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7/30/2019 A Smashing Time
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7/30/2019 A Smashing Time
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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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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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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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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
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