I have left the serenity of Japan and am now on my way to China for the next race. I have to get on a plane at 0220 hours in the morning and fly to Shanghai. WHAT A CRAZY TIME FOR A FLIGHT! Suzuka was not the best race due to the two deaths that occurred and some very uninteresting racing caused by the boring race track layout. Also, the urgency to pack up all the equipment and cars has again put a big workload on the Truckies and the teams. For the cars which were damaged in the race, it is necessary to complete as much repair work as possible and still leave enough time to complete the container loading before they are put onto lorries and taken to the docks at Yokkaichi, where they will depart for Shanghai, a distance of 1670 kilometres.
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| THINK TANK crew member. |
Some people who I have not mentioned before are the guys from THINK TANK. They are responsible for putting up all of the signs around the race tracks and the paddock for the WTCC. When we race in Europe, everything is moved around by trucks. May be I should include them under the category of Truckies. And when we do the fly away events, they use containers to move everything, just like the teams. The Japanese were very strict on safety, making sure that people had hard hats and any necessary safety equipment, if they were working in a dangerous environment. The guy from THINK TANK even had a duck whistle around his neck to warn people of any danger.
The entry list for China includes some old friends of mine from West Surrey Racing, especially a man called Tipper, who is their Truckie. Tipper got his nickname due to the fact that he use to drive tipper trucks before he started in motor sport.
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| Sunred truckie still smiling as the teams pack up at Suzuka |
So just how do you get a job as a Truckie? These jobs are not normally advertised in the motor sport press. Most people hear about the job vacancies through word of mouth from friends who are already employed in the motor sport industry. Obviously the main requirement is that you have a driving license for a truck. Most Truckies have other skills as well, mechanics, bodywork, tyres, electrical, etc, etc. Many aspects of the motor sport industry can be learnt through on the job training and if you are lucky enough to be employed by a good team, they will help you and train you in different aspects of the job. The ability to be a good communicator is probably the most important for a Truckie. You will be driving on foreign roads and working in countries where you do not speak the local language. If you cannot communicate well with people, or at least try, your job will be made very difficult. The ability to be a good organiser is also very important. Loading and unloading trucks and containers is a lot more involved than just putting the equipment in a random way. On fly away events, a Truckie must be able to understand the shipping paperwork that is needed to transport equipment around the world. I could list so many things that are needed to be a successful Truckie that there are too many to mention here. To those people who are reading this who would like to become a Truckie, I can only say good luck and if you know somebody who works for a team already, your chances will be greatly improved.
This time in Shanghai, we will be at a better track than last year in Tianma. The circuit facilities were very poor but I know that the garage space will be very tight at Shanghai so I hope this does not cause problems for the teams. WE SHALL SEE!!!!
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| Yokohama are a blur of speed at Suzuka.(courtesy of PHOTO 4) |
