Latest / Rusty's Garage / Dave Reynolds - Part 1

Transcript

Dave Reynolds - Part 1 · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:14
  I'm automotive commentator and journalist Greg Rust and this is Rusty's Garage.
• 0:27
  For this episode, I'm in Melbourne and my guest has kindly come into the listener studios for the record.
• 0:33
  He has his own successful podcast, which is parked for now.
• 0:38
  So he gets this whole medium and he is good at it.
• 0:41
  But that's just because of who he naturally is.
• 0:45
  David Reynolds is about to embark on a new chapter in the tradie beer Camaro for Charlie Schwerkoltz Team 18 in Supercars.
• 0:53
  More on that later.
• 0:54
  He's only recently wrapped up three years at Grove Racing, where he was with them and helped them grow from emerging contenders to arguably now a proper powerhouse.
• 1:06
  Most of us remember his 2017 Bathurst win very fondly.
• 1:09
  It was against the odds, and he showed some real personality in the celebrations, as he so often does.
• 1:16
  We'll also talk about the defence of that great race win and what went wrong today.
• 1:21
  the toll that it took, and more.
• 1:23
  Plus the restoration of the first car he ever owned, the racket sport he nearly pursued professionally, his diet and the thinking behind it, plus alternative approaches that helped him get back into the right frame of mind.
• 1:38
  There have been moments of controversy in his career.
• 1:40
  We'll cover some of those to a point, but I want to respectfully not reopen them all.
• 1:46
  He
• 1:47
  Doesn't need the aggravation and I'm mindful of that.
• 1:49
  Now, he's also about to head to Bathurst for the 12 hour this weekend where he'll pilot a Mercedes AMG GT3 with some internationals.
• 1:58
  He is genuinely excited about their chances.
• 2:01
  A little thanks to Tahan and the kids here.
• 2:04
  This proud dad has the morning off and he chose to spend it chatting to me for all of you to enjoy.
• 2:13
  It's very important we get you comfortable for a podcast.
• 2:16
  It is.
• 2:16
  You've been tuning seats.
• 2:18
  Are you comfy for this?
• 2:19
  Well, I like a bit of inclination on my seat.
• 2:22
  Yeah.
• 2:23
  I actually work for a guy who didn't like that.
• 2:26
  So in the boardroom, he actually like welded all the chairs straight up.
• 2:31
  Strange, very strange.
• 2:33
  Does that mean like when you get in a race car, you're very particular about your ergonomics, David, and how you order?
• 2:37
  A little bit.
• 2:38
  I suppose like you kind of, you just want to be comfortable.
• 2:40
  Comfortable.
• 2:41
  Especially when I'm talking to you, Rusty.
• 2:42
  Finally, you've got me on.
• 2:43
  I'm very, very excited for this.
• 2:45
  I have no idea where it's going to go.
• 2:46
  I have notes.
• 2:47
  Neither do I. I think I'll just dispense with that.
• 2:49
  Yeah, can I shut it?
• 2:50
  Shut it.
• 2:50
  Shut it.
• 2:51
  No, can I shut it?
• 2:53
  You grew up in Albury.
• 2:54
  Can we start with that there?
• 2:55
  Do you still love it there?
• 2:57
  And what was kind of early life like for David Reynolds?
• 3:02
  Early life for me in Albury Wodonga.
• 3:04
  Far out, man.
• 3:04
  It's such a long time ago.
• 3:05
  I was born in 85, so it makes me 40 next year.
• 3:09
  Can you believe that?
• 3:10
  Crazy.
• 3:10
  It's crazy.
• 3:11
  Uh, so mate, I just... Don't look at your bastard.
• 3:13
  Oh, thanks.
• 3:14
  Yeah.
• 3:14
  I love you.
• 3:15
  You know that.
• 3:16
  I told everyone that too.
• 3:17
  Yes, you did.
• 3:18
  Very loudly.
• 3:20
  Um, uh, so in Albury, I, mate, I just, I played a lot of sport growing up, played...
• 3:26
  Like basketball, cricket, field hockey, inline hockey, roller hockey.
• 3:30
  Roller hockey?
• 3:32
  Yeah, roller hockey.
• 3:33
  One of the best games I've ever played in my life.
• 3:35
  I did roller skating as a kid and I loved it.
• 3:36
  I didn't do roller hockey.
• 3:37
  Roller hockey was mad.
• 3:38
  Like stick and ball.
• 3:39
  It was like from the 80s.
• 3:40
  Remember that one?
• 3:41
  Yeah.
• 3:41
  The Olympic sport.
• 3:42
  Wasn't there a crook 80s movie about like roller derby or something or other too?
• 3:46
  Was there?
• 3:46
  Okay, yeah, yeah.
• 3:47
  I can't remember that.
• 3:48
  Anyway, this is like...
• 3:49
  It was like the coolest game I've ever played in my life.
• 3:51
  And I loved it.
• 3:52
  So I loved ice hockey growing up.
• 3:53
  Okay.
• 3:53
  But there was no ice ring.
• 3:55
  So I played everything around it that I could.
• 3:57
  Yeah.
• 3:58
  So, yeah, it was a mad game.
• 4:00
  And I started go-karting when I was...
• 4:02
  six in 1991.
• 4:03
  Your dad loves it.
• 4:04
  Was he the inspiration or where did that kind of come from?
• 4:06
  Yeah.
• 4:07
  So my dad was, he was a dentist and he had, um, he had a rally car late 80s, early 90s.
• 4:12
  We went, you know, chasing my dad through the forest as a family.
• 4:17
  Um, my brother got a go-kart and I was like, Hey, when's, when's mine going to come?
• 4:22
  And then I got a go-kart, mum got a go-kart, dad got a go-kart, and we all went go-kart racing on the weekend, which I thought was normal.
• 4:28
  Apparently, that's not.
• 4:31
  The whole family doesn't turn up.
• 4:33
  You may end up reliving this.
• 4:34
  Yeah, I know.
• 4:35
  I don't think mine is.
• 4:37
  Maybe she might do it, actually.
• 4:38
  I don't know.
• 4:39
  What about Ryu?
• 4:40
  Because he loves cars and everything.
• 4:42
  He loves all that stuff.
• 4:43
  He loves working on them.
• 4:44
  But I don't think he's got the balls to actually like- Yet.
• 4:47
  Not yet, anyway.
• 4:48
  I think he's too clever.
• 4:49
  He's too clever.
• 4:50
  Okay.
• 4:51
  I've had a great childhood and I love my parents for it.
• 4:54
  Do you get back up there from time to time?
• 4:56
  Yeah, yeah, sure.
• 4:57
  I go back up as much as I can.
• 4:59
  All my family's still there.
• 5:00
  My brother's still there.
• 5:00
  A lot of my aunties and uncles are still there.
• 5:03
  My dad's still there.
• 5:05
  So we try and go up and, yeah.
• 5:07
  hanging out.
• 5:07
  It's just really easy.
• 5:08
  Aubrey is such a different lifestyle than Melbourne.
• 5:11
  In Melbourne, I always say you get three things to do for the day.
• 5:13
  You can go to work, you can go to the gym and fill up your car.
• 5:16
  That's it.
• 5:16
  That's it.
• 5:17
  Yeah.
• 5:18
  After that, there's no more time.
• 5:19
  Traffic, everything.
• 5:21
  But in Aubrey, you can literally go, I don't know, if you can go to an appointment at, say, 3 o'clock, you leave at... 10-2.
• 5:29
  10-2.
• 5:29
  That's actually, you're wasting time.
• 5:31
  You can leave at 5-2 and still get there with plenty of time.
• 5:34
  It's just that sort of lifestyle.
• 5:36
  Did the karting thing take over and when did it sort of become a bit... Was it an obsession?
• 5:41
  Did motor racing become...
• 5:43
  Yeah, I suppose, um, when I look back, uh, yeah, I loved it, loved it.
• 5:49
  Like, but I used to get way too nervous, like way, way too nervous.
• 5:53
  Like the nervousness.
• 5:54
  Cause like when you go go karting, you'd go there for the whole day and you do a couple of races and the whole day I'll just be an intense ball of nervousness.
• 6:02
  I remember that part.
• 6:04
  I actually quit in 1994.
• 6:06
  Really?
• 6:06
  Retired from motor racing.
• 6:07
  Yeah.
• 6:09
  At the ripe old age of nine.
• 6:10
  What triggered that and what brought you back?
• 6:13
  Well, I just got way too nervous and I couldn't deal with that.
• 6:16
  Yeah, it's strange, I know.
• 6:17
  So I played tennis.
• 6:19
  Did you?
• 6:20
  I started playing tennis five, six days a week before school, after school.
• 6:23
  Novak Reynolds.
• 6:24
  Pretty much, yeah.
• 6:26
  Yeah, in more ways than one.
• 6:29
  Yeah, so then I played tennis for about four years and then my coach wanted to take me on the junior tour.
• 6:35
  Wow.
• 6:35
  And I was about 12 or 13 at the time.
• 6:37
  She said, listen, you're going to play 16-year-olds and you're going to get beaten for a couple of years until you get strong enough to beat them.
• 6:44
  Yeah.
• 6:45
  And the thought of me losing made me quit.
• 6:48
  Yes, stupid.
• 6:49
  I know what a stupid decision.
• 6:50
  It was so dumb.
• 6:52
  So, yeah, I quit tennis and started go-karting again in 99 or 98.
• 6:57
  Were they kind of like you talked about your dad there before, but were they idols?
• 7:00
  Was it...
• 7:02
  Anyone in V8 land?
• 7:04
  Was it an Ed and Sinner?
• 7:05
  Who were the kind of heroes?
• 7:07
  Heroes, I suppose, when I look back, there was Ed and Sinner.
• 7:10
  He died in, when was it?
• 7:11
  94.
• 7:12
  94, I remember that.
• 7:13
  He was my brother's hero as well.
• 7:17
  Who else did I used to love back then?
• 7:18
  Yeah.
• 7:20
  That's the only person I sort of remember.
• 7:21
  Touring cars or mainly Formula One?
• 7:23
  Well, Formula One back then, but then later on in life, like early 90s when I got, sorry, late 90s when I got back into motor racing, characters like Thomas Mazera, I found so funny on TV.
• 7:36
  Marcus Grum.
• 7:36
  I don't know why Brock gave it to me.
• 7:38
  Yeah, hilarious stuff.
• 7:39
  I used to find them so funny.
• 7:42
  We need that, don't we?
• 7:43
  Oh, 100%.
• 7:43
  Yeah, that's the people I loved.
• 7:45
  And then later on in the 2000s, I think, like, Scaife become a bit of a hero of mine because he won so much.
• 7:52
  People like that, yeah.
• 7:53
  Do you feel he gets a bad rap sometimes?
• 7:55
  I mean, he's done some good things for the sport.
• 7:57
  Scaife.
• 7:57
  Yeah, yeah.
• 7:57
  I mean, he's...
• 7:58
  Yes and no.
• 7:58
  I think like back then, you know, he wasn't really liked by the fans, but I think the way he sort of managed himself during the race week and he didn't like... And he worked hard for that, didn't he?
• 8:09
  He worked so hard.
• 8:10
  He was super intense about everything.
• 8:12
  And I think that...
• 8:14
  He didn't give enough time back to the fans where some of them like Lownes and Brock and all those guys, all they did was give back to the fans.
• 8:21
  Everyone's so different.
• 8:23
  When you get older, you realize that all the characters are so different.
• 8:25
  You need all the characters to make up the sport because everyone was the same.
• 8:28
  Man, what a boring place to be.
• 8:30
  He's done amazing stuff for our sport.
• 8:34
  And ever since he's kind of left racing, he's got more fans and more love, I suppose, because of the amount of other stuff he's been doing.
• 8:42
  Oh yeah.
• 8:43
  Such a hard job.
• 8:43
  Oh no, it is.
• 8:45
  It is.
• 8:46
  Um, I have a bit to do with, with Shane Jacobson, the comedian and the actor.
• 8:50
  And he says the reason, one of the big reasons he fell in love with motor racing was that, uh, he thought Dick Johnson was a comedian that went motor racing.
• 9:02
  He said, we've got to get back to that.
• 9:04
  We've got to get back to that.
• 9:06
  So you move, you ultimately get into Formula Fords in the early 2000s.
• 9:12
  There's a great patch there with Sonic, which would lead to success for you at a national level.
• 9:19
  It's a bit of an end of an era for those guys in Formula Ford now.
• 9:21
  They've done some incredible things, haven't they?
• 9:24
  In Formula Ford.
• 9:25
  Yeah, in Formula Ford.
• 9:26
  One of the best teams I've ever raced for in my life.
• 9:28
  Really?
• 9:28
  Why?
• 9:29
  Oh, just the way Michael is and his ethos around, you know, hard work, all the cars, all the car prep, you know, the details, everything like that is just second to none.
• 9:40
  And that's why I had to join that team.
• 9:41
  And if I didn't join that team, I wouldn't be sitting here today talking to you.
• 9:44
  Really?
• 9:44
  100%.
• 9:45
  Yeah.
• 9:46
  That team made me into the person I am today or the driver I am today.
• 9:49
  You stayed with them and in a great chapter in Carrera Cup, mate.
• 9:53
  I mean, I very fondly remember Craig Baird, Beardot, Alex Davison and more.
• 9:59
  Yeah, yeah.
• 10:01
  And then even the move from 996 to 997, I mean.
• 10:04
  Yeah.
• 10:06
  Very cool era for the sport.
• 10:07
  Yeah, it was very, very cool.
• 10:08
  The 996, I hated actually.
• 10:10
  Did you?
• 10:10
  I hated it.
• 10:11
  Not a big fan of ABS.
• 10:13
  Like, you know, still a synchro gearbox, so you still got to use the clutch.
• 10:17
  Just the way it wallowed around had this big like bus steering wheel.
• 10:21
  It was just really weird.
• 10:23
  It was just a weird car to drive.
• 10:25
  Um, looking back on, I liked it, but at the time I hated it.
• 10:29
  And when we got the 997, it all made sense for me cause it was more of a race car.
• 10:33
  There was no ABS.
• 10:34
  It was like a sequential dog ring gearbox.
• 10:37
  Um, and just the balance of it was by far, probably still to this day, probably the best car I've driven was the 997 and the Gen 1 and Gen 2.
• 10:45
  Cause I raced that in New Zealand, the Gen 2 and it was just a little bit better and it did everything so much better.
• 10:50
  But yeah, the memories I got from those two cars are just unreal.
• 10:54
  What that title means to you because, you know, the caliber of the competition, the cars you've just detailed and so on.
• 11:01
  And I mean, that class is now, I mean, we're talking 30 car grids.
• 11:04
  Yeah, it's massive.
• 11:05
  It's massive.
• 11:06
  Yeah, yeah.
• 11:06
  But I mean, to do that in a level playing field formula, and that's not easy done, mate, is it?
• 11:12
  No, it's not easy done at all.
• 11:15
  I think when I think about it, I had those thoughts, like same as I did in Formula Ford, if I didn't win the championship, I probably would have quit racing.
• 11:22
  Really?
• 11:22
  100%.
• 11:23
  2004, I said, this is my last year of racing, and if I don't win, I'll stop.
• 11:28
  Was there a B plan?
• 11:30
  What the hell would you have gone off and done?
• 11:31
  No idea.
• 11:32
  Really?
• 11:33
  My life is this.
• 11:34
  David Reynolds Architecture, how may I help you?
• 11:37
  You worked it out.
• 11:37
  There's no plan B for me.
• 11:39
  A lot of people say in elite sport that that has to be the way.
• 11:45
  As a mum and dad, you kind of go, oh, okay, darling, if that doesn't work out, you need to think about it.
• 11:51
  Yeah, correct.
• 11:51
  But the burning desire when you don't have that, because that is all that is on the table in front of you, you've got to make that work.
• 11:58
  And that is a very powerful thing, isn't it?
• 12:01
  It is, isn't it?
• 12:01
  Because I always think if you start thinking about your plan B,
• 12:04
  You're out of the game already.
• 12:05
  Well, that plan B, like slowly and surely becomes your plan A without even you knowing.
• 12:09
  Wow.
• 12:09
  So if you disregard having a plan B, put all your eggs into one basket and do everything until that fails and then go step back and go, what's my next basket I could throw all my eggs into?
• 12:19
  Makes more sense, doesn't it?
• 12:20
  Yeah, yeah.
• 12:20
  Because you don't have to have, you know, I'm not very good at multitasking.
• 12:25
  Ask my missus this.
• 12:25
  Yeah.
• 12:27
  So I can do one thing, do it well, but if you distract me, I'm done.
• 12:30
  Sarah rolls her eyes because she looks at me and she goes, you cannot do two things at once.
• 12:34
  Yeah, we're exactly the same.
• 12:35
  We're all the same.
• 12:37
  If I go back on that, I said the same thing at the end of my career cup in 2007.
• 12:41
  I said, if I don't win this championship, I'm done.
• 12:43
  I'm going to stop racing.
• 12:45
  So luckily, maybe I should say that every year.
• 12:51
  So you, so you win it.
• 12:53
  Does the, had the phone started in supercars land and what, what kind of going on at that stage?
• 12:59
  Yeah.
• 13:00
  So, um, I think was it 2006?
• 13:03
  Yeah.
• 13:04
  Yeah.
• 13:04
  In 2006, um, in Darwin, Thomas Mazzara was our driving standards advisor, which was one of the best.
• 13:12
  He used to do these, um, oh, like not show and tell pieces, but like, you know, a recap of the round before and showed all everyone's mistakes and.
• 13:21
  how he adjudicates them and stuff, but they were just like a comedy session.
• 13:24
  My parents used to turn up to watch them.
• 13:26
  They were that good.
• 13:26
  I'm telling you.
• 13:27
  Give me an example.
• 13:28
  Give me one example.
• 13:29
  You don't have to pick a person, but just broadly.
• 13:32
  So I think in 2006, Jim Richards asked about racing room because he wasn't given racing room from someone.
• 13:41
  And then he...
• 13:42
  always referred to this like one particular part of Jim Richards giving racing room in Career Cup was like 2004 or 2005 or something.
• 13:49
  And it literally, I think it was at the chase at Bathurst, someone's tried to outbreak him.
• 13:55
  Oh no, he tried to pass someone down the inside and Jim's just clearly just run him off the track and just continued on with his day.
• 14:02
  He just always goes back to that.
• 14:03
  It's the funniest thing in the world.
• 14:05
  Everyone just pisses himself laughing.
• 14:06
  Gentleman Jim.
• 14:07
  Yeah, Gentleman Jim, 100%.
• 14:09
  He was a good racer, mate.
• 14:10
  He was awesome.
• 14:11
  Yeah.
• 14:12
  He was awesome.
• 14:13
  He used to hose me.
• 14:13
  I thought I was like, I'd tell this story like how
• 14:17
  in our sport you know ages you know once you get 40 do you still have it you have it to win and everything um or are you still fast once you get a bit older and i always refer to the story like in 2006 when i turned up career a couple 2005 i was 20 years old and i used to get dusted by a bloke with coke bottle glasses and he was 58 years old like he used to hose me week in week out i'll tell that story like age doesn't really matter in our sport yeah but but you got to share a grid with him and go up against him and race him that's
• 14:46
  yeah unreal and got to hang out with him and drink cup of tea with him and stuff he's got some great stories he's a legend absolute superstar like yeah so the phone had started oh sorry yes we're back on that yeah um so in 2006 yeah thomas mazzaro was our driving standards observer and um in darwin i think i we got done in qualifying for like a ride height too low or something and i had to start from the back of the grid and i made my way all the way to the
• 15:10
  or the front over the three races.
• 15:12
  And the last race I won, but I passed majority of people around the outside of turn one, like Jim Richards.
• 15:19
  I think I passed Craig around the outside and I pulled off this huge move, like stupid when you think about it, but I pulled it off.
• 15:26
  And after that, I think Thomas got in touch with HSV and John Crennan and said, Hey, this kid's got some talent.
• 15:32
  You should look after him.
• 15:33
  And then I started having meetings with, um, John from HSV and Tom as well.
• 15:38
  And, um,
• 15:39
  Yeah, they got me in and they almost rebirthed the Holden Young Drivers Program for me and they gave me a job in marketing department HSV.
• 15:48
  Why are you laughing?
• 15:49
  What did that entail?
• 15:50
  What were you doing?
• 15:51
  I was marketing assistant, but I literally did nothing.
• 15:54
  I was just the most useless person.
• 15:56
  I just sent stupid stuff around on the email chain.
• 15:59
  I said this before about the way you think, though.
• 16:01
  I actually think you'd be quite good at that in a creative way.
• 16:05
  Yeah, I can create some stuff, but sometimes, no.
• 16:09
  Not for the general public.
• 16:10
  That's the problem.
• 16:21
  For some reason, I think Dave ended up in the right place.
• 16:24
  Don't you?
• 16:25
  Many thanks to Craig Baird for helping make it happen.
• 16:28
  He sure has a keen eye and Davey isn't the only superstar he has spotted.
• 16:33
  He also helped Jason Richards get a go.
• 16:35
  I probably started Jason's career.
• 16:39
  His mum and dad, just beautiful people.
• 16:41
  Um, were putting everything into his form the forward campaign, had no money.
• 16:46
  We're in a shitty little tent and I remember watching him at Invercargill and then I was talking to Jason, I went over and I was racing for BMW then and the factory and sort of traveling overseas and I had this, there was just something.
• 17:01
  An astute eye.
• 17:02
  You can hear the rest of that story and who he recruited along the way in the garage library.
• 17:08
  Now back to Rustian Head of Marketing, David Reynolds.
• 17:13
  Here you are, young bloke from Albury.
• 17:15
  You've won a couple of things, which is good.
• 17:17
  But now you're in a big league organisation.
• 17:20
  How eye-opening was that?
• 17:21
  How did it shape this young bloke and so on?
• 17:24
  It was so eye-opening for me.
• 17:25
  Was it?
• 17:26
  Because I was just used to dealing with small teams and I go to like a...
• 17:30
  The two factory teams at the time were HRT and HSV dealer team.
• 17:34
  I was like their young driver program, so I got to see both sides of those teams.
• 17:39
  Plus, there was a whole car business attached to it as well.
• 17:42
  I was working with everyone from the car manufacturing side as well, getting to know their production plant.
• 17:50
  um, you know, all their staff, how they, how they operate internally.
• 17:53
  They just wanted me to understand their world of HSV.
• 17:55
  So when I became a full-time driver for them, I'd know their business model and their backbone and everything.
• 18:02
  So yeah, I've, uh, I loved it.
• 18:04
  It was so much fun, but I was like, I don't think I was like mature enough to deal with that.
• 18:11
  Sorry, I was just mucking around.
• 18:12
  One day I turn up to work.
• 18:14
  I think it was like, I think everyone finishes at five and I turned up at like 10 to five in the afternoon.
• 18:21
  And everyone said, dude, you're taking the piss now.
• 18:23
  I'm like...
• 18:25
  But I actually had some stuff on and it was just the way it worked out.
• 18:27
  I only got in for the last 10 minutes of work.
• 18:30
  Crazy.
• 18:31
  And just the stories we had and how much fun it was was epic.
• 18:34
  I had the best time of my life.
• 18:36
  What were the cars like to drive?
• 18:37
  What was the first time you drove a supercar?
• 18:40
  And what did that leave you with?
• 18:42
  What visceral feeling did that leave you with?
• 18:44
  So the first time I drove a supercar was in an evaluation day.
• 18:47
  So they were evaluating other drivers.
• 18:50
  And there was myself, a guy named Ben Clukas, Taz Douglas, and Tim Slade.
• 18:55
  We were like the guinea pigs, I suppose.
• 18:58
  And our pro for the day was Garth Tander.
• 19:02
  So Garth comes up and drives the car, sets a time that we could almost get close to.
• 19:08
  And we go out there and we had a few runs each and stuff.
• 19:11
  And it was just, I remember driving out of pit lane.
• 19:13
  I've never driven a car with that much power.
• 19:15
  And I got to turn three at Winton after driving out of the pits and just had this huge smile on my face.
• 19:22
  I'm like, wow, that feels like, that feels cool.
• 19:25
  But then, you know, fast forward 15 years, I don't have enough power.
• 19:30
  I just always complain about my engine.
• 19:31
  No, not really.
• 19:32
  No, it was like one of the coolest days ever.
• 19:35
  And I remember, you know,
• 19:37
  Just the whole, everything, how it worked, watching all the other drivers go about learning their car, because we all haven't driven a supercar at that point.
• 19:45
  So, you know, everyone was their first day on the job.
• 19:47
  Does that get awkward?
• 19:49
  Like when you're all kind of hanging around together and people are trying to, you know, it's your chance.
• 19:53
  It's your big chance.
• 19:54
  Yeah, I suppose it is.
• 19:55
  Like I suppose I knew Slade and Taz pretty well from the years of racing.
• 19:59
  We didn't know Ben that well.
• 20:00
  He was a guy from...
• 20:03
  I think England, and he was doing Formula 3, so completely other realm of motor racing.
• 20:10
  But yeah, I sort of...
• 20:12
  But I think we all sort of had a chat.
• 20:14
  It was all friendly.
• 20:14
  There was no...
• 20:15
  I don't think there was any malice, but deep down we all wanted to be the fastest on that day and prove that we could do the job.
• 20:22
  I think luckily, I think I was quickest, and they still retained me as...
• 20:27
  The young idiot.
• 20:29
  Well, they actually had a name for me at HSV.
• 20:31
  What was it?
• 20:32
  So I was the driver that no one knew because I was new on the scene, so they called me the Stig.
• 20:38
  The Stig?
• 20:38
  The Stig.
• 20:39
  I was the original Stig, apparently.
• 20:40
  So if anyone has worked for HSV or anyone that's worked for HSV at that time, they'd know the Stig.
• 20:45
  I'll know that story.
• 20:46
  Yeah.
• 20:47
  Tell me what...
• 20:50
  What a lesson for a young racer might be from a day like that, because you could simply go, I just got to set the fastest time here.
• 20:56
  I've just got to make them go.
• 20:57
  I'm the cat.
• 20:58
  I'm going to set the quickest time.
• 21:00
  But often it can be more than that, that they look into on the day.
• 21:04
  Now you, you talked about nearing 40.
• 21:07
  What's the, crazy.
• 21:09
  What's the lesson that, you know, for someone who might go into a day like that?
• 21:13
  Yes.
• 21:13
  How would you tell them to attack it?
• 21:15
  you don't know what they're looking for.
• 21:18
  If I was to run a day like that, you want to take the fastest kid because they clearly have the most talent.
• 21:23
  You can't teach that.
• 21:24
  They've either got it or they can.
• 21:25
  Exactly.
• 21:25
  You can't teach that.
• 21:26
  Everything else you can mold around that.
• 21:28
  But how their feedback is, how they look after the tire, there's heaps of other aspects as well that you've got to think about.
• 21:35
  But generally, it goes to the fastest kid.
• 21:37
  Yeah.
• 21:38
  Um, so if I was giving any young kid advice, I'd say, be the fastest, go out there and just know that you're the best and prove to everyone there that you can be the fastest.
• 21:49
  Yeah.
• 21:49
  I'm a believer in immersing yourself in everything else that goes with it though.
• 21:52
  So that they see the, so when you get out of the car, like always, um, you know, involve yourself in the data, talk to the mechanics, try and be the most.
• 22:02
  humbling, presented person you can be and trying to be actually the easiest person to get along with because that also determines whether you get picked up.
• 22:08
  If you're a tenth fast in everyone but you're an absolute asshole, no one's going to take you.
• 22:14
  What about media side?
• 22:15
  Because I think now we almost ask of them to walk up to a line.
• 22:21
  I mean, you've found and crossed the line, right, like over time.
• 22:24
  Have I?
• 22:25
  I think there might be a fine, a couple of fines.
• 22:31
  You know, helping them come out of their shell firstly so that they have personality, which we've talked about before, and then learning how to walk up to that line.
• 22:38
  It's not easy.
• 22:39
  It's super hard to do.
• 22:41
  And when you're a young kid, you're so impressionable.
• 22:43
  So like when I first turned up HSV, I was, you know, I had Garth Tander, Mark Scave, Todd Kelly, Rick Kelly, all these guys to look up to.
• 22:51
  They've been doing it for so long.
• 22:53
  And we did all media training together and I tried to be like them and I just froze.
• 22:58
  I just sucked.
• 22:59
  I just couldn't, I actually couldn't get what I was trying to say out because I was not trying to be myself and I was trying to speak what they wanted me to say, not what I wanted to say.
• 23:07
  So I went into a shell and just froze every time I got in front of the camera.
• 23:11
  How'd you get over that?
• 23:13
  Just not giving a fuck.
• 23:15
  Clearly.
• 23:16
  I suppose you get better at it over time.
• 23:19
  And it's one thing, you know, practice does make perfect.
• 23:21
  It's not a natural thing to talk in front of an audience, and it's not a natural thing to talk in front of a camera.
• 23:25
  And it's very unnatural watching yourself back, isn't it?
• 23:28
  It's the worst thing you could do, I think.
• 23:29
  We don't have headphones on, which is good here today.
• 23:31
  Yeah, I hate my voice, hate how I speak on camera, everything.
• 23:35
  Once you get over that fact, you're fine.
• 23:37
  Isn't that right?
• 23:39
  I deal with a former Olympic swimmer, a medalist, I think, at Comm Games level, Megan Nay.
• 23:44
  She's really good.
• 23:46
  And she's got a real powerful thing on, be you.
• 23:49
  Be yourself.
• 23:50
  That's what I tell everyone.
• 23:51
  Be yourself.
• 23:51
  Be yourself, 100%.
• 23:52
  And that's probably a life motto for her, more than just a…
• 23:56
  a media thing.
• 23:57
  But I think the moment you can unlock that and, and still figure out the polish needed to give the media a, a quality answer, a good bit of conversation, a funny thing, whatever.
• 24:06
  Yeah.
• 24:07
  But it's still authentically, that's an overused word by us now, but, but it's still you.
• 24:11
  That's super important.
• 24:12
  That's your baseline.
• 24:13
  That's, you've got to come from that point.
• 24:14
  Don't you?
• 24:14
  I can't stress that enough.
• 24:15
  Just be yourself.
• 24:16
  And,
• 24:17
  You know, if it's a thought you have, you know, generally most people have the same thought eventually.
• 24:23
  Well, not eventually, but, you know, people are, we're funny, aren't we?
• 24:27
  We are.
• 24:27
  We are very funny.
• 24:28
  We're all quite unique individually, but we all can think quite the same.
• 24:33
  I always find.
• 24:34
  What's that line out of Monty Python?
• 24:35
  We are all individuals.
• 24:37
  I'm not.
• 24:37
  Yeah.
• 24:40
  In that period of breaking into supercars, you know, you're with a big operation, a big outfit there.
• 24:45
  There is a bit of Super 2 stuff with Tony Dalberto racing from memory and all sorts of things.
• 24:50
  Were there moments of doubt?
• 24:51
  Did you go, like you talked about, I'm going to stop if I don't win this championship and so on.
• 24:56
  Did you have a bit of that in the early days?
• 24:57
  Always, always.
• 24:58
  Like every year, it's like, is this my last year?
• 25:00
  Like, am I going to continue to do this?
• 25:03
  Am I, you know, am I good enough?
• 25:05
  Do I have enough money to keep going?
• 25:07
  Yeah.
• 25:08
  And every year that happens regardless, even today.
• 25:11
  Really?
• 25:11
  Always.
• 25:12
  Yeah, always.
• 25:13
  But I think that actually spurs you on because you have a bit of self-talk to yourself and you're like, come on, don't be ridiculous.
• 25:19
  You are plenty good enough or maybe you're not.
• 25:22
  Maybe you need to work harder.
• 25:23
  That's how the conversation goes.
• 25:25
  The positive moments must help.
• 25:27
  I mean, it sounds quite obvious.
• 25:28
  I know, right.
• 25:29
  But if you're going through a bit of that and then all of a sudden you have a podium, you get a poll, you go, okay, right.
• 25:33
  Yeah, I can.
• 25:34
  This is, I'm meant to be you, you know?
• 25:36
  Yeah.
• 25:38
  I'm really strange.
• 25:40
  Go, go.
• 25:41
  So, like...
• 25:43
  I always think, you know, our sport's a team sport.
• 25:45
  At the end of the day, in our team, there's 25, 30 blokes behind the scene, women as well, making our car go fast.
• 25:52
  So generally, if we win, I always think it's never because of me.
• 25:56
  It's always because all the efforts that people put in behind the scenes to make that car win.
• 26:01
  And that way, I think I always have a bit of doubt and it keeps yourself humble as well, doesn't it?
• 26:07
  And also, if I won today, I'm like,
• 26:10
  what's everyone else?
• 26:10
  Have they stuffed it up today?
• 26:12
  Like, surely it wasn't that easy.
• 26:14
  Because sometimes when you win, it's so easy.
• 26:16
  And when you come 20th, it feels impossible.
• 26:18
  So hard.
• 26:19
  It's so hard.
• 26:19
  It's so weird.
• 26:21
  It's the hardest thing to describe because, you know, in normal sport, like a normal day sport, like football, cricket, tennis, you know, you play a team.
• 26:30
  So at the end of the day, you've got a 50% chance to win just based on, you know, two sides playing each other.
• 26:35
  But in our sport, there's 25 blokes, so you've got a 4% chance.
• 26:38
  of winning.
• 26:39
  And that's just, it just, the numbers are way, way harder to, to stack up.
• 26:43
  And in motor racing, I always say you lose more than you win, which is so true, isn't it?
• 26:48
  But if you started 10th and come third, far out, that's a win.
• 26:51
  If you started first and come second, you've lost.
• 26:54
  You know what I mean?
• 26:55
  So there's so many different,
• 26:56
  Yeah.
• 26:57
  Like stories you can make out of it.
• 26:59
  On the TV side, I'm a huge believer in a little something you said a moment ago, and that is that there's a lot of responsibility when you're kind of in the front line for the people behind you who put in countless hours, you know, in your world that have driven trucks overnight or worked till 3am.
• 27:14
  Four days in a row.
• 27:15
  Exactly.
• 27:15
  Yeah.
• 27:16
  All that sort of stuff.
• 27:16
  I'm very, very mindful that…
• 27:18
  that in both our worlds, there is pressure to deliver, to look after those people.
• 27:24
  Easier for me in my world compared to what you've just described in percentage terms to do that.
• 27:29
  Because once you get to elite level, I mean, everyone talks about the 20 best people in the world making it to Formula One.
• 27:35
  I mean, billions of people in the world and 20 seats.
• 27:39
  20 seats.
• 27:40
  But then I think, are they the best?
• 27:42
  Well, I mean A lot of the people I grew up with That were clearly good enough They don't have the money to carry on So are they really the best?
• 27:49
  That's what I always like thinking I mean, there are lots of stories Around when people go digging Of names that just through circumstance You know, had huge talent But through circumstance Just did not get there Yeah Said time and time again
• 28:04
  Yeah, yeah.
• 28:05
  I admire those two that don't necessarily come from massive money that find a way that, you know, that make it ultimately.
• 28:12
  Can I come back?
• 28:12
  I take my hat off for those guys.
• 28:14
  Yeah, yeah.
• 28:14
  Man, it's got to be hard.
• 28:15
  In the current climate?
• 28:16
  Oh, so hard.
• 28:16
  In the current climate?
• 28:17
  Really, really, really tough.
• 28:20
  driving for big outfits like Walkinshaws initially, you know, we talked about BU.
• 28:27
  Did it shape you?
• 28:28
  Did it shape you in a way that was not you to begin with?
• 28:33
  I suppose it did.
• 28:33
  Like at the start, I tried to be, I tried to copy Garth and Scafie and those guys that were just so good at, the sponsors so good at,
• 28:41
  the media side, so good at driving side that I wanted to be like them.
• 28:44
  But at the end of the day, I can't be though.
• 28:46
  I can't be because I'm just different.
• 28:49
  I'm just myself.
• 28:51
  I couldn't, I couldn't grab the microphone and deliver like a perfect speech.
• 28:55
  That's going to make everyone happy and whatnot.
• 28:58
  Cause at the end of the day, that's not me.
• 28:59
  I'd rather grab the microphone, tell a bunch of jokes and piss off.
• 29:02
  Goof off.
• 29:03
  Yeah, that's me.
• 29:05
  So, you know, I just had to tailor myself to myself.
• 29:09
  I had to tailor my surroundings to myself, not the other way around.
• 29:12
  So the way I sort of viewed things were through a different lens.
• 29:16
  Does that make sense?
• 29:17
  It does, but it absolutely makes total sense.
• 29:20
  Adversity in life shapes people, right?
• 29:22
  And I think everyone's got a story where we've had peaks and troughs, right?
• 29:25
  You did an excellent pod chat with my buddy Aaron Noonan a few years ago now where you detailed the 2007 crash in the rally that tragically resulted in the death of your co-driver, Paul Flintoff.
• 29:37
  You were airlifted to hospital that day and so on.
• 29:42
  I don't want to reopen the wound.
• 29:43
  I don't think that's necessary because you did such a good chat with him.
• 29:47
  What I am intrigued about, mate, is the compartmentalized lesson from that because I think I would be a blithering mess and probably unable to continue.
• 29:56
  I was for a while.
• 29:57
  Yeah.
• 29:58
  I'd really, really struggle to get back in the car.
• 30:00
  Yeah.
• 30:01
  A few times I tried, they had a ride day a few months after that crash, and I went out of pit lane, psyched myself up for a lap, went straight off at turn one, come back in.
• 30:12
  Happened twice.
• 30:14
  Knocked a few days apart, and I just wasn't ready.
• 30:16
  Couldn't explain it, couldn't, yeah?
• 30:18
  Couldn't explain it, couldn't rationalise it, just don't know.
• 30:22
  So you move forward how from that stuff?
• 30:25
  That's the thing I'm probably intrigued about, because you've won...
• 30:28
  You've done some great things in the sport.
• 30:30
  You've stuck in the sport, which I think is so important.
• 30:33
  It's hard to do.
• 30:34
  It's hard to do.
• 30:34
  I mean, we've covered how difficult it is in just a pure percentage sense to break in, right?
• 30:41
  But to then have that, to keep boxing, which I reckon is super important, that...
• 30:48
  That's not easy.
• 30:49
  Did you have people to help you?
• 30:50
  Yeah, I had an amazing group of friends and family and sponsors and managers and everything like that to help me.
• 30:56
  So without them, there's no way I could have kept going because it really got to me.
• 31:01
  But I probably suffered for probably five years, I reckon.
• 31:05
  And it kind of compounded over time and got really, really bad in 2012.
• 31:09
  And I went and saw sports psych, psychologists, everyone tried, and no one could really help me.
• 31:18
  And I went and saw a hypnotherapist, and that was the only person that really helped me.
• 31:24
  fix my thoughts and, and stop thinking so negatively and sort of put me back on track.
• 31:29
  Great stuff.
• 31:30
  And it was through a friend of mine, Paul Ellis, you know, Paul used to work at Porsche.
• 31:34
  Yeah.
• 31:35
  He actually said, you should go see this lady.
• 31:37
  She really helped me.
• 31:39
  And, um, I said, what have I got to lose?
• 31:42
  So I went along, thought it was all woohoo stuff.
• 31:45
  Um, and did a couple of sessions and walked out a different person.
• 31:49
  Amazing.
• 31:50
  So bizarre.
• 31:51
  So without Paul telling me that, yeah,
• 31:53
  I probably wouldn't have fixed myself.
• 31:55
  Was that the kind of beginning?
• 31:57
  I mean, you've been quite particular about what you eat and strong on certain diet and what have you.
• 32:03
  Always strange.
• 32:05
  But did that kind of stuff, you know, you talked about it being alternative, right?
• 32:09
  Yeah.
• 32:09
  Did that get you more open to those things?
• 32:12
  Probably, yeah.
• 32:14
  So back in 2006, 2007, I probably burnt the candle too hard at both ends.
• 32:19
  I was probably partying too hard, training too hard.
• 32:21
  Hanging around with Craig Beard.
• 32:22
  Hang around, Craig Best, not a good sign.
• 32:25
  After dark, don't do that.
• 32:26
  Just make sure you go home.
• 32:27
  Nice bed.
• 32:30
  So, yeah, I just burnt the candle too hard at both ends and ended up with chronic fatigue almost.
• 32:35
  Oh, wow.
• 32:36
  And went and saw a sports dietitian and laid out everything I ate.
• 32:43
  And then I realized, shit, what you actually eat does affect how you feel and how your energy gets through the day.
• 32:48
  Yeah.
• 32:49
  Is there a bit of understanding how you are made up?
• 32:51
  Like, is my makeup different to your makeup and therefore what you put in your engine is maybe different to what I need?
• 32:56
  Maybe.
• 32:56
  I don't know.
• 32:57
  I don't think so.
• 32:57
  I think we're all quite similar.
• 32:59
  Similar?
• 32:59
  Okay.
• 32:59
  I think so.
• 33:01
  So what's the principles of what you... What's the principle?
• 33:04
  Of what you...
• 33:05
  believe to put in your body, the best way to deal with it?
• 33:07
  The best thing.
• 33:08
  Can I get to that in a sec?
• 33:09
  Okay, go, go, go.
• 33:10
  So I remember when I was working for Sonic and all the mechanics and everyone would have lunch or morning tea together and they would have like cakes and pies and everything.
• 33:18
  I'd eat the same food as them and then they'd get up to go to work and I'd be stuck in my seat like, I can't move.
• 33:23
  I was just like, just the life sucked out of me and I had to try and figure out what that was.
• 33:29
  And it was just because the food, the shitty food I was eating was making me feel crap.
• 33:33
  Mm-hmm.
• 33:33
  So I had to cut out all the sugars and everything like that.
• 33:36
  And that would allow me to get through my day pretty easily or comfortably without having those.
• 33:41
  It was lethargic.
• 33:42
  It was so lethargic.
• 33:44
  It was ridiculous.
• 33:45
  And that sort of led me down the garden path of like health and fitness and food and nutrition and all that.
• 33:51
  And I've been, tried every diet, tried...
• 33:54
  every training style, everything possible to try and make myself feel better, think better, faster, whatever it is.
• 34:01
  And that's got me to where I am today.
• 34:04
  And that's probably why I was probably more open to things like hypnotherapy or anything like that.
• 34:09
  So yeah, that's been a big part of my life.
• 34:12
  And I still like this.
• 34:13
  Yeah, you've got water in the studio with us here.
• 34:15
  It's a hydrogen generator.
• 34:17
  What is that?
• 34:18
  So you press this and it puts hydrogen...
• 34:21
  Hydrogen gas.
• 34:22
  It's illuminated.
• 34:22
  It's gone blue.
• 34:23
  It's gone blue and there's little hydrogen gas bubbles in there.
• 34:25
  Apparently, 1,400 studies say that is the best water to drink.
• 34:29
  Really?
• 34:29
  Yes, and that's why I drink it.
• 34:31
  Okay.
• 34:31
  You absorb it better or it's better in a- I don't know.
• 34:34
  I'm not a scientist, Rusty.
• 34:36
  I just tell- People tell me stuff and I-
• 34:41
  Yeah.
• 34:41
  Good for you.
• 34:42
  So I'm always trialing weird things.
• 34:44
  I'm like a car at the end of the day.
• 34:45
  Oh, yeah?
• 34:46
  I'm always trying different front springs, different rear springs, different shocks, different engines, different tires, different brakes, just to see if I can go faster.
• 34:53
  But even approaching 40, the engine you feel is at its best because of some of this stuff?
• 34:58
  Like you feel like no lethargic, no...
• 35:01
  Way, way better now than I did in my early 20s.
• 35:03
  Really?
• 35:04
  Because I looked after myself.
• 35:08
  Funnily enough, the more things I cut out of my diet, the better I feel.
• 35:11
  So all I eat now is steak, eggs and bacon, and that's it.
• 35:16
  Okay.
• 35:17
  And it works for you?
• 35:18
  No vegetables, three years.
• 35:19
  Really?
• 35:20
  None.
• 35:21
  Nothing?
• 35:22
  Nothing green, no.
• 35:24
  Really?
• 35:25
  Amazing.
• 35:26
  I try and add little bits back in to see how I feel.
• 35:28
  Like I add like potato or sweet potato back in or rice or something.
• 35:32
  And then I wake up really sore the next day and then I've got to cut it out again.
• 35:36
  Wow.
• 35:37
  It's really bizarre, isn't it?
• 35:38
  No, I think you've figured out what works for you.
• 35:41
  Well, I think when you think about it, like from an evolutionary standpoint, that when we grew up in caves and we were cavemen and neanderthals and all that, all they did was hunt and kill their food.
• 35:55
  So if they went and killed an animal, their tribe would eat.
• 35:58
  But if they didn't, they'd go hungry.
• 36:00
  And that's when they'd start foraging for berries and just shit to get them by.
• 36:04
  But their main diet was centered around animal fats, animal meats.
• 36:09
  You've done some reading on this, mate, haven't you?
• 36:12
  Well, it makes sense, doesn't it?
• 36:13
  I think that's how our genetics formed over millions of years.
• 36:16
  So ours are no different.
• 36:20
  Farming's only been around for what?
• 36:23
  How long?
• 36:24
  10,000?
• 36:24
  Maybe not even 10,000 years.
• 36:25
  Maybe 1,000 years, something like that.
• 36:27
  So all the grain-based food, all the stuff we see as normal food today, I don't think we're supposed to be eating.
• 36:33
  Take a break on the Discovery Channel.
• 36:34
  More with David right after this.
• 36:36
  David Attenborough.
• 36:45
  What's that saying about putting the right fuel in your engine?
• 36:49
  That is the end of part one of my podcast with David Reynolds.
• 36:52
  I am so glad that our schedules have aligned here so we could actually do this one face-to-face.
• 36:57
  It's easy conversation between us.
• 37:00
  And there's more of it for you to enjoy now.
• 37:02
  later perhaps while you're even on the road to the bathys 12 hour we're releasing this just days out from the 2024 race if you head back to the rusties garage library there's a part two for you to fire up good to go right now from the joy of winning the great race and reliving that memorable day in 2017 to the heartbreakingly brutal defense and what went wrong the following year
• 37:26
  The big fine he perhaps should have contested.
• 37:29
  Being there and playing a part in Grove Racing's rise to serious supercar contenders.
• 37:35
  And the move to a new home.
• 37:37
  Why he can't wait to get stuck in at Team 18.