Right so we are coming from Santa Pod European FIA Drag Racing Finals today, my name is Steve Trotter and I work for The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) as the Careers Information, Advice and Guidance Co-Ordinator and I’m interviewing Dave Warren who works for Santa Pod, He is a key player in the fine art of preparing the track surface here at Santa Pod. We are going to ask him some key questions about his job and what cool things he has to do within his job.
So Dave, what is your current job title?
Answer: My job title is a very varied one; it can involve anything from being race director to preparing the race track to working on the track during the race events. In the week I am a class one lorry driver so I can drive the arctic’s to and from shows so to say a specific job title would be quite difficult for me to do.
What is a typical day like for you at work Dave?
Very varied it can be anything from repairing trucks and general maintenance that we have on site to moving vehicles around site to when were leading up to big events that we hold at Santa Pod, preparing the race track which can involve scraping the old rubber of the race track and preparing it with different glues and powder we use to driving the tractor up and down all day long dragging rubber into the track.
What kind of hours do you typically work?
My working hours in the week are typically 8-4:30 but that never really happens it can be a lot longer and starting earlier. When we are actually running at a race event like we are today at the European finals I was in at 7 o clock this morning to start preparing the race track which today we had some hay that had been blown over from the fields so I jumped in one of the sweepers and swept the track first then jumped in the tractor and done a bit of sweeping with that as well. Then you spray the track put a groove in and then today we’re covering someone else as the Race Director. I’m going for a race directors license within the MSA and ACU to eventually become a full FIA/FIME international race director so it’s a very varied job today I could finish at 9 o clock at night racing but then we still have another hour to 2 hours work to do at the end because we have got to scrape the rubber of again because it builds up to much.
What would you say is the coolest thing that you have done in this job Dave?
The coolest thing that I have done in this job is, I work alongside Ian Marshall, he’s the Chief starter. One of the coolest things was when I first started getting heavily involved in preparing the race track was actually seeing the numbers come up on the board and knowing that you have been a part of that and to be part of setting the European record and supplying the track that could do that is quite special feeling, hence the reason you see us jumping up and down on the start line when the numbers do come up.
How did you get in to the job in the first place?
I got involved in the drag racing, my dad was racing the motorbikes in 1970 he started racing so I crewed with him and come to help a couple of others through the years and then in 2001 at the age of 16 I started racing myself. I Started in 1090 bike and then moved up to 990 bike and then obviously from there moved in to super stream bike while doing that I made friends on the track which included Marshalls and getting involved in helping them and then I became more marshalling based then unfortunately I got made redundant from my job at the time so I had to stop racing myself which then gave me the opportunity to get more involved in doing the Marshalling side of things which I enjoyed as well and I progressed further and further up and then this year I took on a full time job at Santa Pod to help them do the various roles that are required.
What qualifications have you got at the moment Dave and what are you working towards qualification wise?
The qualifications within this are quite difficult to say because the best one that I hold would be my Race Director’s License. To go forward international would be a 5 year process. I was never the best academically at school I’m more of a hands on approach person. I learn better through doing it rather than reading about it, so it’s quite difficult to say what qualifications within this would actually help you when an actual events running. One of the key things that did get me a job at Santa Pod was holding my class one license, so I suppose looking at different avenues in to Motorsport there’s always truck drivers needed because you need to get the trucks to the race tracks and everything like that. My best qualification that I suppose I have is my experience within the sport I’ve been coming here since 1997 so quite a lot of years experience.
Which subject do you think was the most relevant out of your school subjects?
The biggest problem we have here is you need to have good communication skills as you’re dealing with people from different countries, so you could have language barrier issues so there will be times when I wish I was better at French or German, but unfortunately learning languages was never a good point of mine. Being able to have a cool head and think quickly on the spot and not panic about which situations are thrown at you. I would say that communication was one of the best things I did learn at school but as I say growing up around the sport taught me that as well which helped me at school and then before I did take a full time job here that helped me a lot in the jobs that I did do around. Overall I’d say English and Maths are the ones I use the most.
Where has your job taken you Dave?
This year I have been to Finland to race Alastaro circuit where they had us working on the start line assisting them and helping them prepare the track on that area also doing all the checks and helping them there. Also this year we got asked to go out to Hockenheim circuit in Germany to prepare the race track there, so we left a week and a half before the actual event and spent many hours driving up and down the track doing various work helping to prepare the race track we also helped run the event from the FIME callout guy from the pit so id go out into the pit and give them warning for when they was going to run to actually calling them out and assist them with any oil damage that was on track and just maintaining the track. From Hockenheim circuit we then went straight to Hungary and that was the same there we looked after the bikes there and prepared the race tracks there for them as well so in the sport I’ve gone to Sweden, Finland, Germany and Hungary and I love it.
Within the sport and within Motor sport in general, who would you say has inspired you and been your hero over the years?
When I was racing myself a hero of mine was a person called Brian Johnson, he raced motorcycles and. He was very much a hands on person and everything on the bike he pretty much made himself and his knowledge of being able to do it and develop it and be the front runner in Europe was quite amazing. He also went out to America and beat them at there own game and won the world championship out there so for somebody to do that was an icon of mine. I suppose working wise within the Marshalling side of things I would have to say Ian Marshall who I have the pleasure of working quite closely with.
What would you like to see yourself doing in the next ten years within the industry?
Just keep on progressing on what I am doing at the moment, I would like to progress the sport further on, I’m a person that’s not happy with where I am at the moment, I always want to achieve better and want to improve things all the time so if I can carry on doing what I am doing and help improve things and in ten years look back to where we was here ill be quite happy. You never know I would like to hold my full international race directors license and I would like to become a chief starter one day.
Would America or anywhere like that interest you long term?
Yes, I would love to go to America, In America they run a 24 race series so I suppose that would be your ultimate goal to be that person, you never know see which way life takes us and what paths and what other doors open.
What would be your main advise to a young person, maybe in there teens, that’s thinking about getting into motorsport?
Never give up. Just because your not achieving something at that point then it doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. I was on what they call the bleach boxes where the cars start burning out, I was there 4-5 years before I progressed and it’s amazing sometimes how a set of circumstances will evolve to where you then come into that place. Work hard, a lot of hours and not a lot of money sometimes but the rewards pay of and that’s worth more than any money true value can be. Always remember the goal that you are trying to achieve, sometimes it’s hard you’re covered in sweat, your oily, your dirty you’ve had rubbish stuff thrown at you all day long. You just want to go home and have a shower and not go in at 7 o clock in the morning, but just keep on working at it and the goals will pay of.
Could you tell us a bit about what cars/bikes you’ve had in your garage that you’ve owned over the years and what your favourite ones are here at Santa Pod?
Well I was quite lucky because obviously I started racing with my parents, I still had to pay my own way so I started of racing a Suzuki GSXR 750, which I did a 10.3 seconds ¼ mile at 136mph. I then progressed on to my father’s bike which was a Suzuki GSXR 1100 bored out to a 1260cc and the best I did on that was a 9.6 seconds ¼ mile at a 146mph. I then raced for another team which was a Suzuki Gatana which was an old draw through turbo I did an 8.5 seconds ¼ mile at 160mph and then I bought my own bike which was a ZXR1200 turbo with 550bhp and I did an 8.5 at 175mph….Other than that I’ve owned a couple of Motor cross bikes … and now I own a Kawasaki WR400, I try and get time to go out. I suppose the coolest bike would have to have been the Kawasaki 1200, which could wheelie in any gear that certainly put a big smile on your face.
I suppose my favourite car would have to be something like……..the Pro Mods or a Street Eliminator car, as they are street legal cars with street legal tyres running on Shell Optimax and can do 7.4 seconds for a ¼ mile at 210-212mph and to qualify have to do a 30 mph cruise on the roads afterwards, so you can actually see them pulling up at traffic lights!
Thanks very much Dave, very pleased to meet you and thank you for all your knowledge and a great interview.
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