V8 Supercars' Driver
He’s the 29th driver on the race track at the V8 Supercars events. Having taken over the role for the Chill Perth 360 in May, Jason Routley now gets the chance to lead the 28 V8 Supercars around each circuit as driver of the Pedders STP Safety Car.
The Chrysler 300 SRT8 Pedders STP Safety Car is deployed when there’s an incident or situation requiring the field to slow around the circuit; from a stopped car that needs to be collected, to debris left on the track.
The call comes in from race management to Sporting Operations’ Sarah Schofield, who sits alongside Routley in the Pedders STP Safety Car and takes the direction to deploy.
“My first time leading the field in the Safety Car was in Perth and ever since then I’ve usually been called out at every race meeting,” Routley said. He also drives the Pedders STP Safety Car for Dunlop Series races.
“We go out, collect the field, bunch them all up and then travel at the speed directed by Race Control – 80km, 100km, then 120km until the incident is clear.
“And then it’s, ‘Lights out Safety Car’ and we accelerate away, come into pit lane and the field will go around past us.”
The 27-year old, originally from New Zealand, loves the opportunity to drive on track and said the trick was not to check your mirrors!
“The concentration level skyrockets,” he said about receiving the call to deploy.
“You’re just sitting there watching the TV and waiting for something to happen.
“And then, when you do see something happen, it’s all hands on deck.
“It’s amazing what happens to all your senses – everything is clearer.
“We’ve been doing really well and I’ve had quite a few laps in front of the field now – but you just look forward. You don’t look in your rearview mirrors because they’re all swinging so close to you. And the noise – it’s hard to describe.
“You hear it when the cars go past, but when they’re that close to you, it’s something else.”
The Pedders STP Safety Car is a Chrysler 300 SRT8 and has a 6.4-litre Hemi V8 engine, making it one of the world’s most powerful naturally aspirated V8s, punching out a track-worthy 347kW @ 6100rpm and a tidal wave of 631Nm of torque at a low 4150rpm.
It is the sister of the Pedders STP Course Car – which is identical despite different stickering, and opens and closes each session.
The Pedders STP Safety Car recently generated attention running through the streets of Texas, ahead of the Austin 400, the V8 Supercars’ first foray to the United States, with Wendell ‘The Big Dell’ Sailor behind the Chrysler wheel.
And as for Routley – it’s not just the Chrysler he gets to drive. While that opportunity only developed recently, he has been driving the V8 Supercars transporters since starting with the company two years ago.
One transporter carries both Chryslers and is the home base for V8 Supercars staff over the race weekend; the other functions as a media centre. Both transporters are supplied by V8 Supercars' official sponsor, Kenworth.
“I look after both transporters – the maintenance of them and driving them both,” Routley said.
He’ll deliver one truck to the next circuit on the V8 Supercars calendar, fly back and then drive the second.
“I live out of a suitcase most of the time, but it’s good,” he said.
When in the office, Routley is also the paddock manager, determining where team transporters will be parked and organising positioning of the tyre tents, the power, toilets – everything required for a race weekend to run smoothly.
He also deals with any issues that may crop up during the weekend, liaising with teams.
Routley has been a motor racing fan “since day dot” and recalls watching the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 with his father from a young age.
“It’s a dream job for me,” he said. “I get to drive the truck here, which is fun; and then drive the car here during the race.
“It’s everything I’m interested in, in one place – so I love it.”
Saturday’s V8 Supercars race at the Sucrogen Townsville 400 uncharacteristically did not feature Safety Car deployment – coming into the event, a Pedders STP Safety Car had run at 75 percent of main series races at the Reid Park street circuit. However, Routley did get a run on Sunday, as he’d been expecting that morning. “The boys will take the gloves off this afternoon,” he said ahead of Race 21.
Pedders, the official suspension of V8 Supercars, is offering the chance to win the 2013 Pedders STP Course Car at the completion of the season.
The Chrysler 300 SRT8 is at the front of the grid for the start of each race, closes the circuit at the end of the day, runs required equipment around the circuit and holds corporate rides over the weekend.
Click here for more information and to enter.
