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Michael takes off to meet Australian F1 drivers Alan Jones and not-quite-legend-yet Daniel Ricciardo for necessary inspiration for the journey ahead. Ricciardo tells us how he left Australia for Europe in his late teens to push himself to become a world-class driver.
We also hark back to Sebring USA in 1959 when Sir Jack Brabham, the ‘quiet Australian’, needed only to complete the last lap — but ran out of fuel. He pushed his car across the line to finish fourth, a feat unlikely to be repeated.
David Brabham, Sir Jack’s son, lays down the truth about getting into Formula One and how his own career started with a bit of fun on the family farm.
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Legendary motorsport commentator Murray Walker puts the industry in perspective, drawing on over five decades of firsthand experience.
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Motorsport is as much about the drivers as it is about the cars. Yassmin and Michael visit the Confederation of Australian Motorsport’s karting academy to discover whether or not Yassmin can hack it mentally and physically.
“The levels of fitness they need to do their job is incredible. It blew my mind,” says Yassmin. The very first test is planking. Yes, planking.
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Yassmin kicks Michael out of the studio to make room for 19-year-old racing driver Chelsea Angelo and Women of Australian Motorsport founder Belinda Taylor. Women in motorsport definitely feel the pressure of being in such a male-dominated field, but as more get involved, they hope to be driving as themselves and not constantly as a representative of their gender.
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Yassmin and Michael go under the hood to learn how important high tech ‘tinkering’ — AKA engineering — is to making cars go faster. Our aerodynamic duo visit the almost sci-fi workshop of Melbourne’s Monash Motorsport. The university team are world leaders in the development of Formula SAE racing cars, a rich training ground for the world of Formula One.
Along the way they learn about a CSIRO-developed electron beam, meet an aerodynamics expert and get blown away walking through a wind tunnel. Sometimes it sounds more like an episode of Dr Who than a motoring show.