2nd Mechanic in the Pit

SkillsOne chats to Chris Rissman, the 2nd Mechanic on the Brad Jones Racing Team. We chat about Chris' motivations, his apprenticeship, his passion for working in motorsport and the skills required for working in the industry.

About Brad Jones Racing: 

After two character building seasons, Brad Jones Racing (BJR) return to the track in 2008 with a fresh look, switching from Ford to Holden. 2008 will see Brad Jones Racing take to the grid with a new driving lineup.

With Brad Jones' retirement from full time driving last year, Andrew Jones with compete along side a past team mate - Cameron McConville joining the team in the #14 Team BOC Commodore.

McConville re-joins Brad Jones Racing, having driven an Audi Super Tourer with the team for two seasons in the late nineties. As the only V8 Supercar teams to be located in a regional centre, Albury (NSW) based BJR has one of the strongest pedigrees in Australian motorsport.

With brothers Brad and Kim at the helm, BJR have won ten national titles in five different categories, in over 17 years of professional motorsport.

Having won in championships in AUSCAR (4), NASCAR (1) and Production Cars (1) and after five years as the official Audi Australia factory team, during which it twice won the driver championship and the manufacturer's crown, Brad and Kim moved into the world of V8 Supercar.

In 2001, the Jones brothers established their V8 Supercar outfit from the assets of Tony Longhurst's Falcon team - including his car and Level One franchise.

In their fourth season campaigning V8 Supercars, they won their first V8 Supercar title; the 2004 Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series with Andrew Jones at the wheel.

Since then, the team freely admits they have not yet reached their full potential, other than blistering performances at the legendary Bathurst 1000.

2006 and 2007 didn't go to plan for the team. With several driver lineup and management changes the team struggled to find their feet.

In 2008 however, the team have joined forces with Holden, and signed a supply agreement with Walkinshaw Performance to bring the team back to the forfront of Australian Motorsport.

VJ Rodney Meier