People marvel at the performance and the drivers get the glory, but very few spare a thought for the mechanic, or wrench as they are referred to in the sport of motor racing, who get the vehicles ready for race day.
They work long hours, testing and retesting, changing and modifying, all with the aim of providing a well-tuned machine for drivers/riders.
Justin Jardine, 35, is one of those persons and has been a mechanic for 19 years, 14 of those as a motor racing mechanic, specialising in building engines, gearboxes and differentials.
A differential is a device, usually, but not necessarily, employing gears, capable of transmitting torque and rotation through three shafts, almost always used in one of two ways: in one way, it receives one input and provides two outputs. Otherwise, it combines two inputs to create an output that is the sum, difference, or average, of the inputs.
He started under the tutelage of Terrence Roberts in the camp of Group 4 driver Kevin Jeffrey in 1997. This year, for the Seaboard Marine Caribbean Race of Champions, scheduled for Sunday at the South Dakota Circuit, he will continue his four-year service with driver Vishok Persaud.
Jardine, speaking with Stabroek Sport from Industrial Site, Ruimveldt on Wednesday, said it is challenging being this type of mechanic because one has to be more thorough since there is very little room for error. To emphasise this point Jardine said that this year Persaud has made sweeping changes to his car and therefore they had to “build the car from the ground up.” He disclosed that they were looking to complete works on the car yesterday so that it could be tested on the circuit before tomorrow’s time trial.
He indicated that his affiliation with cars and engines started from a very tender age, describing his thrust into the field because of his curiosity with the workings of a car’s engine. That curiosity has shifted to a responsibility, according to Jardine.
“Although I am still learning it is still a joy but it is more a responsibility. If you don’t like motor racing you can’t be good at it and the only way to tolerate the late nights …you have to love it, you can’t be in it for money because you wouldn’t love it,” Jardine noted.
Commenting on his first race car engine Jardine said, “I was just fascinated with the engine because it was totally different and only now it is more common in Guyana – the Mazda RX* but it wasn’t at that time. So, I was fascinated with something that was different and the curiosity led me to find out what made it different and how it works.
“In the quest of finding out the differences, that is what made me start loving motor racing on the whole.”
Apart from that Jardine said that he gets the opportunity to meet other people, while becoming more proficient in his field. According to him, it is an evolving sport and one has to always be upgrading oneself, lest you run the risk of being left behind.
