“Don’t focus on the obstacles rather look for the opportunities around them“.
Andrew Caddy and Graham Harrison gave a most engaging talk on the history of the Western District Car Club. Both men are long-time members of their club that, like ours, was created in the 1940s and continues strongly today.
Quite a few of our members, who were in attendance, were familiar with the drivers and mechanics that Andrew and Graham highlighted. Some were very much local identities but others were those who made a name for themselves in motorsports on the nation stage. Graham Harrison was a great raconteur and one of his anecdotes about his connection with Peter Brock had particular drive.
Graham had started with the club in 1963, when he was about 20 years of age. His early experiences were all close to home but in time he spread his wings and achieved great success, including at Bathurst on the Mt Panorama circuit. This was at a time when Peter Brock was at his peak and on this day Graham came in fourth. He explained that it should have been third but the team had partied so hard after the race they missed the deadline for the mandatory post-race vehicle check. Hence his demotion to fourth place!
Some time after this Graham attended an event where aspiring drivers could team up with more experienced ones to advance their skills. Graham really wanted to be in Peter Brock’s group, something that he achieved. To start the training Peter Brock asked Graham to complete a circuit after which he said he would tell him what he was doing wrong. After two laps Graham was asked to pull over. Brock then laconically added, “You have done this before?”
Before Graham explained his race against him at Bathurst, he cupped his ear and quipped that he was deaf in his ear because of how many times Brock had passed him. Brock then gave him and the group some great advice. Never look at an obstacle because you WILL hit it! Always look for the gap in between to survive.
Great advice for car racing and sage advice for life: Don’t focus on the obstacles rather look for the opportunities around them.
Andrew Caddy also spoke strongly about how the club had focused on growth. Their strategy was to focus on women and young drivers as without them there will be no future. Andrew spoke about how the Western District Car Club sold their McCurdy Road clubroom and purchased the track at Avalon. It was there that the club established new opportunities for young drivers including Rally, Autocross, Khanacross and Motorkhana.
Our society is so very appreciative of the time that Andrew and Graham gave us to ensure that the lecture was such a success. Here’s a link if you would live to know more about the Western District Car Club.
