TEAM TALK: GETTING TO KNOW….GOOEY

You’ve met a few of the new faces around the team lately, but what about those who have been with us for the long haul? We’ve got a fair chunk of loyal teammates who have stuck with us through thick and thin, and we figure they must really enjoy 20 hour work days, or we’ve managed to collect so much dirt on them whilst they’ve worked here that we have far too much material to blackmail them with. Either way, they are part of the Red Bull Racing Australia family (hopefully for good).

Meet Kris Goos, better known to most of us as “Gooey”.  Gooey has been an integral part of the Triple Eight team since first joining back in early 2011, taking on the very important role of No.1 Mechanic on car Jamie Whincup’s car. Settling into his new life as Workshop Manager, there’s not much Gooey hasn’t seen, and he’s become the go-to man for any questions, queries or answers.

We sat down with Gooey to hear more about his time at Triple Eight and how he keeps busy.

When did you join Triple Eight Race Engineering?

At the start of 2011, the planets aligned and I turned my back on the dark side and moved to greener pastures. The opportunity to work with such a talented and dedicated group of people, in particular, J-Dub, was too valuable for my career to let pass by. My wife and I packed our bags and moved to Bris-Vegas, we have never looked back.

What’s your role?

My role these days is Workshop Manager. I work together with the Engineering, Accounts, Catering, Commercial, Sub Assembly, Fabrication, and Machining departments, and combine the efforts of the Mechanics, Stores, Panels, Stickers and Logistics departments to keep the workshop ticking as efficiently as possible… Like a well-oiled machine.

What do you do in your role?

My new role entails a few different areas –

  1. Overseeing the build of the three cars and making sure we are as prepared as possible (victory loves preparation). This is the part of the job that is the easiest. All our staff understand how important it is for the cars to be meticulously prepared and all performing the same.
  1. Liaising with the Commercial department to put together a calendar with as many opportunities as possible for the cars, trucks, show cars and workshop to be accessible and on show for the media, our sponsors and fans.
  1. Finding and implementing better and quicker procedures. At Triple Eight Race Engineering we are constantly searching for that little bit extra to stay ahead of the competition. Obviously, this starts with the Engineering department and car speed, from there the other department heads and myself use the same philosophy – if we can be smarter, and do a better job that’s finished sooner, we will have a sustainable workforce that performs very well. It’s comforting to know if we all do our jobs to the best of our ability we are extremely hard to beat.

How has your transition been from No.1 on car #88 to Workshop Manager?

I am really enjoying the challenge of my new role; I get a great sense of achievement when I’m able to further improve how we operate based on experience gained on the floor. Being a Mechanic at heart, of course, I would like to spend more time with the cars and less time getting paper cuts and sending emails, but that’s all part of the job. With 50 different staff/personalities, every day I learn something new about managing people, some bad and most good.

What is the best part of working at Triple Eight?

Being in the pit stop crew on the left front is the single best part of my job. It’s my own little race and, as a team, we have the ability to make a difference to the outcome of the race.

What is your favourite event?

This is a tough one, as there are so many awesome events. Bathurst is up there for sure, but as an event as a whole, I can’t go past the Clipsal 500. There are so many cool things going on everywhere and they have an epic after-party, which offers a great chance to have a couple cheeky Red Bulls with the lads and let off some steam tearing up the dance floor.

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