Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Time for a supercar catch up with one of the greats.
Marke Winterbottom retired from full time driving at the end
of last year after twenty one year's career included a
championship in twenty fifteen Bathurst, when of course thirty nine
wins and race victories over the years. These days he's
a mentor and co driver with Tickford Racing. He's got
his book out, Frosty, The Incredible True Story of the
Boy from doone Side who became a Bathurst King, and
(00:20):
Mark Winterbottom is with us. Good morning, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
How are you listen?
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Nun very well? Indeed, I suppose when you do a
book you're always sort of full of reflection. And what
I want to know is how different I mean, given
your time in the twenty one years, how different is
supercars from the very first car you drove to the
very last car you left.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
It changed a lot. But I've been in for twenty
one years. I was in the sport for twenty one years.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
So I saw a lot.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
You know, car models and manufacturers and all that sort
of side changed a lot over the years. But even
the sport, I think, you know, social media wasn't around
it too thousand and three when I started, so everyone
was polite because a lot of the stuff that happens
on social media it wouldn't happen in real life, so
not as many critics in the early days, and then
(01:11):
a lot of critics in the back end of it.
But no, it's great. The sport's in a really good place,
and I still love being around it, you know, even
though I'm not racing. It's an incredible sport and changing
for the better.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I think there's a lot of good things to come.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
So I love to talk about and that now the
people in your sort of position, you don't scape and lack,
and no one ever seems to leave the sport. It's good.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
It must be addictive, very addictive once you get fuel
in the veins.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
It's a very addictive.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Little thing that you inherit.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
But you know, for me, I started very young, you know,
I sort of started motors spoort at eight years old.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
That was my first taste of it.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
And at forty four now I love it more than
I ever have, you know, And I think when you
race it, it's a privilege. Like I've always thought of
it as a privilege to race cars. But when you
have that taken away from you or your time stops.
I think you appreciate it even more because you know,
it's pretty cool to RaSE a car and drive at
three hundred klometers an hour, have someone else pay those
(02:13):
bills for you and let you drive their piece of machinery.
It's pretty cool. But even now I love watching it.
I'm helping four young guys in the Super two program
and they're at the age that I was when I
first started.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
So I'm at the back end.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
They're at the start, and it's reinvigorated the passion for
the sport because they'll do anything to succeed.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
And I remember being that kid. You know, you never leave.
It's a very good sport and very addictive.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
So your story of people don't know it's a wonderful story.
The lottery you win, the you've got the golden ticket
that allows you to get into the sport in the
first place. How many kids back then do you reckon
because of lack of money couldn't get behind a wheel,
versus saying maybe today that if you're good, you will
some how find your way to the start line.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Well, it's for me.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
It was literally that ticket was the platform to perform
really without that, I was not a chance, I don't
think so.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I kind of feel like Willy Wonka with the Golden ticket.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
You know, it was winning a p week fifty was
life changing because it gives you that tool to show
if you've got talent or not.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Because motorsports not for everyone.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
But when you do love it and when you get
into it and you're good at it, every next step
you're trying to make doors closed a lot unless you've
got a big check book, so you know, it's very tough.
But for me, I just got the lucky ticket. Then
I took a loan out at the bank, and then
I just kind of kept I was either going to
be in debt or have a career, so I just
(03:49):
never I never look at hindsight, which is probably it
served me well, but it's probably quite naive.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
With my kids, I'd be telling them not to go
to the bank and do the stuff that I did.
So but it's tough.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
You know, if there's two people going for a drive
and this is Formula one speedway, go karts, whatever it is,
one dad has a lot of money, one dad has
zero dollars. The one with money is going to win
and that's the hard thing about this sport. But then
you need to find a way, and there's always a
way just to get in that door, you know.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
You just got to.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
For me, doors kept closing, and then I'm like, nah,
I don't like those doors. I go over here and try
and find a path, because you'll get told no.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Without money, you get told a lot. So it is
a tough career path.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
But talent and kind of resilience and determination will get
you in.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Just can take longer. It's a longer process.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
So you get your tickets and when how much of
that success do you reckon? Was just about sheer determination
you will not fail versus you've actually got some skill
and that's the luck side of it.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, well I think that's a follow on from what
I just said.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
You know, when you have two people, one with money,
one without everything, to me was my pride and joy.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
It was my last opportunity.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
So that pee wee fifty to me was like the
holy grail.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
It was. It was the thing.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
And then I went on the trading post and took
that pee wee fifty and traded it for a go kart,
and that go kart lived in my sister's bedroom to
her discuss for three months because the garage wasn't big enough.
But didn't help her dating game, that's for sure, having
a go kart in the room. But that was my
pride and joy and it was like to me, that
(05:32):
was my ferrari.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I looked after that thing like it was my pride
and joy.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
But if you have someone that just you get given
all the time, you don't appreciate things. So I think,
you know, having that way of lucking in and not
being able to afford things, and you treat things differently,
And I think that set me up for my career
because I don't know when you learn to deal with
(05:58):
inferior equipment a lot of the time and just but
to you it was special and you don't complain, You
just get on with it. And those early days taught
me a lot I think about my career. You know,
like you on tough days, you still found a way
to appreciate the machine when it wasn't behaving the way
you kind of wanted it to do.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Exactly a couple of names you'll know, obviously, Ryan would
Matt Pain. So compare our young people with the Australian
young people people like Will Brown brock Feeni. So what
I want to know is Will and Brock lead, is
that because they got better cows, the better drivers.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
You guys are so lucky over there.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
You just breed exceptional drivers and it frustrates the hell
out of us over here. But you know, Matt Pain's
someone that I have a lot of I a fair bit.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
To do with.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
We go up the river and spend a bit of
time fishing together and have some downtime.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
He's an incredible talent.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
And what sets those young guys apart now to back
in the day is that when they're eighteen or nineteen,
they're ready because they've raised all around the world there,
they've what they've experienced. They come in and they're not raw.
We're back in our era they were raw. But put
Matt Pain in the best car and the day he'll win,
(07:10):
no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
He's an incredible talent.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
And Roan would starting to show his true form as well,
and he's in that raw stage of his career, but
he's fast and doing some incredible things.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
So par is important.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
But at the same time, you need a good driver, because,
like I said, good drivers a track personnel. They attract
sponsorship and you grow together. But you know, Matt Pain's
someone I regard very very highly and one of, if
not the best driver in the category at the moment.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
What about it the other end age ways you go,
say Will Davidson, maybe David Reynolds and you up until
last year. Of course, I mean, do you lose something
simply with age.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
What's hard is the path that you go on. So
when you're young, teams will take a bit of a
risk on you and put you on a long contracts
older you get, the contracts get shorter, so and often
that means you swap teams and you go down the
chain a bit. So put a probably in the same comment,
Matt Pain in a teammate in car in Dave Reynolds car.
(08:11):
He's not going to win, but he earns his spot
because he's young. Teams want him because he's got a future.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
You know, if you're forty years old, they've only got
a couple of years with you when you're out.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
So they like these young guys. They get them, they
develop them, they try and build the team around them,
and they groom them forward. So that's where it gets tough.
But you know, it's funny when you go in in
duro drive and you're hopping a really good car against
one of the guns in the category.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
You're within half a tenth. It's ridiculously close.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
And in a few weeks time you're back at Bathurst again.
You're one of the rare people who's actually won Beathurst.
Is is it? Everything they say and more, it's well.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
It's the reason I raced. Like I used to watch
that race as a four year old.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
You know, we turn it on.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Sounds really bog aussy thing, but you turn it on
and seven am in the morning they'd be doing warm
up and you literally had an indent and the couch.
The only time you got up was if you were
busting to go to the toilet. You had to go
and run back. So you know, that's what made me
love the sport was Bathurst, watching brock and Johnson and
Moffett and all those guys. So when you do get
(09:20):
a just to drive that track is an incredible feeling,
like it's it scares the absolute hellity at Sometimes it's
a track that grabs your attention, but when you win it,
it really hits time. How special it is because you
know when you win races always special in this sport.
But when you drive into pitt Lane and you've got
grown men just crying, some of the toughest blokes that
(09:42):
you can imagine crying and whimpering and cuddling you, and
then teammates and family and crowd running in and you know,
media going wild. It hits time, how special and how
many people are watching that race. It's an incredible moment,
but it's too quick and you want to win it again.
(10:02):
It sounds obvious, but you want to win it again
and just say, hey, just leave me alone for a minute, let.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Me soak this in because.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Before I knew it, when we won it in twenty thirteen,
it was like Thursday or Friday, and I was like,
where's the week gone?
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Like?
Speaker 3 (10:17):
It just it went like a blur and it's and
then you go and race in Queensland two weeks later
and have a good result or a bad result, and
then you're either grumpy or happy again. You know, it's
a race that you don't get to celebrate until you
probably retire and really look back and go far. That
was cool and I'm kind of at that point. But
now I'm going back there to try and win it again.
It's it's an incredible race.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
And does that keep you satisfied? I mean, are you
in a good place of life, You're doing some training,
You're in duro racing. I mean, this is this all
cream on the cake.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
I'm really happy.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
It's funny like people retire and they get depressed, and
I'm like, I was worried about that, you know, because
I thought one my wife would divorce me because I'm
going to annoy it too much because I'm too competitive.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
It was hard to switch off. But I've actually really
enjoyed it because I get to spend more time with
my kids.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
I've got a lot going on outside of racing that
is really exciting, you know.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
So yeah, I get to spend more time with my kids.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
We have that development program with the super two drivers
for Tickford. They're such incredible young humans that I really
enjoy spending my time with them, and I'm getting my
racing fixed out of seeing their excitement and results, which
is really cool. A bit of commentary, and then we've
actually opened up two bakeries in Victoria with a baker
(11:37):
So my life's busier than ever. But now I get
to go on race. I haven't missed it. And then
I drove the car at the test day the other
day and I was like, get nick can Like I
want this car now it's mine for a little bit.
So yeah, So there's a lot going on, but really
happy with where I'm at in life and probably become
(11:57):
a better person because when you race, you see the
head in everyone because you're trying to compete and beat them.
And now I'm actually like, they're actually good people. A
lot of these people I used to villainize.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
In my head, you know. So now I'm really happy
in having a good time, which is good.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Well, that's good to hear. Good luck at Bathhurst, good
luck with the book, good luck with the bakery. Of course,
terrific to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Thank you mate, thanks for chatting Mark Winterbottom.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
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