Pit Crew Profile: FPR 18

Meet the team on the Team JELD-WEN Ford Falcon of Alex Davison. The team – which includes pit lane personality Campbell Little – didn’t achieve its best results at last event the Sucrogen Townsville 400, however Davison qualified #18 inside the top 10 for both races.

Campbell Little, engineer

Any follower of V8 Supercars knows Little – where he has been, success has usually been over the last decade. From Stone Brothers Racing in its dominance, to helping building Triple Eight to the machine it is now, Little was involved – and now lends his expertise to FPR and Davison on the JELD-WEN Falcon.

His extensive history goes back decades, with highlights including winning dual motorcycle world championships with Honda Racing Corporation in 1983 – Little raced motorbikes out of school before working overseas with Honda – and his second Bathurst win, with Steven Richards and Jason Bright behind the wheel in 1998. His first win at The Mountain was 10 years prior with Tomas Mezera and Tony Longhurst racing a Ford Sierra RS500.

“That one stands out the most, Stonies in ’98,” he said of his highlights in V8 Supercars. “That one had more to do with me I think (than the first). That was a good one … we started 15th and it was against the odds.

“Being at Triple Eight and building that up from what was not a fantastic team as well – we worked pretty hard for a few years to come up.”

Richards, Bright, Russell Ingall, Marcos Ambrose and Craig Lowndes pop up on Little’s list of drivers engineered – in fact, Little’s known Lowndes since he was about four years old and with his father Frank Lowndes, tampered with go karts and pee-wee motorcycles for the now five-time Bathurst winner.

Having worked in Europe, Asia and New Zealand as well as on our shores, Little enjoys V8 Supercars because the rules have (mostly) been stable and there was always the need to improve the cars, rather than having an advantage because of variable factors lie cars running tyres from different manufacturers.

Little finds working with Davison different to others because it is often about getting the best out of Alex, rather than finding the small tweaks on the car to improve.

Explain your nickname: “At Stonies they called me Doc – like Doctor Evil because I had a reasonable temper when things weren’t going my way.

“But I’ve got no idea if I have one here – if I do they don’t say it to my face!”

Sam Potter, data engineer

Potter earned a job with FPR as a student a few years ago, after having studied mechanical engineering at Melbourne University and running through Formula SAE.

At the end of 2011 he was extended a position for 2012 and his role means he keeps track of “the numbers” and performance aspect of the car. “It’s about making the car go quick,” he said. “I find tweaks here and there that get the car a tenth (of a second) quicker around the track.”

Potter’s role also involves design work when he is not at a race meeting and finding out what worked and what didn’t across the races.

But it’s the time at the track Potter, 25, really likes. “The travel’s good – I do enjoy coming to the track,” he said. “You get sick of it – and then when you’re not doing it you want to come back to it.

“It’s good team bonding as well. I’m good friends with everyone.”

Last year’s Supercheap Auto 1000 is Potter’s career highlight – second place, when he was on FPR’s car 55 with David Reynolds. Reynolds and co-driver Dean Canto stood on the podium and were just 0.3 seconds behind the winning car of Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell.

“Getting second at Bathurst was a highlight but also slightly disappointing because we were so close to first last year.”

Explain your nickname: “Harry – because my surname’s Potter.”

Cameron Stephens, number one mechanic

Having attended his first touring car race at 18 months old, it’s not surprise Stephens now prepares the race car for each run on track.

Stephens grew up in Melbourne and started his career in V8 Supercars by volunteering with Garry Rogers Motorsport, before moving on to Kelly Racing (now Nissan Motorsport). He was with each four years, and then signed with FPR.

While he admits the job isn’t as glamorous as everyone thinks, Stephens gets a buzz from motorsport. “There’s something that keeps you coming back day after day,” he said.

The 28-year old lists last year’s Clipsal 500 win (with Will Davison and teammate Mark Winterbottom coming home second) and achieving ARMOR ALL Pole Position at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 (Davison) as highlights.

Explain your nickname: “It’s just Cammo. (There’s) not nicknames at this team." 

Janelle Navarro, number two mechanic

“It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do – I’ve always been passionate about (motor racing) and have done everything I could to achieve my goals,” Navarro said.

She grew up following touring cars and admitted she was a Ford fan from way back. So working for the factory Ford team is nothing short of a dream role.

Having worked in the development (Dunlop) series, as well as on Steve Owen’s car at Rod Nash Racing, Navarro said her career highlight wasn’t a particular race, but actually breaking into the industry and getting the chance to work in the main series of V8 Supercars.

And getting in there with the boys is not something that phases her. “I try and be the same as everybody else,” she said.

“I love seeing the cars go round and I love working on the cars.

“It doesn’t matter where it finishes or what happens, as long as the car is reliable and you know you’ve done all you could.”

Explain you nickname: “I get called JJ – that’s about it.”

Ben Cockerell, tyre technician

After seeing a Formula One race years ago, Cockerell knew he wanted to get involved in motorsport.

“It looked like a bit of fun,” he said. “I had friends who raced and it just progressed from there.

“I’ve done speedway for 10 years, worked with friends and professionally started at WPS in 2007.”

Since then he’s been in the V8 Supercars category and can boast a successful 2010 – James Courtney’s Championship – when he was with Dick Johnson Racing. “Things then led to making a move to Melbourne – I wanted to find a good team so I approached FPR and ended up with a good factory team.”

Cockerell is in his second year with FPR and while he is a tyre technician on race weekends – looking after the tyres and providing relevant information about them to the engineers – back at the workshop he heads the fabrication department. “We do all the chassis construction, suspension componentry – basically anything in-house fabrication-wise we make in there.”

He says he enjoys all aspects of motorsport, from the fast pace to the high pressure, and working with a team towards the same goal. “We’re willing to do whatever it takes to help each other out – it’s a really good team bond. It’s like going to work with all your mates.”

Explain your nickname: “Cocko. My last name is Cockerell, so it’s an Aussie abbreviation – nothing rude or explicit!”