Motorsport: Veteran gives youth a chance

Apprentice Carly Fleming loves being part of a race crew. Picture / Bruce Jenkins

Veteran gives youth a chance, reports Eric Thompson

Trevor Sheumack thinks if you're good enough, and have a bit of drive and passion, you can have a place on his ETEC Motorsport team.

The Aussie has contested the Toyota Racing Series for several years and takes the opportunity to bring apprentice mechanics to New Zealand.

Graduates from his team have gone on to work internationally in Formula Renault 3.5, European F3, Le Mans prototypes, FIA GT3 Endurance, V8 Supercars and V8 SuperTourers.

"I've been working in the industry for about 25 years and people gave me an opportunity in the early days so now it's time to give other young people an opportunity," he said.

"Motorsport Training Australia needs help and interaction from the industry and that's what I'm trying to do. We take five students from the end of the year and bring them here to New Zealand so they get to know what it's like to work with a race team at a very professional level."

One of Sheumack's apprentices, Carly Fleming, gave us her take on being part of a race crew.

Driven: How did you manage to get the gig to come and work during the TRS championship?

Carly: I got a placement with Trevor to come and work here for the series as one of the crew because I'm doing certificates two and three in motorsport mechanics at Wodonga University in Victoria.

D: How did you get to know Trevor?

C: He runs the Michelin tyres for the Carrera Cup and he gets us in to help and then he decides which students are applicable to come over here and help with his TRS team.

D: You must have been chuffed to get the call up?

C: It was awesome. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and so far it's been phenomenal. It's great, there are so many opportunities that can arise from this. Being able to work with all the engineers and mechanics from overseas and learn all the different ways people do things means you get to know so much in a short period of time.

D: You don't see too many women in motorsport. Why do you think that is?

C: I think it's as much as the team wanting and accepting a female as part of the team as females wanting to be a mechanic. It's obviously a man's world in a sense and you've got to be able to take a bit of banter as well as give it back.

D: How did you get interested in motorsport?

C: I actually did a bit of karting when I was younger. My brother started the same course but didn't end up finishing it. When I heard about the course I thought it was a great opportunity and managed to get in. I've always liked learning hands-on and liked pulling things apart to see how they worked. I always got in trouble at home because I didn't always finish what I started.

D: Do you want to end up a mechanic or an engineer?

C: They say engineers make more money but I probably want to stick to the mechanic side of things. It's very different each time you work on a different car whereas I find engineering is a bit too repetitive for me. It's all just little lines on a screen. It's a big responsibility getting a car ready for the drivers to race - you've got to remember it's not you doing 200km/h in a race, it's someone else. They trust you so you have to keep your head in the game.

Fleming is responsible for Australian Jordan Oon's car and her role as a number two mechanic includes tyres, fuel and similar duties.