BGGS Annual Review 2024

in a women in motorsport panel discussion at an international congress and attended a FIA Women in Motorsport conference in Lisbon. I’m currently a Girls on Track Champion for Motorsport Australia. This program has two components: ‘Inspire’ gives school girls an insight into motor racing; while ‘Pathways’ is for young women interested in a career in motorsport. You may wonder how dermatology might fit with a motorsport career. After a few years of working in general practice, I reconnected with a friend who was a dermatologist, and this proved to be another radical waypoint. After jumping through some hoops, I was accepted onto the dermatology training program, and with lots of hard work, managed to fulfil all of the requirements. As I came closer to qualifying as a specialist, I did do some extra certification to support the motorsport medical work. Being a dermatologist in motorsport may seem a bit unusual, however, I do come in handy when there are skin issues. At all Formula 1 events, officials are given specific tabards with identifying numbers and job descriptions. One year, as a track medical officer at the AGP, I was treated to a motorbike ride to the pits to provide consultations for a Formula 1 team that had multiple members with skin problems. It turned out the team socks caused marked sweating in the Australian summer, with secondary bacterial overgrowth and maceration of the feet, for which I gave management advice. Ironically, because I was a trackside medical officer, and not in a vehicle, the French FIA tabard had me labelled as a ‘foot’ doctor. What have I learned from my journey so far? Serendipity—be open to opportunities. One year at Bathurst, there was a disgraceful comment made by a V8 Supercar driver about an all-female team, for which he was fined $25 000, and attracted much media attention. At the next round at the Gold Coast, as a member of the WAMS committee, I took the opportunity to approach the V8 Supercar CEO and asked if he was open to supporting women in motorsport. Of course, he said ‘yes’, and this conversation was the inception of the Supercars

female officials exchange which we ran in conjunction with Motorsport NZ for several years. Curiosity—expand your understanding of the world. Continue to learn, seek new knowledge and experiences, this adds flavour to your journey. Imagine if I hadn’t been open to going to the racetrack that first time, I wouldn’t be here tonight! Persistence—consistent effort, dedication. Nil sine labore . Do not be afraid to persist and work consistently towards your goals, at the same time being open to changes in direction. Patience—embrace failure. If I hadn’t failed my first dermatology exam, I wouldn’t have worked as a GP, and I wouldn’t have ended up in motorsport. Accept that everything takes time, it took me six years to be posted to a pit lane position at the AGP. Luckily, this was the year my cousin was in the celebrity race, and I was able to meet my cousin, Jeff, and his work colleagues in person. Find your tribe, associate with people with common interests. This was the most extraordinary incident I’ve attended. Kain Magro lost control of his MINI, launching it into an end-over-end barrel roll, finishing in the spectator area. The driver was uninjured, two spectators were significantly affected, but fortunately healed from their injuries. This is when we are grateful to have a team of medical professionals and ambulance support to deal with the aftermath. Collaboration is powerful. In summary, understand that this may be the end of your Grammar season, but there are many more seasons to come. Each one will begin with a waypoint, but the curious thing about these turning points, is that they are often only clear well after they have occurred. Be open to the possibilities, be curious and above all, be kind to yourself and those around you. So, what will your life be like after Grammar? Where will your journey take you? We all look forward to finding out!

A couple of years ago I was promoted to Assistant Chief Medical Officer for the AGP. We have over 50 medical team members and my role is to assist the Chief and Deputy Chiefs with their duties, helping to coordinate and manage the medical assets around the track and within the track medical centre, mostly from Race Control. We work directly with the Formula 1 medical delegates, as well as all other officials, emergency services and other stakeholders. In 2010, Formula Ford driver, Caleb Rayner, hit the wall heavily at Turn 3, where I was part of the track medical team. We had to run through the gravel trap to attend to him. There’s a method to running in a gravel trap, which is to avoid leaning forward, otherwise your feet slip and it’s easy to fall on your face, which I have done previously. Once we assessed that Caleb had some injuries, we organised the extrication team and an Alpha ambulance unit to take him for assessment, and we even made the paper for that one. Then there was the celebrity race in 2014 when former Miss Australia, Rachael Finch, had a roll-over accident in front of our position at Turn 11. She was uninjured but was suspended upside down in her seat. The trick is to not quick release the belts to avoid falling on your head, but to lengthen the shoulder straps until she was able to reach the roof underneath, then unclip the belts so she could crawl out and sit for a moment. Of course, Rachael then jumped up, peeled off her balaclava, shook out her hair and waved at the crowd while we escorted her to our medical car to take her for a check-up! Being involved in motorsport may seem glamorous, but as part of the medical team, we need to be at the circuit before and after all on-track activities, often doing 12+ hour days for all three or four days of a race meeting. Sometimes we are paid, but much of the time we are volunteers. Can you believe there’s a term for this level of dedication? It’s called serious leisure. An actual serious part of my motorsport involvement is advocating for female participation. I’ve served on the Women of Australian Motor Sport (WAMS) committee, Australian Women in Motorsport Commission, and participated

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Annual Review 2024

Brisbane Girls Grammar School