Crehan felt 'back at home' in pit lane return

Returning reporter Riana Crehan felt "back at home" covering the action at last weekend’s Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight.

Crehan returned to the microphone as part of the star-studded 2022 broadcast team in Sydney.

She became a feature of the Supercars broadcast team in 2007, initially as part of the big screen coverage.

Crehan then moved into a TV role, and played a key role in story-telling from pit lane for over a decade.

She presented for the Australian Superbike Championship in 2021.

The Perth-born presenter told Supercars.com she was overwhelmed by the support from pit lane and the broader community.

"My first day back was great. It was really nice to say lots of familiar faces," she said.

"I've said all day, it's very much the same just people wearing different t-shirts.

"I’m still trying to get my head around all the changes and everything that's going on in the past year.

"But certainly, I feel like I'm back at home."

Crehan covered the main game action for over a decade, something she says helped her quickly get back up to speed last weekend.

"The paddock has been the same kind of paddock for a long time, and I've been around for a long time," Crehan said.

"In terms of preparation, I haven't had a lot of time so I've done something quickly scanning up and down.

"I'm reading everything I can to get myself back up to speed, but I don't think it will take too long to get back on top of everything."

In a whirlwind start to the year, Crehan is also a contestant on Seven Network’s popular reality programme SAS Australia.

She also posted to her social media on Tuesday to acknowledge her fellow female contestants, with International Women's Day celebrated on March 8.

Despite the quick return to the Supercars fold, Crehan is thrilled with the overwhelming response to her return.

"It was a surprise," she said of her return.

"Everyone knows that I stepped over and was working with Superbikes last year, and I thought it was going be the plan this year.

"It was a surprise, it was unexpected. but it's a nice surprise.

'It was very overwhelming to read so many messages of support'

"As I said, I've been welcomed with open arms from everyone.

"It was very overwhelming to read so many messages of support over the last week or so with people saying really positive things, which I'm very grateful and very humbled by.

"It's something you don't get a lot of in this industry sometimes, you’re usually hearing about things when I go wrong, so it's been really nice.

"I certainly read every single one of them, and it means a lot."

The 2022 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint. CLICK HERE to purchase your tickets.

Every session of the event will be broadcast live on Foxtel (Fox Sports 506) and streamed on Kayo.