Delivering Down Under
AUSTRALIA GP by Sam
There are some destinations on the calendar that really get you excited, and Australia is one of them. I was desperate to coordinate this race and while it meant I had just a few days at home after three weeks in Bahrain, I was really looking forward to this one. I usually travel out on location alone, but I even got to enjoy the long 28-hour journey alongside my friend which made the experience fly by, as did the row of seats to myself (jammy I know!).
Something that I’ve spoken about at length with my friends in the paddock, is how we just start living when we get to these places around the globe each week. Melbourne has an overwhelming feeling of familiarity to me; it felt like walking around a sunnier, happier, Manchester. I’ll be walking into the city for supplier meetings, grabbing a coffee with clients, hopping on the tram to hotel recces and deliveries (one of which crashed I must add), and suddenly realise that I am in fact working on the other side of the world, and in essence completely alone.
Sadly, my F42 sidekick for this race fell poorly which meant they couldn’t fly out, so instead I tackled this race on my own; and luckily, it’s a relatively easy race to coordinate. With the track being central in Melbourne many of the teams walk to and from the circuit each day, so compared to other busy fly aways, this one felt like a walk in the (Albert) park. Still, 215 rentals, 150 deliveries, 15 hotels, and 5000 quality check photos later, I completed it.
Delivery heavy races are actually my favourite, because you get a lot of time out in the fresh air walking between hotels, chatting to the locals, taking in the surroundings. I may not have had my Fitbit on, but I know 20,000+ steps a day when I feel it! While I genuinely LOVE the meeting & greeting service we give our customers when they land, sometimes it’s nice to be out and about in the great outdoors and not just walking ‘to and from’ the airport car park!
Next stop for me is something a little different… the MOTO GP in Austin, Texas. Yee-haw 🤠