Next week I'm off to Western Australia for round two of the Australian Rally Championship.
• 34:22
  Dakar legend Toby Price is taking part among a very strong line-up that the series is enjoying this year.
• 34:30
  We'll be getting some feature eps while we're on the ground there too.
• 34:33
  I'd love you to rate the podcast, whatever you want.
• 34:36
  way or whichever vehicle you use to listen.
• 34:39
  The month of May is in full swing at Indianapolis.
• 34:42
  We will talk about the 500 and more in coming eps of the shortcast as well.
• 34:47
  Have a ripper weekend, everybody.
• 34:48
  Bye for now.