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The Motorsport Brief | Aiva Anagnostiadis & the F1 Academy · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:04
  Welcome to the Motorsport Brief.
• 0:06
  Today we are putting a spotlight on one of the young Aussies in the F1 Academy.
• 0:12
  G'day everybody, Rusty here for another edition of The Shortcast.
• 0:15
  Shortly, Ava Anagnostiadis, who is with us today in the studio.
• 0:20
  Firstly, though, I want to tell you about the latest feature episode here in the garage with sprint car legend, Brooke Tattnall.
• 0:26
  His memories of growing up around his legendary dad, George, how difficult it's been to process his passing even all these years later.
• 0:35
  Rounding up the great Steve Kintzer...
• 0:37
  during practice, thinking that he'd arrived, learning to be his own identity, dabbling in a bit of circuit racing and how serious that became, holding on for dear life, trying to learn the lines in a NASCAR at the Calder Park Thunderdome, plus...
• 0:53
  living in a car while trying to get a break, trying to make it in the United States, and how being turned around at a border led to an unexpected title win back home.
• 1:05
  That is a crazy story that you'll enjoy.
• 1:07
  You can find Brooke Tattnall...
• 1:09
  in all the usual places, over two hours in two parts.
• 1:13
  Now, some of you listening today would have seen the Netflix docuseries on the F1 Academy, the next wave of fast, talented, very driven young females who are tackling the 2025 series.
• 1:27
  We can't wait to see the next edition, which they're filming, I think, at the moment.
• 1:31
  The green and gold series.
• 1:32
  is well represented this year with not one but two Aussies in a field of around 20 cars I guess you could say when you include the wildcard entries.
• 1:41
  The series runs alongside Formula One at some signature rounds and is showcasing the skills, the talent of women in motorsport in all sorts of ways on the global stage.
• 1:52
  Ava, welcome.
• 1:54
  Thank you for having me.
• 1:55
  It is great to have you
• 1:58
  You were on Have You Been Paying Attention a few nights ago.
• 2:02
  What was that like?
• 2:02
  That's huge.
• 2:03
  It was a bit nerve wracking, to be honest, because they're all really funny.
• 2:07
  So you've got to try and keep up with them.
• 2:09
  But it was just an amazing experience just to see all the lights.
• 2:13
  It was a bit intimidating.
• 2:14
  But then also have the live audience there.
• 2:16
  But then once I got rolling with it, it was just it was so much fun.
• 2:19
  That leads me to, I mean, some of the seniors from Working Dog Productions who produce that show have been in the celebrity race, for example, at the Grand Prix in years gone by.
• 2:28
  So I've no doubt you were warmly welcomed.
• 2:30
  The quick wit, that is a little scary.
• 2:34
  Racing or an appearance on a show like that, what's more stressful?
• 2:37
  The show, definitely.
• 2:39
  I know how to race the show.
• 2:40
  I don't know how to do.
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  It's fantastic that they stopped and, you know, because you could think it might be a gold medal Olympian, someone who's won the Melbourne Cup or a footy grand final or something.
• 2:52
  That's neat that they got you on.
• 2:54
  Yeah, it's really cool to be like a part of that ladder in a way.
• 2:57
  Cool.
• 2:57
  Let's start by telling our listeners a bit about your background and how you ended up on the motorsport pathway.
• 3:03
  Yeah.
• 3:03
  So my mum started racing when she was about 12.
• 3:06
  She did motorsport her whole life and then got out of it, had kids, had me and my brother.
• 3:11
  I got married to my dad and then got back into it when I was around six, five or six.
• 3:16
  My brother was three.
• 3:16
  And then from then on, I think I literally just asked to have a go in the go-kart and I never got out of it.
• 3:23
  Hopped in cars midway last year and then here we are in F1 Academy.
• 3:27
  Were you kind of competitive with your brother?
• 3:30
  I mean, did he sort of want to go down that same path?
• 3:33
  Mum and Dad kind of kept us in separate categories.
• 3:37
  We did one time go on the track together and rode off brand new go-karts.
• 3:41
  So, yeah.
• 3:43
  So they're trying to keep us out of the same category as much as possible.
• 3:47
  But I think one day it's going to fall to be in the same category.
• 3:50
  Okay.
• 3:51
  Yeah.
• 3:51
  When did the idea of you and F1 Academy kind of come on the radar and what was the process to entry there?
• 3:59
  Pretty much.
• 4:00
  So I hopped in a car same time last year, pretty much this year.
• 4:03
  Is that like a rookie test kind of thing and you got to?
• 4:05
  Just, we went, we were like, okay, we're going to hop in a car.
• 4:08
  We just decided one day that it was, I was turning 17, getting to the age where I was pushing it to be too old and too young to start in the cars.
• 4:17
  So we were like, all right.
• 4:19
  We're just going to, we want to jump in a formula car.
• 4:20
  We're going to go for it.
• 4:22
  We had a connection with Argenti because my brother was in their go-kart team.
• 4:25
  So we did a couple of test days with them and it was just full statement ahead for F1 Academy as soon as we hopped in that car.
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  Did you love it?
• 4:32
  Yeah.
• 4:32
  Where were you?
• 4:33
  Take me there.
• 4:33
  What track was it?
• 4:34
  Pembry in Wales.
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  Was it cold?
• 4:36
  Yeah, it was freezing.
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  It was freezing, borderline raining, just that mist.
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  But it's really Aussie kind of track.
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  It's in the middle of nowhere.
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  It's just bumpy grass everywhere.
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  Classic old school.
• 4:50
  Yeah, old school track.
• 4:51
  It was sick.
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  I mean, to then stitch it together, okay, so you get that taste.
• 4:56
  You go, right, I want to do this.
• 4:58
  But then to put all the pieces in place, how hard was that?
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  What sort of things have you had to learn, maybe even on the business side?
• 5:06
  Yeah.
• 5:07
  I had pretty much a budget that we could test with.
• 5:09
  We did about six days and we were maxed out.
• 5:11
  So we were like, all right, we need to get some more laps under our belt for as minimal price as we can get.
• 5:16
  And the Indian F4 popped up.
• 5:19
  So it was cheap as chips and we got to go do six races.
• 5:28
  We need it.
• 5:29
  Just miles.
• 5:30
  Yeah.
• 5:31
  Whether it's on the other side of the world, who cares?
• 5:32
  We're going to go do it.
• 5:33
  So we went to India, did that.
• 5:35
  You know what?
• 5:35
  It was a really good experience.
• 5:37
  The cars were...
• 5:38
  There were the Miguel cars, not the Tattus, so it was a bit different.
• 5:41
  But at the end of the day, I was getting laps under my belt, and that's what we needed.
• 5:44
  So I think learning how to get as many lapses we can get for as cheap as possible is where it kind of started because it's expensive once you go into Formula cars.
• 5:55
  I think we think karting's on another level and then you go to open wheels and you're like, okay, this is getting serious.
• 6:00
  And then...
• 6:03
  After realising that, we realised that we really need the F1 Academy to keep going because affording an F4 championship these days, it's ridiculous.
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  If you want to go race Italian, it's like one and a half million euros.
• 6:16
  So we were like, we need to get an F1 Academy.
• 6:18
  It's a pinch of salt compared to that.
• 6:20
  So it was just full steam ahead after that to get into there.
• 6:23
  When you say cheapest chips, I mean, that's in relative terms.
• 6:26
  I mean, motor racing is an expensive thing, but it's about finding the cheapest possible opportunities.
• 6:31
  Option.
• 6:31
  Oh, option, yeah, exactly.
• 6:32
  So then, I mean, is it a phone call to F1 Academy?
• 6:37
  Is it an email?
• 6:38
  How did that introduction happen?
• 6:40
  I have a really good team behind me.
• 6:41
  I've got Simone Landers from TLS, which is my commercial manager.
• 6:45
  So she does all that side of stuff.
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  And then mum and dad have got some good communications.
• 6:49
  They've been in the sport for years.
• 6:51
  Years.
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  And then I've got Tom Williamson.
• 6:53
  So I've been with him since I was about, I think, eight.
• 6:56
  So I think it's coming on 11 years this year.
• 6:58
  People in karting will immediately know him.
• 6:59
  Yes.
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  And he's been with me the whole way and he has quite a few connections, obviously, overseas and everything.
• 7:06
  So it's getting that team around you that you've got to do the job on track as well, but then behind the scenes you've also got to have the right community doing the right things.
• 7:13
  Yeah, and helping you navigate that path because that's not an easy path.
• 7:17
  All right.
• 7:18
  That naturally makes me think about your trajectory and where you're going.
• 7:22
  It's relatively recent that you've stepped into cars, but how has the academy...
• 7:26
  maybe adjusted your trajectory, the opportunity and in what ways?
• 7:31
  I think for females these days, we need to kind of balance the media and driving at the same time to keep going throughout the sport.
• 7:40
  It is sad, but it is good at the same time.
• 7:42
  I think compared to the male where you can just go out and do laps and win and your opportunities will arise when if you've got five females in the field of 40, they're going to look at all of them and see if she's got these many followers and performing in fifth or this one's got half a million and performing in tenth.
• 7:58
  you know, what's going to get them the best kind of viewing as a team and everything.
• 8:01
  I think that comes on the line as well.
• 8:03
  So for me, we've had to kind of... F1 Academy's opening up those doors so we can learn as girls how to balance the media and the kind of racing at the same time because racing is number one.
• 8:15
  That's always going to be number one for me especially because that's what I love and the media stuff is kind of on the side.
• 8:22
  But I think...
• 8:23
  learning how to grow and balance it as two kind of jobs in a way where I've got my racing side of things and then I've got my social media side of things where I go do stuff like this and I go do like have you been paying attention and it's kind of like a whole different life to this and being able to grow at both at the same time to kind of make a career out of it and to the point where I can go race if I want to go race a GT or if I get the opportunity to go get the pathway to
• 8:53
  One complements the other, really, and you need that asset strength of being good in the commercial landscape in a public sense to help the racing.
• 9:02
  And I feel like with initiatives like F1 Academy and some of the great things that we're doing around women in motorsport, girls on track in this country, we have made great inroads, really.
• 9:11
  It's massive.
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  Australia is very much a leading light in this space.
• 9:14
  Yeah, definitely.
• 9:15
  And I think I saw it when I came back at the start of the year, they did that rising stars race before the Grand Prix.
• 9:21
  And the amount of females I saw in race suits at the track, I was just stunned.
• 9:24
  I was like, I haven't been here for two years.
• 9:26
  When I was back here two years ago, it was one or two other girls in the class maximum on a weekend at say the Australian Kart Championship.
• 9:33
  And then I come back and there's a third of the grid and nearly girls.
• 9:37
  It was insane.
• 9:38
  So I think Australia is growing at quite a rapid rate as well.
• 9:41
  You can find out about some of those programs, incidentally, like Girls on Track and so on, by going to the Motorsport Australia website.
• 9:46
  What about resources, the training, the visibility that you kind of get through F1 Academy?
• 9:51
  How has that changed your development as a driver?
• 9:53
  Because you've talked about Pembry and the relatively new move into cars.
• 9:57
  Has this helped accelerate things and in what way?
• 10:00
  I think definitely because you're kind of thrown into a Grand Prix weekend.
• 10:05
  In my perspective, I was thrown in there and it's kind of you sink until you swim in a way for me.
• 10:11
  But then you've got F1 Academy supporting you.
• 10:14
  You've got Susie Wolfe.
• 10:14
  You've got...
• 10:15
  Some of the girls that have the jobs in the F1 Academy where there's driver development programs and there's people to help you get your training up to root.
• 10:23
  So it's very much an academy where if you need something, there's someone there that you can go to and search for help and help you develop as not only a person but a driver and just get better as the season goes on in a way.
• 10:38
  Great teams in the background.
• 10:40
  You are with high tech.
• 10:41
  What is that environment like?
• 10:42
  How's all that going?
• 10:43
  Yeah.
• 10:44
  Well, Hitek's such a well-known team throughout the categories.
• 10:47
  They're very dominant and they're known for being up the front.
• 10:52
  It is hard.
• 10:53
  It has been hard this year because in F1 Academy, they're a rookie team.
• 10:57
  And you've got two drivers that are pretty much rookies, never driven these cars before.
• 11:02
  So they were on a big learning curve too.
• 11:03
  It was a massive learning curve.
• 11:04
  And I think Montreal, we finally started to get our rhythm.
• 11:08
  We were getting into the top 10.
• 11:09
  We got points and the car started to feel quite nice as well.
• 11:13
  So I think we're going into Zanvoort pretty positive.
• 11:15
  The start of the year was a bit rough because we'd go one direction and then another direction.
• 11:20
  And we're still kind of learning.
• 11:22
  But I think now we're actually finally getting it.
• 11:25
  And as a team, I think Zanvoort's looking really positive as well.
• 11:28
  the cars, what's the most enjoyable aspect of driving them and maybe what's been the hardest thing to unlock?
• 11:33
  You talked about Canada there, I think that's the most points you've banked in a race weekend so far in the season, which is great, but what about the toughest thing to unlock with them?
• 11:41
  I think just learning.
• 11:44
  We did a bit of testing in, say, a British F4, but when we hopped in the Academy, we were a bit confused because it felt a lot different to drive.
• 11:52
  And the car has bigger front wings, bigger rear wings.
• 11:56
  It's a lot heavier.
• 11:57
  The understeers increase, and you can only adjust the camber to so much.
• 12:00
  Mm-hmm.
• 12:01
  So you've just naturally gone from a British F4 car, which has got understeer to start off with, to a whole nother level.
• 12:08
  So I've just learned how to drive that and then I've jumped in this on a race weekend and I'm going, okay, I'm back to square one.
• 12:14
  So it has been a bit hard to kind of understand the car and learn it.
• 12:18
  And I was learning the British F4 and then I've had to learn something all over again.
• 12:22
  But I think we're starting to get there.
• 12:25
  It's good.
• 12:26
  You talk about being on an F1 race weekend, which is massive, right?
• 12:30
  I mean, from Drive to Survive, the new F1 movie, which is out.
• 12:33
  I mean, the sport is box office at the moment, and you guys are a part of the show.
• 12:38
  Let's talk race preparation.
• 12:40
  Once you've dealt with all that stuff, how do you prepare yourself mentally for the race?
• 12:45
  Have you got a little kind of ritual or pre-race routine?
• 12:48
  What do you do there?
• 12:49
  I think the first weekend it just went all out the window.
• 12:52
  There was cameras everywhere, people everywhere.
• 12:54
  I was like, oh my gosh, you know, I was doing my warm-up and there was a camera there.
• 12:58
  So I think I've kind of mentally had to learn how to block it all out, put my headphones in and just do my warm-up.
• 13:03
  So I think I do that quite often.
• 13:05
  And then we sit in the cars for quite a while, so having to learn how to adjust to that because, you know, you go to the grid, like the V8s on an F1 weekend.
• 13:12
  at the Grand Prix, they'll probably have to sit there for a bit and then tour them around.
• 13:16
  And you're sitting around for quite a while until you go race.
• 13:19
  So I think learning how to switch your mind on at the right time while being relaxed, while everything's kind of going on in the grid is, yeah, it's a whole different learning curve.
• 13:27
  Do you use things like maybe visualisation, meditation?
• 13:32
  Some people do journaling.
• 13:33
  I mean, because the great thing you talked about before is you have access to,
• 13:38
  to high-performing individuals, high-performing athletes that you can learn from, can't you?
• 13:43
  Even Dorian Pinn, it's her last season this year.
• 13:47
  She's leading the championship.
• 13:48
  She's been such kind of a help.
• 13:50
  Oh, good.
• 13:51
  Like I can go ask her something and she'll help me out with it because she knows that she's leading the championship and I'm a rookie.
• 13:57
  So for her, it's no threat.
• 14:00
  And it's just been great to kind of learn what she did last year through her rookie year in the series to kind of develop as fast as possible so then I can kind of follow in her footsteps and then hopefully we hit the ground running next year.
• 14:11
  That's great.
• 14:11
  She's a great talent.
• 14:12
  We'll talk more about her in a moment.
• 14:13
  Can we get you to stick around for a little bit longer?
• 14:15
  Yeah.
• 14:16
  Cool.
• 14:16
  We're going to grab a quick break here on Rusty's Garage.
• 14:18
  More of this special edition of the short cast in just a moment.
• 14:21
  you
• 14:25
  This is the Motorsport Brief.
• 14:27
  Ava Anagnostiatis, back home in Australia between rounds of the F1 Academy, and she has kindly dropped into the garage studio for a chat.
• 14:36
  No doubt there has been some good experiences with fans on this whole journey that you have been on in the Academy.
• 14:42
  Some great energy behind the series, as we talked about before the break there.
• 14:46
  The sport, Formula One in particular, enjoying unprecedented popularity.
• 14:51
  What's
• 14:52
  What's been the best interaction with fans and maybe the strangest moment so far?
• 14:56
  I think the Melbourne walk that I did at the Grand Prix, I was on the way in the golf buggy and I said to Sim, what are we doing?
• 15:04
  And she's like, oh, we're going to Melbourne walk.
• 15:06
  I'm like, what do you mean we're going to Melbourne walk?
• 15:08
  Why am I going to Melbourne walk?
• 15:09
  I literally got announced three or four days ago.
• 15:12
  No one's going to know who I am.
• 15:13
  No one's going to want a signature.
• 15:14
  I'm going to walk down like a weirdo just going for a stroll.
• 15:17
  And I was there for like an hour and a half just signing stuff and just...
• 15:21
  I was in shock myself of how many people were kind of backing not only me, but the series.
• 15:27
  And just, I think I was more grateful that they wanted their paper signed and yeah, it was just, I was lit up by the end of it.
• 15:35
  So you thought, Oh, I'm kind of going in as I'm going to look like a random here.
• 15:38
  And in fact, you weren't right.
• 15:39
  You and I did a TV interview at the end of the Melbourne walk there for people listening that haven't been there.
• 15:45
  Literally from the moment they open the gates every day that the Grand Prix is on.
• 15:48
  They just sprint to get there.
• 15:51
  And the drivers pull up in this section and walk along a path that then leads them to the paddock entry.
• 15:56
  And there is a sea of people that line the side of that, play a bit of music and so on.
• 16:01
  It's a really cool thing that they have, really cool atmosphere.
• 16:05
  Can we come to the docuseries, right?
• 16:08
  So people are watching the 2024 show.
• 16:10
  series at the moment.
• 16:11
  Rhys Witherspoon's done a great job on that.
• 16:13
  And given it maybe a different vibe too, to drive to survive, what about things that your followers, your fans can maybe expect from 2025?
• 16:20
  You sound like you've already had cameras in your face doing different things already.
• 16:24
  I can't say whether there's going to be another series or there's not.
• 16:27
  Oh, okay.
• 16:28
  But I think last year's, for us, I think as rookies, to kind of watch it and sit down and understand what, say, Abbey Pulling went through.
• 16:36
  True, yeah.
• 16:37
  learn what was going on in their teams behind the scenes and see what they went through, kind of take a little bit of the learning out of it.
• 16:44
  From that.
• 16:45
  Yeah, and just kind of play a little bit into our races this year.
• 16:49
  You mentioned Susie Wolfe before.
• 16:50
  She's a great leader for our sport generally, not just for the series.
• 16:55
  How have you found her to work with?
• 16:56
  Has there been maybe a little piece of advice that she's given you along the way?
• 16:59
  She's been so great.
• 17:00
  She comes in when she's got time because, you know, she's really busy.
• 17:03
  So she comes in and we all sit down as a whole group and she'll talk to us.
• 17:07
  And even before the first race in Canada, she came up on the grid and she was like, you know, I didn't qualify where I wanted to qualify.
• 17:14
  And she was like, just give it your all and push 100%.
• 17:17
  And I swear I need her to do that every race because we've got double points that race.
• 17:21
  I'm like, Susie, you need to come back and do it before every race.
• 17:24
  Yeah, it's just that little boost of confidence that she believes in us.
• 17:28
  She's a great operator, in my opinion.
• 17:30
  You mentioned Dorian Parn before.
• 17:32
  Leah Block's a part of it, Maya Ferg.
• 17:33
  I mean, they're people that are in their second year, we should point out, too.
• 17:37
  Some very good operators in the field generally.
• 17:39
  Have you found that the camaraderie is good or is it kind of rivalry there?
• 17:44
  What's all that like?
• 17:45
  It's a pretty good community.
• 17:46
  Like, everyone talks to each other.
• 17:49
  You know, when the helmet goes on, it's every man for himself, or every woman for himself.
• 17:54
  Every driver for himself.
• 17:54
  Every driver.
• 17:55
  But at the end of the day, it's F1 Academy.
• 17:58
  It is an academy.
• 17:59
  It's for all the girls to try and grow and develop.
• 18:01
  So if you need something of someone or you ask them a question, they're going to help you out.
• 18:06
  So I think for us rookies to have them as kind of the role models in the series and, you know,
• 18:11
  They're pretty fierce competitors.
• 18:12
  I think the field has just developed so much over the past two years, just getting the drivers up there.
• 18:18
  So it's really good to have that kind of community around us.
• 18:22
  Nice.
• 18:22
  What about Aussie to Aussie?
• 18:23
  Joanne Chikonte is in there as well.
• 18:25
  You were looking at the point standings as you and I record this today.
• 18:27
  You just have the edge on her on the ladder.
• 18:30
  But you're both kind of trying to forge the same path.
• 18:33
  So do you end up helping one another or you've got to kind of focus on your own direction?
• 18:37
  What do you do there?
• 18:38
  I think it's a bit of both because I think that's with everyone in the grid.
• 18:41
  It's natural, isn't it?
• 18:42
  Yeah.
• 18:42
  Your rivals at the same time, but, you know, your Aussies on the other side of the world, you're going to keep in contact and communicate.
• 18:48
  And we do chat a bit throughout the weekend, you know, but at the end of the day, everyone's racing each other.
• 18:53
  So it is that little bit of rivalry, but then on the other side, we're still like nice to each other and talk.
• 19:00
  And, you know, it is just like a normal person.
• 19:02
  You mentioned Simone before, TLS talent.
• 19:04
  She's fantastic.
• 19:05
  She's outside the studio door, probably going to wind me up for,
• 19:08
  not keeping this interview on track and what have you.
• 19:12
  I mean, within that stable, the TLS stable, the squad of people in there, there's some really good athletes, role models.
• 19:19
  I mean, I immediately think of Molly Taylor, for example, who back in 2018 probably sat in this very studio with me for my first ever podcast.
• 19:27
  She was my first guest.
• 19:29
  So have you been able to draw from some of them and what's it like being around them?
• 19:32
  So I've met Molly probably the first time I joined up with Sim at an event.
• 19:37
  It was a bit awkward at the start because I don't think she knew who I was.
• 19:40
  And I was like, oh, hi, Molly.
• 19:41
  I'm with Sim now.
• 19:43
  And then at the Grand Prix, I know I see her every time we kind of have an event together or something.
• 19:48
  But she's a massive support for me and, you know, a bit of a role model for me as well because she's had so much success in motorsport.
• 19:56
  She's walked out.
• 19:56
  that international pathway too, hasn't she?
• 19:58
  Yeah, so she's gone through the same things and if I need something, I can flick her a message and she'll give me advice on it.
• 20:03
  So it's really good to have her there.
• 20:05
  She would never not respond to that too.
• 20:06
  I know exactly how she's programmed.
• 20:08
  You're wearing Tag Heuer shirts today, right?
• 20:10
  Like very cool to be representing a brand like that.
• 20:13
  Yeah, it's a real honour, I think.
• 20:16
  I kind of...
• 20:18
  It was an honour from the start, but then it kind of...
• 20:20
  The switch kind of flicked when I went to a pop-up in China.
• 20:24
  They took me for a bit of a look around, and they had Ed and Senna's suit, Max Verstappen's suit, and then my race suit, and I stood there and I was like...
• 20:32
  I'm a part of this history now, like with them being involved in motorsport.
• 20:36
  And, you know, it's not like it's going to go away.
• 20:39
  I'm on that line of the history and that first F1 Academy driver to represent tag.
• 20:44
  So, yeah, I think it's just such an iconic brand.
• 20:47
  And for them to be back at the Grand Prix and I think they've got so much involvement now, it's awesome.
• 20:52
  Brilliant that you're a part of that story.
• 20:54
  We're basically at the halfway point of the season.
• 20:57
  Report card on the year so far.
• 20:59
  You know what?
• 21:00
  It started off... We did score points in the first race in China, which we were happy with.
• 21:04
  You know, it's a good way to start the season.
• 21:06
  But then the rest of the season has been tough.
• 21:08
  Like I said, we were trying to learn the car and develop as quickly as possible to try and catch up to the other teams.
• 21:15
  Canada was starting to get there.
• 21:16
  I have had...
• 21:18
  to struggle with, we haven't been able to do any testing.
• 21:20
  So I'm going race to race, just going to Grand Prix to Grand Prix, hoping that we're going to improve.
• 21:26
  But before Canada, I was lucky enough to get to driver coaching days with Rob Wilson.
• 21:31
  So he's a legend.
• 21:32
  I think he's quite old and he still battles around in a car.
• 21:36
  He has worked with the best, as you know.
• 21:38
  Yeah, so he was talking to me about working with Valtteri Bottas and you literally go in a normal road car around a track and just hack the thing around.
• 21:46
  So it's awesome and I think the results from doing that upped us into the top 10 at Canada and I think if we can get some more testing underway before XamVault, which we've got some really cool sponsors in the works, so once we get them over the line, we're in the car and the rest of the season is just going to skyrocket.
• 22:06
  So Zandvoort's August, then Singapore, all wraps up in Las Vegas in November.
• 22:10
  What will you be kind of satisfied with at season's end?
• 22:14
  When you look at where you are now and the chance to build on what you've learned with Rob and so on in the back end of the year, what would you...
• 22:20
  I think Zanvo, if we're well inside the top 10 qualifying race, I think we're going to be happy with that progress.
• 22:27
  And then the rest of the season, we can get into that top five, I think.
• 22:31
  For a rookie year, the progression that would have been made throughout the season, I think that's really good going into next year where we can hopefully go for the championships.
• 22:38
  And is that kind of squared away or is that a work in progress?
• 22:41
  Are you sorted for 2026?
• 22:42
  Where are you at for that?
• 22:43
  Yeah, I think we're on the right pathway.
• 22:45
  Excellent.
• 22:46
  And, you know, it's a two-year championship, so we're going into 26 with nothing left on the table.
• 22:51
  Okay.
• 22:52
  On the whole, how do you feel?
• 22:54
  I mean, do you...
• 22:55
  Do you feel like you're breaking new ground here?
• 22:57
  I mean, you talked about the groundswell of female participation, and that's not just as drivers, just, I mean, even in engineering and motorsport generally.
• 23:06
  Do you feel like you've broken new ground?
• 23:07
  And when did you maybe sense that you'd achieved a bit of that?
• 23:10
  Was it that moment in Shanghai?
• 23:12
  Where was it?
• 23:13
  I think when I came back to Australia, definitely.
• 23:16
  Once it got announced that I was in F1 Academy, I think it was early February, late January, and I think once I saw the kind of support, even on the socials of all the girls coming through and kind of sending messages and then...
• 23:32
  when I went to the track that day and just saw the females and they all knew exactly who I was.
• 23:36
  And even if I didn't know a couple of them, you know, I learnt who they were very quickly.
• 23:40
  And just, yeah, I did a Girls on Track event at the Grand Prix and just to see all the support there, even from Alice Buckley, who we've been going through the whole karting our whole lives together.
• 23:52
  So to see what she's doing here and then I'm doing here and just to see all the girls that were really kind of,
• 23:59
  wanted to be included in our stories and, you know, wanted to learn from us and what we were doing.
• 24:04
  It's kind of eye-opening as well to see how much of an impact you're having on the sport.
• 24:08
  That's great that you're doing some inspiring stuff there.
• 24:11
  Alice has been in touch, actually.
• 24:12
  She's been doing a little bit of broadcasting on the carding side with their live stream.
• 24:16
  So I've been chatting to her a little bit about that.
• 24:17
  Right.
• 24:18
  Some rapid fire questions to finish.
• 24:19
  Here we go.
• 24:21
  Pre-race pump up song.
• 24:22
  What's the go-to?
• 24:23
  Pump it up.
• 24:25
  Race superstitions.
• 24:26
  Do you have any?
• 24:27
  Left side of the car, I have to get in that side, left glove on first, and my boots have to be seriously tight.
• 24:32
  Okay.
• 24:33
  Lefty.
• 24:34
  Favourite track that you've raced on?
• 24:37
  Canada at the moment.
• 24:38
  Yeah?
• 24:38
  Yeah.
• 24:38
  Good points all there.
• 24:40
  One event or circuit maybe that you dream of that you'd love to race on?
• 24:45
  Le Mans, I think.
• 24:46
  The racer and the circuit.
• 24:48
  I went there in 2015.
• 24:49
  You'll love it.
• 24:49
  You must go.
• 24:50
  Team radio funnies.
• 24:52
  Have you had anything from your engineer maybe over the radio?
• 24:54
  I had Canada.
• 24:56
  None of the team's radios were working properly because our thing was so far away.
• 24:59
  So you'd literally come down the straight and you'd get gap, nothing, blah, blah, blah, nothing.
• 25:04
  And I was just like, man, just please shush.
• 25:06
  I can't deal with this anymore.
• 25:07
  I'll just press on here.
• 25:09
  The snack you can't do without when you travel or when you're at a racetrack.
• 25:13
  Guilty pleasure.
• 25:14
  Uh.
• 25:14
  Dried mango or protein bars.
• 25:16
  Really?
• 25:16
  Yeah.
• 25:17
  It's a problem, actually.
• 25:18
  I wouldn't have picked dried mango.
• 25:19
  But anyway, what would you be doing if you weren't in a race car?
• 25:23
  I mean, you're still young.
• 25:24
  Would you have even contemplated that or has that never been on your mind?
• 25:28
  I would say I probably would be lost.
• 25:30
  Really?
• 25:31
  I was swimming and obviously dancing.
• 25:33
  I don't think dancing would have worked out.
• 25:34
  I'm not very coordinated anymore.
• 25:36
  But I think maybe swimming, but honestly, I've got no clue.
• 25:40
  But something competitive, though.
• 25:42
  Yeah, definitely.
• 25:43
  By someone saying something competitive.
• 25:44
  Best of luck for the second half of the season.
• 25:46
  It's been awesome to get you in the studio today.
• 25:48
  I'm going to see you in Singapore as well.
• 25:50
  I'll see you there.
• 25:51
  Yeah, look forward to it.
• 25:51
  Thank you for coming on for a chat.
• 25:53
  Thank you.
• 25:55
  You can follow the F1 Academy on socials or head to their website for more details.
• 25:58
  We wish Joanne all the very best too.
• 26:01
  We'll endeavour to catch up with her at some stage here on Rusty's Garage.
• 26:05
  Have you seen the new F1 movie yet?
• 26:08
  I'd love to know what you think.
• 26:09
  I'm seeing it tomorrow night, but I'm going into it with a bit of perspective.
• 26:13
  I reckon there'll be a Hollywood aspect to the story.
• 26:15
  You've got to expect that.
• 26:17
  But it sounds like they've done a very good job of trying to capture the speed, the spectacle and...
• 26:23
  embedding you in the important parts of the sport in the pit lane and so on it should be among the very best motor racing movies ever made a lot of chat as well about a sequel for days of thunder 30 years on how good would it be to see coal trickle back and those unforgettable lines rubbins racing that is it for today we will catch you next time bye for now