TRANSPORTER PROFILE: LASER RACING BMW TEAM SRM

Welcome to the first edition of our Transporter Profile series.

Image: Steven Richards

In these longer-form articles, we'll delve into the stories behind the race team transporters rumbling between motorsport paddocks around the world.

This week, we look at the Laser Racing BMW Team SRM transporter starring a DAF XF105 prime mover. The transporter is regularly piloted by Australasian motorsport veteran and Laser Racing BMW Team SRM spearhead, Steven Richards, as he traverses the country following on the Australian GT Championship roster.

Trucks at Tracks had the opportunity to discuss the Laser Racing BMW Team SRM transporter with the four-time Bathurst 1000 winner last week and we cover a range of transporter and logistics topics in this chat.

Tracks at Tracks: Thanks for finding the time to speak with Trucks at Tracks, Steven. Are we correct in saying that you often drive the Laser Racing BMW Team SRM transporter to the track?

Steven Richards: “I drive the DAF XF most of the time. On some of the longer journeys, I do get another driver in because it is a long time to be away from the office. More generally though, I often drive from Melbourne to Adelaide, Melbourne to Sydney return or even Melbourne to Townsville. Motor racing is not an endless pit of money and at Steve Richards Motorsport, we don’t have any full-time staff apart from me, so if I’m driving the truck, I’m saving a dollar.”

TaT: You would have racked up a fair few kilometres in the DAF XF105 over the trips that you have mentioned. What are your favourite aspects of the DAF product?

SR: “The DAF XF is just like driving a car. When you are travelling a reasonable distance, you still feel as fresh as a daisy. That, to me, is the most important thing. Quite often, too, I’m with my wife Ange and my kids travel with me on school holidays and I can hold a normal conversation or listen to the radio at a normal volume without the background noise. It has a pretty refined cabin, the XF105.”

TaT: Obviously the exact figure would vary from year to year, but roughly how many kilometres would the Laser Racing BMW Team SRM transporter travel per season?

SR: “Generally, the DAF XF travels about 50,000 kilometres over the course of a year. This year, we have been to Perth and Townsville and they are both pretty big trips. We also do testing trips up and down the highway to Phillip Island and Sydney Motorsport Park, though you are not talking about massive kilometres compared to what most truck and trailer combinations will do going up the highway every night.”

TaT: We have enjoyed seeing photos of the B-Double configuration appearing on your official Facebook pages. How are the trailers laid out?

SR: “The A Trailer has a couple of storage areas for our refuelling equipment, our pit-walling and tyre trolleys. That basically converts into our engineering office when we are at the track. The B Trailer acts as a car transporter, essentially, with other bits and pieces in there as well.”

TaT: Approximately how long does it take for the team to load the trailers for a race meeting?

SR: “It doesn’t take long to load the trailers because we don’t fully unload it when we get back to the workshop. We still work very much out of the transporter in between rounds, so from a practical sense, it has to be reasonably efficient in the way that we pack it. You can use up a lot of time and a lot of energy in cleaning things up, so we pay a fair amount of attention to ensuring that the truck is packed well. The other thing is, if you have an incident at the track and you need to put some parts on the car, everybody on the team needs to know where they are.”

TaT: Do you receive many comments on the transporter in the paddock and if so, what sort of things do people say?

SR: “People do like the truck and more recently, we have had comments on the DAF XF and how it looks with the B-Double configuration. I think that generally, the transporter creates interest and adds another little bit of colour to the paddock as well as being an essential part of going racing. We just couldn’t do it to the level that we need to without the B-Double.”

TaT: You clearly have a deep understanding of the commercial realities of motorsport. How important do you think it is for a motorsport team to have a well-presented transporter?

SR: “The presentation of the transporter is based around your commercial partners. When you are representing big corporations and brands, you have to ensure that the quality and presentation is very high. Whenever we get to where we are going, whether that is for a corporate ride day or a test day, we ensure that the truck is clean. Presentation is very important.”

TaT: You would have been asked many times about your favourite race track. However, can we ask what your favourite journey to a race track is?

SR: “From my perspective, a truck is always at its best when it is loaded to the gunnels, full of equipment and is working as hard as it possibly can. By no means are we the heaviest trucks on the road with the cargo that we are carrying, but going to the Bathurst 12 Hour at the start of the year, fully loaded at about 56 tons, are the best trips. That is when the truck is doing what it does best.”

We extend a big thank you to Laser Racing BMW Team SRM driver and owner, Steven Richards, for his time.