Following an action-packed final at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, Wayne Brooks was announced as the winner of WD-40’s ‘Be My Mechanic’ competition, for which PMM was the trade media partner.
Wayne was up against three other mechanics at Goodwood and the finalists competed in three rally-related challenges, consisting of a timed wheel change, spare part identification challenge and a navigation test.
Wayne performed strongly in each part of the final, scoring highly in all three challenges and eventually finishing four points ahead of his nearest competitor.
All of the tasks were designed to evaluate their technical knowledge, mechanical capability and ability to perform under time pressures.
Click here for a video of Wayne in action during the final.
The prize for the London-based mechanic was to help to look after the team’s £150,000 295bhp Ford Fiesta R5 WRC2 rally car during the Wales Rally GB as well as scooping a £500 cash prize.
After the event last month, we caught up with Wayne to find out how he found the whole experience…
PMM: Firstly, congratulations Wayne. Tell us about how you came to enter the ‘Be My Mechanic’ competition.
Wayne: I attended the MECHANEX show at Alexandra Palace where I had a go at Chicago Pneumatic’s Pit Stop Challenge. I had to take off and then refit a NASCAR wheel using a CP cordless impact driver in the fastest time. I did it in the best time of the day, 17.29 seconds, which broke their record, and won me an impact wrench
I later received an email about the ‘Be My Mechanic’ competition and sent in the video of my wheel change at the show as my entry into the competition.
Tell us a little bit about your day job and how long you’ve been a mechanic.
I’m self-employed and specialise in Land Rover’s, which are a big passion of mine. I buy and repair and also do mobile repairs, but mostly to Ford’s and Land Rover’s.
How did you find the ‘Be My Mechanic’ finals day at Goodwood?
The final was very nerve raking. It was the first time that I had come face-to-face with the WD-40 Rally Car and it was hard to not to be taken aback by it.
The final was split into three parts, the first being to fit four wheels back on to a car. Right off the bat I was trying to think of the fastest way to put them back on in the right order. It wasn’t something I was worried about, but was just trying to focus on getting them on as fast as possible.
The second stage was a parts identification task. I wasn’t looking forward to this as there are lot of parts in a rally car that you wouldn’t find in a road car, but after the cover was taken away I was pleased that I was able to identify most of the parts.
Finally, it was the map reading challenge. Ii was looking forward to this as I’m very happy reading a map and it meant that I could also spend some time walking around the show and seeing some of the amazing cars on display.
Part of the prize for all of the finalists was to be driven around the famous Goodwood rally stage in the passenger seat of a fully operational rally car, what was that like?
When I first got into the car, I was shocked by how low you sit. We rolled up to the start line and [driver] Stephen [Petch] pushed that magic button that woke the sleeping engine the nose was ringing in my ears. As we took off I was really shocked at the acceleration off the line and before I knew it we were sliding into the first corner. I really enjoyed the speed, control and the way the car felt at speed was like nothing I have experienced before. It was definitely something I would like to do again.
How did it feel when you were told you’d won the competition?
By the end of the day I knew I was in the running, but I didn’t think I had managed it until the end. When I found out I’d won and that I would get to spend some more time around the WD-40 car and the team, I was really looking forward to it.
What did you do with the £500 prize money?
The prize money went on car insurance, not overly exiting but it was one bill out of the way.
Following Goodwood, you undertook some warm-up events to familiarise yourself with the car and the team. Tell us a little about that.
Before Wales Rally GB I went to the TrackRod Rally and got to spend some time with the team and also got to spend some time watching the other rally cars on the stages.
How was the overall experience of being part of a WRC team in Wales? Did it meet your expectations?
The Wales Rally was an amazing experience. The days were really long, cold and wet and it involved lots of hard work, but was really good being part of a WRC rally team something that I never would have got to do without this competition.
Tell us about the weekend. What were your highlights? What did you find most difficult?
The Highlight of the weekend was definitely getting to work on the car and watch it race off to another rally stage, but this was only a very small part of the weekend. Most of the time was spent sorting the tyres for when the car come into the pits or delivering wheel for the remount services. It was also challenging keeping everything tied down, in the high winds, and dry, in the constant torrential rain. Working on the car was only 5% of the weekend.
The hardest part for me was the lack of sleep, being up early every day and late to bed, and being cold and wet most of the time was really hard.
Was WD-40 a crucial aid when it came to doing tasks on the car? What did you use it for?
Every good mechanic needs a can of WD-40 to hand. When the rally car comes into the pits after it has been in the wet, cold, grit and dirt it just makes removing suborn bolts far easier.
What now for Wayne? Back to the day job, or is there a career in rallying on the horizon?
Well for now it’s back to the day job. I would love to do more Rally’s especially the Land Rover Defender Challenge, which would combine both my passion for Land Rover’s with the thrills of the rally stages. It is a bit out of my price range at the moment, but you never know!
Do you have any quirky WD-40 stories for us? Any strange jobs where the product has been useful for yourself personally, or anything you’ve heard whilst being in and around the team?
When working on old Land Rover’s, WD-40 is a must. I have cans of the stuff everywhere. For strange jobs, I have used it for re-mounting a tyre when I was off-roading in the middle of a field, but mostly I use it for making things move that have been stuck in place for ever.
I would like to say a big thankyou to the WD-40 Rally team and every one that was a part of the Wales GB Rally.
Win a special edition WD-40 Rally can
To celebrate the end of the competition, WD-40 Multi-Use Product has produced a limited edition 400ml Smart Straw can with the team rally car pictured on the front.
You can win one of these cans by picking up a copy of December’s PMM, or by clicking here.
