While race fans might just see the few hours that the cars are on track, there’s some frantic action that goes on behind the scenes at a race weekend.
Throughout the year teams spend countless hours testing and preparing race cars and Carlin’s F3 truckies are some of the most hardworking in the business. It takes days of preparation to get the five F3 cars race ready, delivered and set up in a temporary garage ready for a successful race weekend.
Speak to Carlin’s F3 truckie Stefan Gerius and its clear there’s more to being a truckie than a few hours behind the wheel….
Can you briefly explain your role?
My role is quite wide ranging and involves more than just driving a truck. Driving is only a small part of the role, it probably makes up just 15 per cent of the job, the rest is made up of other tasks. My preparations for a race start immediately after the previous round or test. The first thing, once we unload and put everything back in the workshop, is to get a tyre list from the engineers. That can mean anything up to changing 20 sets of tyres, stripping them, remounting them and balancing tyres so we’re ready for the next test session or race.
I also order all the consumables for the team, which includes nuts, bolts, engine oil, gearbox oil - the list is endless. I also look after all the fuel for the team, keeping the rigs filled.
What does your job entail once you arrive at the race track?
When we get to the circuit we get the trucks washed down, cleaned inside and looking as good as possible. If we’re in awning, we put the awning up, the team backdrop up, the flooring down and all the tool boxes in place.
