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Transcript

The Motorsport Brief | The Quinn Family Tackle The Mountain Together · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:05
  Welcome to the Motorsport Brief.
• 0:07
  A special piece of history is about to be made and it spans three generations.
• 0:15
  G'day everyone, Rusty here with our latest garage shortcast to Tony Quinn in a moment about a bucket list project that he's announcing today that means more to him personally than perhaps any of the incredible business achievements he's had or the races and places he's competed at around the world.
• 0:32
  Before we get to TQ, just wanted to let you know about a couple of additions to the library recently.
• 0:37
  Great short cast with Shane Van Gisburgh in one of our best chats, actually, with his thoughts on Bathurst as he watched on from the Vegas NASCAR race and how he's unlocking the ovals off the back of his really impressive results on road courses in Cup this year.
• 0:52
  There's also a new feature ep with Motorcycling Australia CEO Peter Doyle, which is more than just rules, regs and admin.
• 1:00
  Growing up around some legends and getting serious about a career on the engineering side, which led to team leadership roles and an enviable record in the United States with Suzuki, with Matt Mladen, as well as the World Superbike Championship.
• 1:15
  He is a straight shooter in the way that he's
• 1:18
  kind of guiding two-wheel motorsport in Australia, and you'll get a sense of that in this conversation.
• 1:22
  I hope you enjoy it.
• 1:24
  Now, if you go hunting through stats and history pages, it's very hard to find entries in any discipline of three generations racing together, let alone at Bathurst.
• 1:35
  That is about to change, with Tony Quinn lining up with his sons Clark and Kent, as well as Clark's son, Tony's grandson, Ryder.
• 1:44
  They call him Popeye.
• 1:46
  I spoke to TQ in the lead up to this weekend's opening round of the Next Gen NZ Championship, the Kiwi Summer Series, which he and his team in New Zealand promote.
• 1:55
  It's also the final round of the Shannon Speed Series from Australia, with lots of GT3 and GT4 competitors heading over from Oz to take part.
• 2:06
  Hello, Tony Quinn.
• 2:08
  Hello.
• 2:09
  Hey, you got a little emotional when we kind of quietly spoke about this during the Sunraiser Safari, and I know it was in its infancy as an idea at that stage.
• 2:19
  Tell people about this brilliant Bathurst 12-hour plan, Tony, and why it means so much to you.
• 2:25
  Well, it's a bit of a story.
• 2:27
  I mean, it goes way back to when we were competing at, you know, Nürburgring, Dubai and the Bathurst Twelver as the VIP Pit Foods, that'll be the sort of team that was myself and Clark.
• 2:45
  my youngest son, and, you know, the odd celebrity like Shane and people like that, they would come and help us.
• 2:54
  And it was all... And my eldest grandson at the time was quite small.
• 3:00
  Like, I remember at Nürburgring, he was wearing the earmuffs and he was, like, less than five years old.
• 3:06
  And I always had this vision or this dream that one day it would be great to drive...
• 3:13
  at an endurance event with my son, Clark, and grandson, Ryder.
• 3:20
  But obviously, I had many years to wait until Ryder was old enough.
• 3:24
  And, you know, so that was always a... You know, people say to me, what do you have on your bucket list?
• 3:31
  I really don't have anything because I've kind of done all the things that I wanted to do except for this endurance thing.
• 3:38
  Because when you do endurance racing, it really is...
• 3:42
  totally different to a circuit race or a rally or any of the other disciplines.
• 3:49
  Doing an endurance race is really probably the most enjoyable thing if things go reasonably well.
• 3:56
  Well.
• 3:57
  So what happened basically was that, you know, that was the dream, that was going to happen eventually.
• 4:04
  But then through a series of life things, we all went off and did our different things.
• 4:11
  Clark's kind of retired from racing.
• 4:14
  Ryder grew up and started racing.
• 4:17
  And I just carried on bumbling around the tracks.
• 4:21
  and doing my thing.
• 4:22
  And it's only recently that we've managed to decide maybe it's something that Popeye, so they call me Popeye, that Popeye would love to do.
• 4:32
  It means a lot to him.
• 4:34
  We should all make a little bit of a spatial effort and make it happen.
• 4:38
  And, of course, my eldest son now,
• 4:41
  Kent, he's actually done a bit of racing too.
• 4:44
  So I'd love to include him as well.
• 4:46
  So the plan is to go there as the Quinn boys and have a crack.
• 4:54
  There is no interest in competing competitively.
• 4:59
  We basically just want to go there and we want to start.
• 5:03
  And I've promised that Ryder can qualify and do the first two stints or five stints.
• 5:09
  I don't care.
• 5:11
  And then we just need to stay.
• 5:13
  We need to survive and we need to finish.
• 5:15
  So that's the plan.
• 5:17
  Statistically, TQ, historically, to get three generations like this together is enormously special.
• 5:24
  And I gather, just to extend on what you were saying there a moment ago, that I think you're going to maybe quietly wander the lane and talk to some of the Euros and just let them know that your objective is different to theirs, isn't it?
• 5:36
  A thousand percent, because the reason that we stopped doing the Bathurst 12-hour was because it was just –
• 5:43
  It was too aggressive, and some of the teams that have come from halfway around the world or whatever are there to win at all cost.
• 5:51
  And we were taken out the last twice we did it by teams that were not even in the running.
• 5:58
  And so I just got the shits with the whole thing, and that was the end of it.
• 6:02
  And it coincided with Ryder growing up and Clark doing his thing and stuff like that.
• 6:07
  So it was just a time that that was it, that was done.
• 6:10
  And I never thought...
• 6:12
  that we would achieve the dream.
• 6:15
  I thought that was it gone.
• 6:17
  But no, so I'm going to deliberately go up and down pit lane and explain to all these teams and drivers that, look, we're not racing with you.
• 6:27
  We're not racing against you.
• 6:29
  We're not going to take your prize or whatever.
• 6:32
  So don't take us out.
• 6:35
  Don't.
• 6:35
  hit us we'll get out of the way for sure um i can't speak on rider's behalf but that may be a surprise but you know for the rest of us it's not a career move for us can you share some details tq if you're up for it on on perhaps the team the car i gather you're going to do some some testing together in the lead up and so on aren't you
• 6:58
  Yeah, we've booked a day at QR, 26th of November.
• 7:04
  We're going to drive the Coretta Cup car that we've got.
• 7:07
  Because, look, I do have a brand new Mustang GB3 in the garage.
• 7:13
  But to be honest, it is so complicated.
• 7:17
  And we don't have many spares for it.
• 7:20
  So what I've decided to do is to deal with our good friends at MPC, Troy and Lee.
• 7:27
  And we're going to hire an Audi because the Audis have been around the mountain several times and they have several spare parts in case we need some.
• 7:37
  And so, look, and, you know, Troy's going to look after us and stuff like that.
• 7:41
  It's just going to have no branding on it.
• 7:45
  It's going to be a purple car because purple is Popeye's favorite color.
• 7:50
  And it's just going to have a big white Q on it.
• 7:53
  You know, the Quinn boys, that's what we're doing.
• 7:57
  No game over, none of that stuff.
• 8:01
  Just a simple, so that it will be...
• 8:05
  Easy to, it'll stand out in the crowd for these European drivers.
• 8:09
  Don't touch the purple car.
• 8:11
  Gotcha.
• 8:12
  Any truth to the story that some good friends, maybe even some members from the racetracks in New Zealand that you own are going to come over and maybe get on the tools and be a part of this?
• 8:22
  Yeah.
• 8:23
  Well, that could be the funny part because absolutely, seriously, we're not going there to win anything.
• 8:33
  We're going there to have a good time.
• 8:35
  And the people that are going to be on the tools, I've said to Troy, because Troy wanted to have a full-on professional data engineer and all this stuff.
• 8:45
  I said, mate, seriously, that's not what we want.
• 8:47
  It's not what I want, and it's not what we want.
• 8:51
  Steve Horn is a good old friend.
• 8:53
  He's going to be on the cans.
• 8:54
  He's going to be the strategician.
• 8:56
  Awesome.
• 8:57
  And, you know, Grant Aitken, he might pick up a spanner or something.
• 9:01
  Somebody will be on the fuel.
• 9:03
  I've got a good friend in real estate, Pete Bergen.
• 9:06
  He just loves being the chocker.
• 9:08
  You know, the chock that they put in.
• 9:11
  So he's designing his own chocker.
• 9:15
  And I just want it to be fun.
• 9:17
  And if it takes us five minutes, 20 minutes to do a driver change or change the tyres or fuel, it does not matter.
• 9:26
  I don't care.
• 9:27
  I just want to keep going round and round and achieve the dream.
• 9:32
  I'm...
• 9:36
  I get...
• 9:37
  It's okay, mate.
• 9:38
  It's okay.
• 9:39
  Prof.
• 9:39
  It's okay.
• 9:40
  I get a wee bit emotional about the whole thing.
• 9:43
  Strange, don't I?
• 9:44
  I've hired and fired thousands of people and confronted unions and confronted all sorts of...
• 9:51
  dramas in my life, but this gets me.
• 9:56
  I love that, TQ.
• 9:57
  The record book show, Eight Starts for You and Clark, all together at the 12 hour.
• 10:03
  There's a P2, two thirds and a fourth.
• 10:05
  You talked before about the likes of Grant Denyer, Shane Van Gisbergen and the list of other name drivers that you've brought in over time is brilliant.
• 10:13
  But based on what you just said then, that this 2026 entry is perhaps the one that you're most proudest of.
• 10:19
  Yeah.
• 10:20
  Yeah, 100%.
• 10:23
  Yeah, I don't really care for any other accolades or prizes or cups or attendances or, you know, I mean, you know, Harry wants to go and race in Japan, the GT4 thing in Japan, and I'm happy to go and do it, you know, and we've talked about Pike's Peak doing it again and stuff like that, but there is nothing, nothing.
• 10:48
  Nothing that compares.
• 10:49
  Good for you.
• 10:50
  To this.
• 10:51
  Good for you.
• 10:51
  How does it even start?
• 10:53
  How does it even start again?
• 10:55
  I'm hoping it's going to be pissing rain so that people won't see my tears of joy.
• 11:01
  I'm chuffed for you, TQ.
• 11:03
  This is Bucket List, as you said.
• 11:04
  Stick around.
• 11:05
  More with Tony Quinn on the other side of this.
• 11:11
  This is the Motorsport Brief, our garage shortcast.
• 11:13
  We actually have one scheduled for November in the lead-up to the final round of the F1 Academy in Vegas with young Aussie Joanne Cicconti too.
• 11:22
  She stopped by the studio recently, so keep an eye out for notifications on that one in the weeks ahead.
• 11:28
  Back to the convo now with Tony Quinn.
• 11:31
  If we rewind the clock a little bit, you know, we weren't even sure for a period of time thereafter, the big crash at Townsville, if you would race again.
• 11:38
  You've been ultra determined to put the fun back into it.
• 11:40
  You've rattled off some of the friends that you've been able to do that with over time.
• 11:45
  When you think about it now, how important was it kind of getting back on the horse, but getting back on it in this manner where it is about family and it is about fun?
• 11:55
  And yeah, look, after the crash, there was a pivotal moment after the crash where I naturally thought that that's it.
• 12:03
  I'm not doing, you know, like the old bones can't take that anymore.
• 12:09
  And, you know, being in a wheelchair and in bed and all the rest of it.
• 12:13
  And I phoned Harry and said, mate, I'd love to just go and see if I can...
• 12:19
  drive a car just again and so we took the the Nissan GT-R which is automatic and it's everything else and I didn't need my left foot to drive it and so anyway we went up to QR and we did two sessions two 15 minute sessions and after that and I wasn't that slow you know it was quite good after that I said to Harry mate
• 12:43
  I now know what to do.
• 12:46
  I now know that I just want to enjoy it.
• 12:49
  I don't care for any race wins or podiums or anything.
• 12:55
  And there was a massive relief inside myself because prior to that, people always had this expectation that when you went away for the weekend racing,
• 13:05
  that you would be on the podium or you'd won something or you'd had a big crowd, whatever it was.
• 13:11
  But to have that huge expectation lifted off me and being able to just go and race or just drive around the track where all my buddies are and stuff...
• 13:24
  It was like a new beginning, if you like.
• 13:27
  And so nowadays, I'm quite proud to say to people, somebody has to be last.
• 13:32
  And I don't mind, you know, I've had my turn up the front and dicing with everybody and all the rest of it and the Targas and everything that I've done.
• 13:42
  I've done that.
• 13:44
  Now I'm just quite happy to be the guy that's last because somebody has to be last and I don't mind that.
• 13:50
  I'm glad you're enjoying it again, though.
• 13:52
  That's ultra cool.
• 13:53
  Before we wrap this up, can I bounce through a couple of supercars things, if you don't mind?
• 13:56
  Firstly, the debrief for Triple Eight after the supercars endurance races.
• 14:00
  The sprint section of the championship had been so unreal for you guys, but it's fair to say the endurance season was tough, wasn't it?
• 14:07
  Yeah, I mean, you know, we're human, yeah?
• 14:10
  You know, I mean, there was a few mistakes made in Adelaide that were probably not necessary.
• 14:17
  And then at Bathurst, you know, both the drivers crashed, which was unusual.
• 14:23
  And, you know, the weather turned on us.
• 14:25
  And I think some of our intel was that the rain might just skirt around Bathurst.
• 14:30
  And so I think the cars were exceptionally fast in the wet.
• 14:34
  Sorry, in the dry.
• 14:35
  In the dry.
• 14:36
  And, you know, had it stayed dry, it would have been a different result, but it didn't.
• 14:40
  But what a fantastic event.
• 14:43
  Yeah, what a fantastic thing for the series.
• 14:45
  I mean, you know, I mean, it's not just about Triple Eight, it's about the series.
• 14:49
  because if the series is strong and well supported, then all the teams benefit from it.
• 14:56
  And, you know, there's been a lot of talk recently about Teamland, but I'm fairly confident that that'll all be resolved and we'll get on with the business of making supercars great again.
• 15:10
  Good stuff.
• 15:12
  Someone's quiet.
• 15:13
  A bit of news around about the third car and SCT backing.
• 15:17
  Tell us about that and how excited you are for that next year.
• 15:20
  I can't really tell you much about it.
• 15:22
  I mean, to be fair, Jamie is the CEO.
• 15:24
  We actually had a board meeting yesterday where we discussed a lot of things.
• 15:30
  And, yeah, I mean, the SCT car makes a whole lot more sense because...
• 15:37
  for us commercially anyway, whether competitively, I'm not sure, but commercially it makes a whole lot more sense for us.
• 15:45
  And, you know, I think the decision was made to exit Super 2
• 15:53
  We don't need to be there at the moment.
• 15:55
  We need to focus on the business at hand, you know, with the Mustang next year, the engine program.
• 16:02
  And, you know, so I think we made some good decisions yesterday that will put the team in good shape for next year.
• 16:11
  You know, I think I can't speak highly enough of the Triple Eight business.
• 16:16
  It's, plus it's not a hugely profitable business,
• 16:21
  It's a fantastic business to be involved in.
• 16:23
  Good stuff.
• 16:24
  Were you surprised, maybe you weren't, that Roland Dane is going to be working with Premier?
• 16:29
  What do you think about him and the fact that he'll be with a rival team next year?
• 16:35
  Look, Roland's a friend from way back.
• 16:38
  I'm personally disappointed that he's doing that.
• 16:42
  I mean, I think he gave the message to everybody that he was hanging up his...
• 16:46
  clogs and going off to America to see Jess and Shane and off to England to see his other daughter.
• 16:54
  And, you know, I think it's a little bit strange, to be honest.
• 16:59
  I think GM are...
• 17:01
  I think there's a whole...
• 17:03
  puddle of stuff.
• 17:04
  And you know, the thing that amazes me is that GM, we went to GM and asked them for a little bit more money, like not much more, but just a little bit more because we were doing such a good job.
• 17:16
  And they flatly refused and said, we don't have any more money.
• 17:20
  And that's what prompted the move to Ford.
• 17:24
  Ford.
• 17:25
  Commercial.
• 17:26
  And I look now and watch what GM are doing in front of the cameras and behind the cameras.
• 17:34
  They're spending an absolute fortune.
• 17:36
  They would have been far cleverer to have just given Triple Eight a few more shekels and it would have been a far better deal for them anyway.
• 17:45
  But I think Roland's helping GM.
• 17:48
  I don't know.
• 17:49
  I think it's a shitty move, to be honest.
• 17:52
  It's not a thing that I would do.
• 17:54
  I think once you give people your word, I think that's your reputation.
• 18:00
  That's very important.
• 18:02
  And I mean, it's yet to be seen how much of an influence he's going to have.
• 18:08
  Pete Zubris is his own man.
• 18:10
  He doesn't need to be told anything by anybody else.
• 18:14
  So there's going to be some interesting discussions in Premier's garage.
• 18:21
  If I was a betting man...
• 18:23
  I'd say maybe it won't go past March.
• 18:26
  Wow.
• 18:27
  Wow.
• 18:28
  Well, I mean, I know how they both are, and they're both strong individuals with strong opinions.
• 18:35
  And, you know, although Roland's got the background, the history, he had a great team behind him.
• 18:43
  And this is why Triple Eight is so strong, is because the team that is there, that's made up of 10 individuals maybe,
• 18:52
  And then the rest of the team that are developing around them is so strong and difficult to beat, to be honest.
• 19:01
  Gotcha.
• 19:01
  I want to end Tony today by coming back to the topic that I wanted to discuss with you on this podcast.
• 19:08
  I'm going to let you know that in the build-up to this conversation, I called Ryder.
• 19:13
  Just a quick little call.
• 19:14
  I wanted to gauge his excitement for this.
• 19:18
  And we spoke literally before I hit record today.
• 19:21
  He says to me that he can't put into words how excited he is for this.
• 19:25
  Not just because it's the 12 hour, which I know you love, and not just because it's a GT3 car.
• 19:31
  He says it's the family aspect, right?
• 19:34
  And it sounds like you're already having Zooms as a group together, that the preparation, the planning is already underway.
• 19:41
  TQ, I am proud for all of you, mate.
• 19:44
  Yeah.
• 19:45
  What started as an awesome idea off the back of that GT4 win that Ryder had at the bend, that very special win in GT4, you know, a month or so ago, is coming together.
• 19:55
  And I'm thrilled for you.
• 19:56
  I want to say congrats.
• 19:57
  I think that's just bloody awesome, mate.
• 20:00
  Yeah, and you know, I intend to, and thank you, I intend to make a little bit of a story around it.
• 20:08
  And it'll form part of my legacy piece so that when I'm dead and gone, children that haven't been born yet
• 20:18
  can watch this crazy old Scottish Kiwi Aussie guy that did lots of stuff.
• 20:28
  And this is his crowning glory that meant so much to him.
• 20:34
  I love it.
• 20:34
  I'll be there to cover it, mate.
• 20:35
  I look forward to it.
• 20:36
  And thank you for coming on and talking about it today.
• 20:39
  Thank you.
• 20:39
  And sorry for showing my weakness.
• 20:42
  You should never show weakness.
• 20:47
  He doesn't often get emotional like that, which I think gives you a sense of how much this Bathurst project means to him.
• 20:55
  If you've read the latest edition of Tony's book, Zero to 60, you'll know that in recent years, something like this, for personal reasons, was...
• 21:03
  Probably a dream that was unlikely ever to happen until now.
• 21:07
  Time heals and this is a very positive step for all of them and one that I think they just want to be in the moment of and enjoy.
• 21:14
  I'm going to reach out to Roland for a right of reply there on the premiere stuff too.
• 21:19
  I don't always get it right, but I tend to leave the pods as the guest in their own words.
• 21:23
  So that is Tony's take on things, but my other strong value is balance and fairness.
• 21:29
  Before we go, this is the first step that I've bolted together with our listener team since the passing of Gary Rogers.
• 21:35
  Lots of people have spoken about this on socials, I know, and there were some wonderful things done at the Gold Coast on the weekend to honour his memory.
• 21:43
  He quietly did a couple of things for me over time that I will forever be grateful of.
• 21:49
  He oozed that no BS straight shooting approach and in the course of a...
• 21:54
  conversation by the fence at, say, the old Parramatta Speedway, I love those ones, or in the pit lane at Supercars or TCR, it invariably point your compass in the right direction.
• 22:04
  And as Owen Kelly reminded me the other day, Gary would say, these are the good old days.
• 22:09
  Right now, he wasn't one for looking back.
• 22:12
  A great human being who will be missed enormously.
• 22:15
  Our thoughts are with all of Gary's family and friends right now.
• 22:19
  I've been a bit too much of that stuff in 2025 for my liking.
• 22:22
  We will catch you next week, everybody.
• 22:24
  Bye for now.