With his first year at Red Bull Racing Australia done and dusted, Grant McPherson, aka ‘Shippy’, has had a massive 2015. Kicking off the season at Clipsal, he quickly found his ‘wings’ with the RBRA team and helped carve some monumental moments throughout the year. Before jetting off on a much needed break, we sat down with the Lead Car #888 Race Engineer and got his two cents.
As a whole, how has your first year with Red Bull Racing Australia been?
2015 has really been an incredible year, both on and off track. We had had our highs and lows, but altogether it has been a really rewarding season.
What has been a high point?
Undoubtedly, winning Bathurst was the absolute pinnacle of our season. Apart from the two interrupted qualifying sessions, the lead-up went exactly to plan and we were able to deliver a fast car on the Sunday. Apart from the wet stint, the whole race seemed to fall into place, and the win was an incredible experience.
Most memorable moment?
Aside from the Bathurst win, being there for Craig’s 100th championship race victory was amazing. It was truly special to witness Craig becoming our sport’s first centurion. What a remarkable achievement.
Most challenging moment?
The tyre blow-out at Pukekohe was devastating for so many reasons – Craig missing out on his first race victory in NZ, taking Car 888 out of contention for the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, for the championship points haul that we lost at a time when we were really building momentum and also for the massive damage that nearly kept us off the track on Sunday. But all of the crew dug deep, worked all night and ensured that we could get the car back out and straight enough to score a well deserved 1-2 finish with Jamie Whincup.
Favourite circuit of 2015?
My favourite circuit is always Bathurst, and even more so now that I’ve had a win there!
What are you looking forward going into next 2016?
I am looking forward to being rested and refreshed going into Clipsal and giving it all we have got from the get go. We understand our car much better than we did this time last year, so I’m really looking forward to working hard to return the number one sticker to a Triple Eight Car.
