TRANSPORTER PROFILE: PRESTON HIRE RACING

Welcome to the third edition of the Trucks at Tracks Transporter Profile series.

Image: Colin Schwartz

In these articles, we drill down on the stories behind the transporters that haul race cars between their asphalt battlefields.

For the very first Supercars-orientated Transporter Profile, Trucks at Tracks spoke with the driver of the Preston Hire Racing Kenworth T610 B-Double, Colin Schwartz. Having been in the trucking industry for near-on 15 years, Colin has pitched in since the inception of the team at the beginning of 2016 and on top of hauling the race equipment around Australia, looks after the Dunlop tyres for the #18 Preston Hire Holden Commodore of Lee Holdsworth.

Please enjoy this conversation with the man at the helm of the Preston Hire Racing transporter, Colin Schwartz.

Trucks at Tracks: Preston Hire Racing recently switched over to the Kenworth T610 prime mover. Can you tell us a little bit about the new truck?

Colin Schwartz: “There are a lot of good reviews about the T610, but not even the reviews can do it justice until you actually drive it. The T610 is just the next level in prime movers. It is absolutely incredible to drive and extremely smooth on the road. It is very quiet, too. They have really stepped it up with the new truck.”

TaT: In terms of driving the Kenworth T610 on the road and manoeuvring it at the track, how does it differ to the K200 previously used by the team?

CS: “The K200 cabover is made for manoeuvrability and to get maximum payload on trailers and that sort of thing, but the way that Kenworth has structured the T610, the steering is further away from underneath your feet. That makes it so much more drivable on the road in terms of the actual feeling of the steering. It is also more direct on the road and is not as bumpy. For manoeuvrability, I would say that it is on par with the K200.”

TaT: Can you tell us a little bit about the main features of each of the trailers? As a single-car operation, is there more storage than the team needs?

CS: “We do have a little bit of storage, but you would be surprised at how much equipment we actually take as a single-car team. The A-Trailer comprises of all of the spare parts. The panels, bonnets, all of the mechanics’ toolboxes and spare parts boxes as well as the tyres and the tyre racks go up the front.

In the back trailer, the upper level has the car in it and we quite often cart around a show car as well. Up the front of the B-Trailer is the driver’s room for Lee [Holdsworth]. That is the place for him to relax and get out of the sun or cold and prepare himself for driving. Up the top, when there isn’t a race car in there, we set that up as an engineering room. That is where the team has prebriefs and debriefs about the race, qualifying and practice sessions. That is basically like a meeting room. There is also storage for our computers, refuelling systems. spare engines, pit walling and flooring up the back.”

TaT: Preston Hire Racing just runs the one car at this stage. As the professionalism of the Supercars category continues to grow, is it no longer feasible for a single car team to go without a B-Double?

CS: “It can be done. We tried to do it last year, but for the things that you need to take to the track as a just-in-case, you do need that extra bit of room for spare parts in case that things go wrong.”

TaT: How much effort do you go to over a race weekend to keep the transporter looking clean? Also, how important is presentation in the Supercars game?

CS: “Since we got the Kenworth T610, the number of photographs and comments have been massive. Also, the followers on the @PHRTruck Instagram account have been growing daily. There are always people starting to follow.

Cleaning is a huge part of the job and you have to keep on top of it. We always wash before we leave to go to the track and we always wash when we get to the track. From there, it is just maintaining it over the weekend. In Supercars, presentation plays a massive part in any team and ours is no exception.”

TaT: Do you think that the transporter is an effective billboard to generate exposure for the team’s sponsors?

CS: “I think that it is. When you have a huge, 26-meter long sign running up and down the road, you certainly get a lot of honking of horns, thumbs up out the window and a lot of people taking photos or videos as we drive.

You also get good exposure through the transporter parades that we conduct throughout the year. We had one in Tassie this year as well as Darwin and Townsville. There were huge turnouts for those two. Of course, we do Bathurst as well. When you have 20,000 to 40,000 people lining the streets, you get massive exposure for the sponsors.”

TaT: The Preston Hire Racing transporter is absolutely stunning from a visual perspective. Is it something that you are very proud to be at the helm of?

CS: “Absolutely! I remember as a small child or even in the 8-14 range, I always had a passion for trucks and the trucking industry. Years and years ago, I used to buy truck magazines and I would read them and look at them. At one stage when I was about eight years old, there was an article on a V8 Supercar transporter and I can remember thinking that it would be the absolute ultimate job. It would be the pinnacle of your career. I never actually thought that I would get there and it might sound funny, but it is actually one of the best jobs that I have ever had.”

TaT: The Preston Hire Racing truck has its own Instagram account. Do you see the media profile of motorsport transporters growing as we all use social media more? And is that having a positive impact?

CS: “I think that it is. There are a couple of transporters getting out there on social media now and I think that people are taking a bit more of an interest in how things get to and from the track and the preparation that goes behind actually putting a competitive car on track. A lot of people probably don’t understand the amount of time and effort that goes into preparing a race car and the bond that such a team effort creates.

For our team, we are a small and tight-knit group. Everyone gets along really well and we can have a bit of a joke and a muck around, but when the time comes to switch on and get the job done, everybody is 110% focused. You can just see that in Lee Holdsworth. When he is happy and he can see that everybody is happy around him, his performance steps up another level.”

Thanks once again to Colin Schwartz and Preston Hire Racing for facilitating our transporter profile. As we mentioned, the Preston Hire Racing transporter has its own Instagram account and we encourage you to follow that if you haven’t already.

You can also follow Preston Hire Racing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram ahead of the team’s Pirtek Enduro Cup campaign commencing at Sandown Raceway next weekend.