First chat with Nick Hughes
DJR Team Penske's incoming technical director Nick Hughes is a new name for fans and the team - but to Marcos Ambrose he is a very familiar face.
Originally from Adelaide, Hughes was involved with DJR and V8 Supercars early in his career when working for Penske Racing Shocks Australia.
He headed overseas as a designer for Penske, before shifting to the world of NASCAR and finding himself in the workshop with another Australian - Ambrose, who at the time was driving for JTG Racing. JTG was essentially the sister team of Hughes' team Michael Waltrip Racing, where he was quickly promoted to Technical Director and Executive Vice-President.
Fast forward to 2014 - and after original contact with Penske Racing President Tim Cindric - things have come full circle for Hughes, who like Ambrose was ready to move back home and settle with his family.
He and Ambrose are already in regular contact about V8 Supercars, despite being on opposite sides of the world, and Hughes is beginning to integrate with DJR and find his feet.
"It's certainly great being back in Australia," Hughes told v8supercars.com.au.
"As far as the cars are concerned, there are some similarities to a NASCAR - they're big, heavy cars with small tyres and powerful engines - but there's also a lot of differences with the cars and what makes them quick. So while it feels familiar being back in Australia, and I know some of the people in the garages, there's still a lot for me to learn and get comfortable with."
Hughes has been around the paddock since Queensland Raceway in August - which was actually before Penske had committed to joining V8 Supercars - as he had already committed to moving here before the job became available.
"I had, sort of, taken the opportunity on a leap of faith that everything would go through - and realised if it did it would be an awesome opportunity for me. So I went to Queensland and started to get a bit of a feel for the team and the car, and it's been going well so far, I've been enjoying it."
Given DJR already has a structure in place, a technical alliance with Ford Performance Racing that will continue, and fast race cars, that is sure to make the transition easier for Hughes and incoming team manager Jeff Swartwout.
"I'm just acquainting myself with the cars, the team, the rules, the series, which certainly takes a while and you can't underestimate the competition," Hughes said.
"But DJR already has the cars ... I've just been studying, so far asking lots of questions, looking at the cars and trying to learn as much as I can.
"For now it's just been a learning experience for me - I'm trying to contribute and help where I can ... but probably at this point my main focus is getting ourselves in a good position for next year, learning the sport and the process and place to have the competitiveness going into next year."
Hughes admits that when he was first contacted by Cindric about V8 Supercars, he had heard rumours about their interest, but hadn't realised they were so serious.
"I'd heard in the media and things prior to that, but speaking to him I got a sense they were far more serious about it than I had anticipated. So I sort of came on board with them around that time, tried to give them a deeper understanding of the sport where I could and they made the decision to embark on it...
"You look at an organisation like Penske and the success they've had over the years - people might think it would be quite easy to come into the sport with a certain amount of arrogance and think, we're going to show these guys how to do it. Whereas that's not the approach they've taken at all.
"They realise that to be successful in something like this you've got to really learn how to integrate, because you've got great people and great experience already there. Penske have smart, talented people and resources - and where you find success, is successfully integrating those two forces. And if you do that well, it means success will come.
"Hopefully my role to a certain degree is to help that integration and find that success."
Stay tuned to v8supercars.com.au for more on Hughes and Ambrose's relationship and how the new technical director believes the former Champion will find coming back.
