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The Long Haul to Barbagallo

Staff, Friday June 15, 2001.

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Ford Tickford Racing (FTR) duo Glenn Seton and Steven Richards will compete over 145 kilometres at Perth’s Barbagallo Raceway on June 23 - 24, but simply getting to the start-line will see a total distance travelled of around 10,000 kilometres.

Based in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong, the team’s cars and equipment will be loaded into the race transporter and depart the workshop on Sunday 17 June for the non-stop journey across Australia.

Before that time, the team will have worked many hours to get things ready for the long journey. The previous round in Canberra was the weekend before, leaving little time if anything went wrong.

“Straight after Canberra the transporter left on the Sunday night and arrived back in Melbourne by Monday morning,” said Team manager Jon Matthews. “We were forced to strip down Steven’s #6 car so that it could have some panel damage repaired. The team didn’t get their hands on that car until late Wednesday. Only then did our preparations for Perth go into full swing.

Preparations for Perth will include the re-stocking of the transporter of all our spares, and the racecars themselves will be re-built before being loaded to leave on Sunday.

Once the transporter leaves, the team’s attention will switch to preparing a new racecar, which is set to debut in the coming rounds. With the season in full swing, it’s these times that all the technicians can focus their attention on that project.

That is all except for two people - Grant Milnes and Rodney Randall; the lucky pair who will make the journey by road to Perth.

Grant drives the transporter to all of the V8 Championship rounds, but for the long hauls to Darwin and Perth he gets a cabin buddy. It’s the first big trip for Randall who’s the team’s machinist and fabricator.

Milnes’ role with the team also includes taking care of all the race wheels and tyres. You may think that that’s not too big a task, but we are talking about 60 tyres, plus 10 new tyres for each race and the rims themselves. He’s a master of the black art of motor sport, and has to keep a close eye on the team’s stock, which is also carefully monitored by the sport’s organisers, AVESCO (Australian Vee Eight Supercar Company).

“Driving the truck is a very important job, as if we don’t get there Glenn and Steven don’t go racing,” said Milnes. “I’m put in charge of well over a million dollars worth of hardware, so it’s a huge responsibility. It is a long way, but I do take breaks to get some rest. But there’s nothing like that first sleep at the hotel or when I get back home to Melbourne.

For Randall the trip is a whole new experience. “It will be a real eye-opening adventure, but I’ll probably not want to do it again”, he said. “I’m flying home so we will change partners over for the trip back. I’m sure we’ll compare our experiences after everyone gets back to Melbourne.

The transporter is expected to roll into Perth on Wednesday after crossing the Victoria/South Australia border and then heading straight over the Nullarbor Plain. Sounds like a simple way to go, but that’s the only easy part.

The rest of the crew will unload the truck at the circuit on Friday morning after a Thursday night flight. They will then prepare the cars for the meeting itself.

“Each track is different, and even though we have plenty of data from Perth, we will constantly make changes to get the cars to work just how we want them to” said team director and driver of the #5 car Glenn Seton. “Our cars have been very strong this year, Steven took a race win in Canberra and we were in the first two positions at Eastern Creek before losing out in a safety car period.

New team mate Steven Richards has provided a great one-two punch for the FTR team in 2001 and he’s fully aware that Perth could bring the team’s first round win of the year.

“If Glenn or I win in Perth that will have a great flow-on effect for the rest of the season,” said Richards. “I’m really happy with the direction the team is going, so having both cars at the front will be the goal at Barbagallo.

Both Seton and Richards speak of team, and that doesn’t stop at the two drivers themselves. They are fully aware that 16 people will make up a good result on Sunday. The two most important could be the two blokes in the truck, who will have done more than their fair share of work getting the team to the start line.

WHAT’S IN THE FTR RACE TRANSPORTER
2 x race cars
2 x spare engines
4 x spare doors and windows
2 x spare bonnets
2 x spare boots
3 x spare front bumpers
2 x spare rear bumpers
2 x spare rear wings
2 x spare windscreens
2 x spare rear windows
2 x spare differentials
8 x spare wheel assemblies including brakes callipers and suspension uprights
20 x wheels and tyres
8 x pneumatic wheel guns for pit stops
8 x pressurised gas cylinders to operate pneumatic equipment including on-board jack system
Complete workbench
2 tonnes of tools for 14 technicians
Team clothing - overalls as well as uniforms and casual ware
200 litres of race fuel, oils and lubricants

For further information contact:
Ben Beazley
Media Coordinator
Ford Racing
Phone: (03) 9533 4455
Mobile: 0417-262 753
Email: ben@segalmedia.com.au

Jon Matthews
General Manager
Ford Tickford Racing
Phone: (03) 9706 8901
Mobile: 0418-880 851
Email: ftrteam@bigpond.com.au

Grant Milnes
Truck Driver
FTR
Mobile: 0438-372 870

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