a smashing time

7/30/2019 A Smashing Time

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2/8

V8RACER /45

In all forms of motorsport

tears can ow thanks to the

crashes, victories and failures.

Sometimes however they

arrive when we have to say

goodbye, and those can be

the toughest tears of them all.

Once upOn a time, in 1963 to

be precise, there was a car race.

This car race brought together

many different people, along with many

different machines. It was a race that

had moved from a track at Phillip Islandthat was in disarray and needed to be

somewhere special. It was a race that

would eventually become great, and

would simply be known as Bathurst.

However this story is not another about

the nostalgic event, nor is it about the

great deeds and somewhat heroic efforts

of those behind the steering wheel. This

is a piece about a man, his wife, and his

extended family that started something

else in 1963 at Bathurst. It is a story that

for just on forty years has remained quiet

and hidden in the shadows. Very few

knew this family existed, and now that the

family will no longer attend the events, the

huge role it played in the sport, and the

hole it leaves behind will soon be felt.

The man at the forefront here is Tony

Warrener, his wife is Diana, and the family

they created together is known as the

TAFE / NRMA Insurance Smash Repair

Team.

Back in 1963 a company called CIGwhich is now known as BOC, sponsored

a Mini Cooper S, and at that same time

they had a young Tony Warrener working

for them. Tony was part of a crew at a

Bathurst that was somewhat agricultural

no toilets, no facilities, no water, but

most of all no power. This lacking of

basics put Tony and the CIG crew into the

spotlight because while all the teams had

power tools, CIG were the only crew that

had arrived with a generator to run them.

As the rst few years went by, CIG

was helping other teams with power and

equipment for the structural necessities

that comes with racing at Bathurst. And

the teams also had the services of a small

TAFE crew of panel beating apprentices


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46 / V8RACER

that had arrived to help with the

show and glow side of things. It wasnt

long before the two entities came

together; joining forces to become the

sports rst smash repair team, a team

that was also to become Tony and Dianas

extended family.

This crew of workers had suddenly

become the saviour of many race

car drivers who came to grief on the

mountain. The eld of work done by the

team not only included welding, tting,

panel and painting, but also the setting

up of the carburettors because so

few teams could deal with the altitude

changes of the track. They had quickly

become the go-to tent at Mt Panorama;

tent of course being the operative word.

For twenty years Tony and the crew

smacked hammers and welded broken

cars with a simple adage of beg, borrow

or steal when it came to equipment.

During the last

orty years the

team had created

a wonderul system

o fnding the best

apprentices in

the automobile

repair trade.


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V8RACER /47

Without these TAFE apprentices

working all hours or nothing but a

pat on the back, cars will go on

trailers and go home. Some teams

will get by but many wont, well

miss them or sure. BRAD JES


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48 / V8RACER

was a marvellous shell with side opening

doors along with rusty axles and wheels,

but the crew had soon turned it into a

capable workshop that was towed to each

Bathurst event.

But as the crew gained size so too did

the workload and a new workshop

was needed. This meant the purchase of

a sparkling new monster of a caravan/

workshop that managed to get in an

accident on its rst trip to the mountain

thanks to the wayward driving of a boat-

tower. NRMA Insurance

then took a bigger step and they built

a fully equipped workshop at the base of

However in 1980 things changed within

the structure of the team. CIG and NRMA

Insurance a major Australasian provider

were now working together to help

the repair team, but one of the big men

on a high step of the NRMA Insurance

ladder wanted to see the crew working

better, not only for the teams but better

for themselves. It was at this time that the

package became the NRMA Insurance

Smash Repair Team.

Over the years Tony had built a great

system. Firstly he had managed to nd

an old caravan previously owned by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It

The most

important act

is that both

Tony and RMA

Insurance were

there or the

apprentices, not

the race teams.


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V8RACER /49

the mountain, and for 15 years it would

have been the most well equipped self-

contained car repair resource in

the district.

However, as always things change

for better or worse and the Australian

Racing Drivers Association (ARDC), the

people who had created the Bathurst

1000, were in nancial trouble. They

had to sell Mt Panorama to the Bathurst

Council who eventually decided to put

in a major overhaul of the facility

meaning the demolition of the NRMA

Insurance workshop. It put the Smash

Repair Team into two smaller sheds,

not as efcient, but workable nonetheless.

As time progressed at Bathurst so too

did the Australian Touring Car category,

and during the 90s it saw a wholesale

change utilising two brands, and a new

structure. The NRMA Insurance Smash

Repair Team progressed with it as they

travelled with the circus to provide their

much needed services services that the

support classes in particular utilised.

There are two particular repairs that

stand out in Tonys mind from the past

forty years, and both are from Bathurst.

Firstly the Dick Johnson Greens-Tuff

where they borrowed, kitted and sprayed

a car to replace the damaged one, then

they sprayed another to replace the

borrowed one. On top of that they also

repaired three other cars and it was all

done in one night.

The second highlight and probably

their greatest job was the repair of Wayne

Gardners Bathurst 12 Hour Honda NSX.

The all aluminium machine was in a

bad way and in Tonys eyes it was the

strongest race car they had ever seen. The

chassis was internally laddered and it took

three 10-ton chassis straighteners hooked

to the passenger side to pull it back into

shape. By the time the apprentices had

nished the whole repair, the door opened

and closed like new, the car was back in

race trim and Gardner was back in the

game starting from pit row with truly

only seconds to spare.

During the last forty years the team

had created a wonderful system of ndingthe best apprentices in the automobile

repair trade, done by simply sending out

application forms to the TAFE colleges

and then analysing the entrants. There

was never much analysing required

though because as Tony so eloquently

puts it the stars applied, the idiots didnt.

From there it was simply a case of the

tutors and condants selecting the crews

to be sent around the country and once

that was done the ball was placed in

Dianas court.Tony has been the father of the crew,

but this large ensemble needed a camp

mother. Flights, accommodation, meals,

workwear, and probably a shoulder when

needed, Diana was a big part of the

NRMA Insurance Smash Repair Team.

Diana was also quite capable of wielding

a hammer if needed but not the kind

that xes a car. It has to be remembered

that Tony and Diana not only spent their

time dealing with broken cars, but with

people of an age that can often need

xing as well. There is a simple philosophy

that Tony used for the apprentices theres

no such thing as a bad kid, just one that

needs a kick in the bum now and then

and pointing in the right direction.

This philosophy has been one that has

worked. During the last 35 years over

3000 students have gone through the

team at Bathurst alone, and many of those

have gone on to become major players

in the automotive repair game which

includes owning their own workshops.

Those same graduates also ensured thattheir own apprentices worked towards

selection in the team, and that is one of

the huge reasons why Tony and Diana

were so enthusiastic about the activity.


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Endurance racers, theyll all be looking for

somewhere to x their machines and

they have never raced without the TAFE

crews on standby. In some way you could

also count the New Zealand round of the

V8 Supercars in that mix as well because

the TAFE crew have always been out the

back and standing by. From 2011 unless

something special is organised the

cars that battle the streets and mess with

concrete walls on a Saturday are unlikely

to be ghting on Sunday.

Over the last few years the crew at

Bathurst was made up of 6 differenttrades, Panel, Spray, Fabrication,

Composites, Machining and Sign Writing.

Each trade had at least three sometimes

four apprentices on deck during a 24

hour period with a second batch ready for

the rotating shift. Combine that with the

rest of the workers and you have over 50

people attending a Bathurst weekend. No

team can reproduce that.

The sponsorship by NRMA Insurance

and others was purely to cover costs, the

Smash Repair Team was not a moneymaking concern and Tony believes that it

would be in the vicinity of $2 million per

season to operate the team as a business

model. Only two people were ever paid

in the team, everything else was done

voluntarily with sponsorship assistance.

They have of course had their dramas

over the years, drivers and teams with a

bit of attitude who would take the repair

team for granted, either not knowing

or not caring about who they were and

why they were there. But Tony is a wise

soul who not only had a way to guide

the youth, but others as well. Never get

angry, just get even cars can always stay

at the back of the queue.

While the basics of car repair have

At the 2010 Bathurst 1000 the 40th

anniversary of both the event and of

Tonys input it was Jason Richards who

needed the assistance of the TAFE crew.

Ironically it was the BOC car that was

hurting, indirectly the same sponsor that

started the whole game for Tony back in

1960 on a Mini. The apprentices worked

into the wee small hours stretching and

beating until the car could return to the

BOC garage for reinstatement.

The teams have no contracts with the

TAFE system, there is no force for them

to have to use the NRMA Insurancecrew, but if they do, then all the teams

need supply is the parts the labour and

equipment is offered at no cost.

As Brad Jones watched his car being

attended to by the apprentices he was

very clear in his thoughts. I have no

concern that apprentices are working

on the car. They are supervised and do

a great job. But Jones also had another

thought to add. Without these TAFE

apprentices working all hours for nothing

but a pat on the back cars will go on trailersand go home. Some teams will get by but

many wont, well miss them for sure.

Dick Johnson is a close and personal

friend of Tony Warreners and he too

has simple thoughts on the demise of

the crew. If this team didnt exist many

cars wouldnt make the grid. Vehicles

would arrive on their door as smouldering

wrecks and be pushed out next morning

as a race car. No team carries the gear

or expertise with them to do what these

guys do, and many wont realise what

theyve lost.

While the main game cars have

utilised the team over the years, it is the

support classes that will feel the loss

strongly. Fujitsu, Utes, Formulas, the

For Tony andDiana the highlight

o their lie has

been to watch the

youngsters grow

under their wings.


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V8RACER /51

not changed much over the forty year

span, one thing has the inclusion of thefemale apprentice. In 1995 the NRMA

Insurance Smash Repair Team had their

rst female applicants, a change in

society and a change to a male dominated

trade. Tony though was not one to sit

back on old-school notions and had

no hesitation in accepting their forms

the only rule was there had to be a

minimum of two attending. It would

be unfair if there was only one girl with

all the boys says Tony. They need a

friend amongst the blokes, and someone

to talk too.

Its this kind of fatherly attention

that made the NRMA Insurance Smash

Repair Team so successful. Sure, they

repaired race cars but that was the

bonus and fun part of the deal. The

most important fact is that both Tonyand NRMA Insurance were there for the

apprentices, not the race teams. The aim

of the whole thing was to give talented

youngsters a chance to shine, to give

them some incentive with the chance to

be at Bathurst, and to help keep them

in the trade. Lets be real about it, its a

hard job to learn and its an evolving hand

trade where any chance to get out of the

classroom can be a good thing.

For Tony and Diana the highlight of

their life has been to watch the youngsters

grow under their wings, but there had to

be a time when those wings needed to

rest. Tonys health has been wary of late

but even his heart transplant 11 years ago

couldnt stop him from being part of the

game. But now it is time to retire, sit back

and just watch the racing.Cars are changing and the repairs

are different now to what they used to

be and the new COTF will change things

immensely. After what must be a record

length of sponsorship NRMA Insurance

have decided that they too need a rest, so

for now it will be a case of watching the

garages with interest to see who copes

best without the hidden services of the

NRMA Insurance Smash Repair Team.

He came to Australia as a ten-pound

Pom and wanted to give whatever he

could back to the country that took him

in. By becoming the adopted father of

thousands of young Australian tradesmen,

theres no doubt Tony Warrener did

exactly that. V8R

a smashing time

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