Toll HRT data engineer Bryce Seales
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6:00 AM Thu 19 January, 2012
Source: BigPond Sport
Toll Holden Racing Team data engineer Bryce Seales has worked with some pretty impressive names in his almost decade-long involvement in motorsport.
His career has taken him from Melbourne to Indianapolis and back, and along the way he’s crossed paths with the likes of Glenn Seton, Larry Perkins as well as international stars such as Chip Ganassi and Juan Montoya.
As data engineer for James Courtney, you’ll regularly find Bryce bunkered down in the garage as part of the team’s ‘brains trust’, but we whisked him away for a quick him away chat about his life in the fast lane…
BIGPOND: Bryce, tell us about your path into V8 Supercars
I started with Glenn Seton Racing back in 1992, working as a mechanic on Alan Jones’ car for three years before I moved to the Castrol Perkins team in 1996 and ’97 as Russell Ingall’s engineer.
I then went to America and spent about eight years there, working for different race teams. When I returned I worked at Paul Weel Racing for a couple of years before joining HRT in 2008.
BIGPOND: What did you do in the United States?
Well, I did some suspension work when I was at Larry’s (Perkins) and discovered that was a direction I wanted to take, so when I got to the States I got the chance to work for Ohlins - a damper company that supply a lot of the teams. I did that for about four years, which was probably the best part of working over there.
I was the trackside support engineer for CART but I also travelled a lot for sportscars, Trans Am and other categories. 1999 to 2001 were the glory days of CART and so it was great to be involved during that time. I got to work with people like Michael Andretti, Juan Montoya and Chip Ganassi. I then switched to the Indy Racing League (IRL) and worked with the Red Bull Cheever.
My wife and I based ourselves in Indianapolis, in fact we still have a house there. But when we came back to Australia for a vacation and ended up staying here.
BIGPOND: What was one of the most memorable parts of your time overseas?
The Indy 500 was a standout. When you’re standing on the grid and you’re surrounded by 300,000 people, that’s a pretty big thrill.
I still rate Bathurst as right up there in terms of cool experiences though. We’ve been lucky enough to win Bathurst twice with HRT, and it’s not far behind the Indy 500 in my book.
BIGPOND: Describe what your role as data engineer involves.
On race weekends my first priority is to calculate the fuel and make sure we don’t run out! And I need to know when we can pit, how much fuel we need, when we need to save it and when we can use it.
I keep an eye on the data and monitor if there’s anything different we can do to the car. I also scan the race control on the radio and relay that to (Courtney’s engineer) Scott (Sinclair).
BIGPOND: What is the coolest part of your job?
I guess some people think that working for an iconic team such as HRT is quite glamorous, but what they don’t see is the hard work and long hours that happen back in the workshop.
The cool bit is winning, that’s why you do it. When you don’t win it’s hard work! But when you can see your drivers up on the podium and you know you’ve been part of it that’s pretty cool. That’s why you do it.
BIGPOND: Most challenging part of your job?
If you can turn around a bad start to a weekend then you go away feeling like you’ve achieved something. It’s when you haven’t been able to improve that it’s disappointing and it can sometimes be hard to find the extra energy to get out of bed the next day and go “right, how do we fix this”.
The Car of the Future will also be a challenge for me, especially with the independent rear suspension. I’ll have to do my homework there and see how much things change as far as that’s concerned.
BIGPOND: You’re one of a select few that get to put on the HRT red pants, do you find yourself with lots of friends and family wanting to use your connections?
I actually like the red pants! I think I’m the only one that does!
I’ve got some close cousins who come to the races as much as possible and I try and look after them. Most of the time, if you can help somebody out it’s very rewarding because what is an ordinary day at work for me is an extraordinary experience for someone else and that makes them happy.
