Hallam Looks Beyond HRT

Having led the resurrection of the Holden Racing Team, Steve Hallam has declared he wants to continue his V8 Supercars career beyond 2013 with another team.

“I would dearly love to stay in Australia,” the Englishman told v8supercars.com.au. “And I would dearly love to stay involved with racing.

“I have to feed myself,” he joked.

Hallam will be replaced as managing director of Walkinshaw Racing by fellow-Englishman Adrian Burgess.

Burgess was sensationally recruited from rival factory Holden team Red Bull Racing Australia by Ryan Walkinshaw, the chairman of Walkinshaw Racing. 

Roland Dane, the owner of RBRA and its parent Triple Eight Race Engineering despatched Burgess on gardening leave for the remainder of 2013 when his team manager informed him of the deal.

Hallam joined Walkinshaw Racing in January 2012 and his deal had originally extended to the end of 2014. But Burgess’ availability prompted a re-negotiation.

While some had assumed he might retire, be handed a new role within the larger Walkinshaw Group or move back overseas to Formula One or NASCAR where he had previously worked, Hallam – whose partner is Australian – is definite about his desire to stay in the V8 Supercars pitlane working for another team.

“I love V8 Supercars. I love the hussle of what we do, I love the technical challenge of what we do and that is a part of motor racing that has always appealed to me.

“I know some people don’t think there is much technical here (in V8 Supercars) but there is plenty if you go looking.”

Hallam has rebuilt and restructured the Holden Racing Team over the last two years, breaking the longest losing streak in the team’s history with wins at the Sucrogen Townsville 400 for Garth Tander and the Winton 360 for James Courtney.

Typically, Hallam was not getting carried away with having scored two wins in three Championship events.

“One race at a time,” he said. “If you are not winning you need to adjust the process and then it will happen.”

That’s a typical response from a cerebral man, with some deeply founded beliefs and philosophies about motor racing. Such as the following.

“If you cut a motor racing team vertically down the centre and you open it up and compare it with another racing team you have cut down the centre you will see, starting with the drivers and ending with the guy who cleans the place, there is an opposite number everywhere throughout the team.

“Motor racing affords every member of this team the opportunity to compete directly with their opposite number in whichever team is next to us. And that level of competition is what these guys get off on. They want to be the best mechanic, or the best tyre guy or the best engineer. 

“They want to be part of the best team, that’s why we all do it. Not many occupations offer that challenge. Not many people want that challenge but those that do thrive on it.” 

Think about that!