Students have ‘massive’ roles to play in rally teams

Automotive students with ‘massive’ roles to play in rally teams

Going in search of a formal mechanic’s qualification is providing unexpected opportunities as Brodie Brown and eight of his peers from NorthTec’s Future trades are discovering this week.

The Pre-trade automotive students have volunteered their time to assist the back-up crews involved with this weekend’s International Rally of Whangarei.
In preparation for the action to come during the fourth round of both the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship and Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, sixteen of the International Rally cars are in the Future Trades automotive department workshop in Whangarei undergoing routine mechanical work over the next few days. NorthTec students are assisting with the preparation and ongoing work during the rally.

NorthTec automotive tutor and Modern Apprentice Co-ordinator, Gareth Edwards, said that the nine students had been teamed up with the different International Rally backup team crews which would enable the students to be involved in engine replacement work, gearbox overhauls or general maintenance duties.

Regardless, of what the work may be Mr Edwards said the students were in for a treat.

“It will be the one time in their lives when a chance like this comes along and so it is a really good opportunity for them to soak it all up which is massive for them. I have told them all to treat it as a real job because they have their foot in the door already,” he stated.

Mr Edwards said one of the units covered on the course had the students “pull-down” a standard car engine that encompassed washing, inspecting, measuring and reassembling the engine before firing it up again. However, he noted that working on an International Rally team was a different proposition altogether as it was far more sophisticated than what the students had experienced before.

He said that many of the students were involved with work experience placements outside of their course and they had been excused from those commitments so that they could help out with the rally to gain the valuable experience.
Before starting his Pre-Trade automotive qualification at NorthTec student, Brodie Brown, mentioned he had been working at the Parua Bay Garage just out of Whangarei, but opted to take up study for a formal mechanic’s qualification over this job.

The 19 year-old, who can’t get enough of Mitsubishi Evolution cars, the car made popular by the The Fast and Furious franchise of movies, is hoping that someday he can own one of these cars. For now, he is on cloud nine to be a part of the MRF team which is running two Evo 10s and an Evo 8 in the rally. One of its drivers, Katsu Taguchi won the Asia Pacific Rally Championship last year.
“The first ever turbo car I was in was an Evo, it is my dream car. I’m just stoked to be around this sort of build up to a rally and the cars. It is just so unbelievable to be in this type of team environment with professionals to see how it is done,” Brodie said excitedly.

Another soaking up the chance was Priscilla Robson. The only female student on any of the teams, she was looking forward to the experience of working on these types of cars as the 21 year-old is more used to working on road cars as part of her work experience placement at IC Motors in Whangarei.

Priscilla, who prefers drift cars to rally cars, identified it would be good to see how she might be able to modify her 1995 Nissan Sylvia car while a part of the team with her wanting to put a turbo into her Sylvia.

“I’ve never been in a situation like this where everyone works on the cars. It’s going to be a great experience that I’m hoping will give me more skills for my chosen career.”

Fourteen of the team’s shipping containers have found temporary homes in the carpark of the Trades training facility, that on Friday, will be moved down to the Town Basin while the rally is on.

The New Zealand teams, who were scheduled to arrive on Tuesday (yesterday), and today, will include the likes of Hayden Paddon who won his first rally in Whangarei in 2007, and Emma Gilmour with one extra car to be fitted into the Future Trades workshop to undergo mechanical work, Mr Edwards said.

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