Crew in View: Tanya McClure
What is your role at the Red Bull Holden Racing Team?
My role is Team Coordinator. The key things I am responsible for is looking after all the logistics for the team, making sure everyone gets to and from each event, that they all have a seat on the plane and in a car and everyone has a bed to sleep in. I put together our race weekend schedules too. It’s a little book that goes out to everyone prior to the upcoming race weekend and it contains EVERYTHING the crew and drivers need to know about the weekend. I pack the drivers’ kits for every race weekend, test day, etc. and make sure each team member is kitted out in the correct team uniform and looking presentable at all times.
How long have you been part of the team?
3 ½ years (three full seasons)
What does a normal working day for you look like at the track, as well as back at the workshop?
We will start at the workshop – I will spend my days booking flights, accommodation, and car hires. I am normally working on several events at a time over various series that we compete in. I work closely with our team manager on the performance side of the race weekend schedule and closely with our media manager and commercial guys for the promo side of the schedule and then integrate both elements together.
The week before we head off to a race is always the craziest. I must get our schedule finalised and issued to all crew on the Friday before the next race week. This is also the week that we have to pack the trucks which means packing our drivers’ kits for the race weekend. If they turn up to a race weekend and they are missing something they need to go racing, that’s on me.
At the track I wear a few different hats alongside being Team Coordinator and each day is a little different. I attend merchandise and autograph sessions and corporate visits with our drivers and work alongside our media manager taking drivers to media ops.
Pre-race I will either accompany one of our drivers to the grid or I’ll have the role of tyre spotter – whichever needs filling on the day – I’m there.
Once the on-track sessions and all driver commitments are done for the day it’s back to working on the next event. Towards the end of the night I will always pop into the garage and see what can be done to get the crew home earlier. Sometimes something as simple as sweeping the floor means they can be out of there 10 or 15 mins early.
The week before we head off to a race is always the craziest. I must get our schedule finalised and issued to all crew on the Friday before the next race week. This is also the week that we have to pack the trucks which means packing our drivers’ kits for the race weekend. If they turn up to a race weekend and they are missing something they need to go racing, that’s on me.
Where does your passion for motorsport and working within Supercars come from?
I have grown up with motorsport my whole life. I never raced anything myself, but my Dad and extended family have always been involved in motorsport, in particular speedway. I attended my first race when I was three months old and have been hooked ever since. My Dad also raced touring cars back in the early 80s, racing at Bathurst a few years in a row and scoring Rookie of the Year in ’84. I have always been around race cars and racetracks and I am at my happiest watching cars go round in circles.
Although my previous work experience was all music industry-based, the transition to motorsport when I moved back home to Brisbane was a no-brainer. As clichéd as it sounds – for me, motorsport, it’s the “dream job”.
What’s your favourite track on the Supercars calendar and why?
Each track, event and city we go to has little things that make you look forward to returning the following year. However, I think my favourite track on the Supercars calendar would have to be Mount Panorama, Bathurst.
There is such an air of nostalgia that surrounds the track and the event. I get butterflies in the stomach as you come over the hill into town and see the “Mount Panorama” sign for the first time on that October Tuesday. It’s a special week on the calendar.
What’s your favourite memory in motorsport?
We create a lot of memories within our RBHRT family each and every time we attend a race event, the wins and the losses, the good and the bad, but without a doubt my favourite memory to date would have to be when JDub clinched his seventh Supercars championship in Newcastle in 2017. It was my first full season with the team, the championship was close, the final race was a rollercoaster of emotions. I still get chills when I re-watch the footage of the final lap and the moment we all found out he won it. It will definitely take a lot to top that one.
What would your advice be for someone interested in a career in Supercars?
Immerse yourself in motorsport – learn about all categories, not just the one you want to work in. Learn a trade, upskill yourself, be willing to be adaptable and multi-task. Be a team player. You need to have a love and passion for motorsport because it is hard work and long hours, but it is all worth it.
Funniest thing you’ve seen on the road?
What goes on tour – stays on tour.
