ROMY Mayer has made a welcome return to the workshop floor at PremiAir Racing and is not wasting any time in asserting a positive influence.
Mayer, who has missed the bulk of this Supercars season on maternity leave after giving birth to her second child, quietly returned to work last month on a three-days-a-week basis.
On top of her work behind the scenes amid PremiAir’s preparations for the Repco Bathurst 1000, Mayer is this week taking high school students Grace Fong (Year 12) and Tiffany Ferguson (Year 11) under her wing as part of a partnership with the St Hilda’s Foundation.
“I have been extensively engaged in back-end work with our simulation software and engineering and strategy tools, providing support to the engineering team as we entering the endurance rounds,” said Mayer, who race engineered James Golding to a series of successes last year.
“There is considerably more involved compared to the sprint rounds.
“With the school holidays underway, we are delighted to welcome the students from St Hilda’s. It is a particularly fitting week for their visit, as it marks our final preparation week at Bathurst.
“This gives them an excellent opportunity to observe not only the process of getting the cars ready but also to gain insight into all the behind-the-scenes work, including our equipment and systems that are not visible on television.
“They will witness first-hand the work of the mechanics, as well as the crucial role the engineers play in preparing us for a week of intense racing at Bathurst.
“They will follow me through various aspects of our operation – examining the engineering processes, our office workflow, data analysis, simulations, calibration on the cars, setup procedures, and the comprehensive checklists we use to ensure everything is in order before the race cars hit the road on Friday.”
Pic: Supplied
Fong said: “I am looking forward to understanding what happens behind the scenes of a Supercar race and understanding what an engineer actually does in their job day to day.
“I have always been into motorsport – my dad and his company used to sponsor a lot of motorsport so I would watch a lot, from Supercars to motocross to F1, pretty much everything.
“At this stage I don’t really know too much about the different aspects and roles, so I really want to discover what parts I like, as I am definitely hoping to have engineering and motorsport somewhere in my life.”
PremiAir has yet to confirm when Mayer will return to trackside Supercars duties.
Simon Hodge and Andrew Gilliam are the team’s 2025 race engineers, working with Golding and Richie Stanaway respectively, with Ludo Lacroix in an overarching role as competition director.