Most eyes were turned trackwise as Supercars descended on Taupō again, but Waikato Herald journalist Danielle Zollickhofer had a look inside the pits to hear from Grove Racing special projects and bodywork manager Steven “Stretch” Bell about what it takes to get a car ready to race.
Steven Bell, a former Taupō local and Supercars veteran, leaned over the open bonnet of Kiwi driver Matt Payne’s car.
One of his colleagues was buried underneath the speed machine and another lined up the rear wing.
The racing hadn’t even started and the pit already resembled a busy beehive.
It’s Bell’s 15th Supercars season, after he joined Grove Racing’s predecessor, Kelly Racing, in 2012.
He was still living in Taupō at the time and initially went to Australia only for a week-long work experience with the team.
On the way to the airport to fly back home, he received a call with a permanent job offer.
It was a no-brainer, so he packed up his wife and kids and made the move across the Ditch.
“No two days are exactly the same, there is so much variety in what you do,” Bell said.
“Everything is like a unique challenge.
“It’s not just a 9-to-5, it’s actually a lifestyle.”
Bell credits his grandmother with his love for motorsport.
He fondly remembers watching recorded races with her when he was 8 years old.
“My gran used to video the Japanese Super GT for me once a week.
“It was a highlight on Speedweek at like 10.30 at night ... And then me and Gran would watch it the next day.
“I just thought it was cool.”
Bell went on to become a mechanic, completing his apprenticeship in Taupō at IPV, before working for Morrell Motors.
While they taught him well, he said he didn’t miss working on road cars.
“Racing is where it’s at.
“[Road cars] are just disgusting to work on.
“Racecars are clean, everything’s brand new and ... cooler, cause a lot of the stuff you have to make yourself, you’re not just getting a part off a shelf.”
When Bell first joined the team, he was in for quite the surprise about what being a mechanic for a Supercars team actually meant.
“I didn’t have a clue [how much work is involved]. I used to lie on my couch and watch Bathurst and [be] like, ‘That’s easy as’,” he said.
“Then you actually do it and it blows your mind.
“The work is ridiculous; no one sees what you actually do. The physical prep of everything that you put into each round is massive.”
There is, of course, building the car according to precise technical specifications.
“Imagine the car as a square ... you have all these components and they have to [fit] the square,” Bell said.
“And if you can make the most aerodynamic square possible ... and you qualify P1, you know you’ve done a good job.”
Every component on the car is weighed before it’s put into its place, to ensure it is in line with the rules.
Bell said being a Supercars mechanic also meant working long hours, sometimes an entire day.
“We don’t leave till the job’s done.
“You don’t look at the clock, you just go for it ... It’s hard to describe until you’ve actually done it and lived it.”
He acknowledged that this lifestyle was not for everyone, though for him, it was the centre of his life.
“Racing is like a virus – you can’t get it out of your system.”
However, Bell said the team wouldn’t be able to do their jobs without the unwavering support of their families, wives, partners, mothers and friends.
Aside from taking care of the car, Bell and other mechanics go to the gym twice a week to help prepare themselves for the race pitstops.
This includes strength, agility and endurance exercises, because during the stops, the team need to do a lot of left and right movements, and running with tyres and rattle guns.
The pitstops themselves, the team practise every day.
“It’s all about getting the muscle movements down and the timing,” Bell said.
“You can do everything perfect but then the driver will park in the wrong spot, and you will have to ... adjust to that in a quarter of a second.”
For the two cars and two drivers, Matt Payne and Kai Allen, Grove Racing sends a team of between 20 and 25 to each Supercars round.
Among them are high-performance coaches, osteopaths, chefs, logistics and commercial staff, and mechanics.
This was in line with other race teams.
Although it equates to over 200 people across the 24 Supercars drivers, Bell said it felt more like a small community where everyone knew each other and there was a lot of banter.
When it comes to winning, a win for a driver is a win for the entire team.
That’s why Payne’s Jason Richards Memorial Trophy win feels personal to Bell.
“That was one of my biggest things ever ... and also winning Bathurst.
“I’ve done Bathurst 15 times and never gotten close [to winning] ... It’s the best, you can’t describe it.”
While Bell’s favourite race track is Darwin, he said he was excited when Supercars first announced the move to Taupō.
“I was like, ‘That’s f****** sick’.
“It’s a cool track ... You see all the geothermal [activity].
“It’s pretty sweet and once the weather clears you can see the mountains on the other end of the lake.”
He said in the future, he would like to see Supercars go to more new places.
“Like going to Christchurch ... that’s gonna be sick.
“It’s such a captive audience down there, they don’t get any of this sort of stuff, so I assume it’s gonna be massive.”
This weekend, Ruapuna Raceway becomes the 36th circuit to host a points-paying Supercars Championship event.
Cyclone Vaianu forced the cancellation of Sunday’s racing in Taupō, a first in Supercars history.
The 120km race that was meant to be held on Sunday will now be held in Christchurch on Friday.
Two 120km races will take place on Saturday and one 200km race on Sunday.
The driver who scores the most points across the Taupō and Christchurch events will be awarded the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy.
So far, it looks like the trophy could stay in Kiwi hands, with Ryan Wood leading the battle after a milestone performance last weekend.
Overall, Brodie Kostecki (No 17 Shell V-Power Ford Mustang, Dick Johnson Racing) leaves Taupō with the championship lead over Broc Feeney (No 88 Red Bull Ampol Ford Mustang, Triple Eight Race Engineering) and Payne (No 19 Penrite Ford Mustang, Grove Racing) in third place.
Danielle Zollickhofer is the Waikato news director and a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.