Plenty of action at the Gold Coast 500

Ella Dingwall is a 14-year-old student with dreams of becoming a motorsport journalist. We were very happy to host her at the Gold Coast 500 in the pits of Mobil1 Optus Racing. Here’s her take on the events.

I’d been excited for weeks leading up to it, but also nervous because as a 14-year-old girl I didn’t know I really belonged in that environment. I wanted to make the most of it though.

The first thing I remember was hearing the support race cars, the S5000’s as we headed into the track. They were so loud! I was also surprised at how fast they are in real life, much faster than they look on TV! You see speed dials on the screen and know it’s fast, but you don’t know until you’re actually there.

Just before lunch the two drivers, Chaz Mostert and Nick Percat both came up to chat, sign hats and take photos with anyone up in the corporate suite. That photo is now stuck up on my wall. Chaz is the Daniel Ricciardo of the Supercars - very fun loving doesn’t take anything too seriously, an amazing racer and above all a wonderful person. Nick is the quieter one in the friendship, friendly, welcoming while still being able to bounce off what Chaz was saying and adding in his own little jokes and one liners. The pair are an absolute crack up and had the whole audience laughing!

After a delayed tram, my Dad and I sprinted from the entrance through the race precinct to get to the Walkinshaw garage to meet Mel Hopkins (VP of Marketing at Optus). And a warm welcome is a complete understatement! It was our first-time meeting Mel and Dan, and we were met with huge hugs and even bigger smiles. They both made me feel so welcome and wanted.

Watching qualifying in the tense atmosphere of the garage was such an amazing experience. I saw all the data coming in live from the car, listened to the team radio from both Nick and Chaz as well as watched the lap times come in sector by sector. Unfortunately, due to being blocked by another team’s car Nick was unable to make the top ten shootouts starting in 12^th for Saturday’s race. Chaz performed outstandingly and qualified 2nd. A strong performance and a lot of cheering in top ten shootout, meant Chaz would start race 31 from 4^th on the grid.

After a fairly uneventful race with both drivers finishing inside the top ten, Chaz added another podium to his records and Nick in 10^th, my dad and I were ushered out to the podium to watch. While many ran away from the pink haired driver spraying champagne, my dad and I ran into it and ended up smelling like champagne for hours afterwards!

Learning from our mistakes on the Saturday, we got to a bus station earlier, so we didn’t have to run through the crowds again. Once we had gotten to the garage Mel was there and once again pulled me into a massive hug. All the people Mel had introduced me to on the Saturday still remembered who I was and why I was there. Even Bruce, the team principal, remembered me, and would constantly come over and hand me little brownies or chocolate bars with a big smile on his face.  Chaz walked in and the joking started, up until the helmet went on. That’s the signal. It’s go time. 

On the Sunday, the race was very eventful. There was a huge 12 car pileup on the back straight on lap 4, one of those 12 being Nick. You could feel the energy shift in the garage, it was all so quiet until we were notified that Nick and everyone else was ok. Nick showed great sportsmanship by jumping out of his car and helping to put out the fire on another competitor’s car.

Chaz managed to avoid the carnage and drove another amazing race to finish second and topped off an excellent weekend in the 25 car!

Being at the GC500 was the best experience I’ve had in my entire life. I feel even more exited and inspired to work hard to get into this industry. The whole WAU and Optus team made my Dad and I so welcome, and I’ll never forget that. So, one day when I’m a motorsport journalist, I need to remember what Mel, Dan and Optus did for me, and once again pay it forward. 

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