Jenson Emmett “all as it seems, everyone says it's easy as they see all the travel etc, but it's 13-16 hour days on a good day.”

I interviewed Jenson Emmett about his motorsport career back in June. Jenson Emmett didn't pursue a degree. After finishing high school, he was accepted into the National College for Motorsports. The institution may be one of the greatest venues in the world to learn racing mechanics since they go into great detail. "Learning from the top lecturers and getting hands-on with everything from retro formula cars to Formula E machinery," Jenson said.

What truly solidified his desire to work hands-on with cars was that he grew up watching Formula One with his father on Sundays, and eventually he traveled to circuits to see championships like BTCC and British GT. For him, witnessing each race team collaborate efficiently with oneanother to complete each element of their engineering masterpiece seemed so effortless.

"I chose to get into motorsport very quickly in life, always have wanted to and I believe I always will," stated Jenson. "The adrenaline rush you get is almost unmatched." Jenson didn't want a typical 9-to-5 work since he would become bored quickly, but he also believes that you must commit 100%. “It's long hours and hard work so if your head is not 100% in the game it's more dangerous for you to be working on the car than sitting in the grandstands." "I am a Wheel Gun man in pit stops during all live sessions so that always gets the  blood pumping, I love it!”

He started his career as a work experience kid for the BTCC team, making teas and helping the tires. “That's the best way to get into it is to start at the bottom and work your way up,” Jenson says. “It's a long and hard road but it pays off if you stay committed and consistent.” "It's not for the faint of heart.” After being in the team he switched over to the Carbon composites making carbon floors and headrest for teams such as Redbull F1 and Alpine. “As much as I loved that, I wanted to get back trackside. That's where I joined paths with Greystone GT.”

“The bits I love about my job would definitely have to be the travel, seeing so many different places i wouldn't have thought to go and seeing different countries/ cultures is definitely a cool perk, but also the people I work with, it's definitely good to have good people around you especially when you spend most your time with them when you're not at home.” 

When the teams collaborate, all team members come together over a race weekend and truly bond. It is essential that everyone is aware of each other's tasks, as without a clear chain of command, things can easily become chaotic.

With traveling around to multiple places it's not "all as it seems, everyone says it's easy as they see all the travel etc, but it's 13-16 hour days on a good day.” "It's hard work and you have to be focused the whole time or something will inevitably go wrong.”

With an everyday work life on and of the race track Jenson day away from the track is a lot "more chilled usually, the car comes off the truck and that's when we'll clean, asses damage and go over what needs to be done with the car before the next race meeting, this includes cleaning all suspension components, engine bay, doing necessary service work such as replacing wishbones, uprights, spark plugs or whatever that may be.”

With  any other work there is a challenge through their lifetime “Some of the biggest challenges would probably be constantly working against the clock. I think some people take for granted how quickly we need to get certain procedures done in such time, that it could be very challenging.” "Also I would say the lack of sleep sometimes, I remember one race weekend I had just over 10 hours sleep through a 5 day race weekend.”

There are different types of experiences of being a race tech in motorsport. "The experience can vary," he says. "If you went to a smaller club-level team, you could probably do with minimal knowledge and kind of learn from them. But as you move up through the ranks, teams will demand quite a solid experience level to be able to be hired, whether that's working up the ladder as I am doing or coming from a good level road car mechanic." "It can really vary. My first No.1 mechanic actually used to work in a normal road car garage until he decided he wanted to do something different, so there are many different ways to get into the position I'm in."

Having a relationship between a driver and the employees on their team is very important to have and for Jenson experience he talks about it. “So the Relationship between a driver and the mechanic can differ from driver to driver, some like to speak mostly to the engineer as he is the one that always has the most direct connection to the driver as they work together to assure the best setup of the car to the driver's liking.” “Some drivers also like to have a good relationship with the mechanics, this can be really good for team morale and almost adds a whole other layer of gratitude when the driver gets out the car and says directly to the mechs about whether the car is exactly as he likes!”

The advice he gives out to people wanting to get into motorsport is "Go find something else to do!!,” He says jokingly,  “but in all seriousness it doesn't matter what background you come from, as long as you have enough determination, passion and pure drive you will be just fine, you can never ask too many questions.” "You will make mistakes along the way but as long as you learn from each one and don't repeat the same mistake willingly, you’ll go far."

Pictures credited to: Atmospheric Imagery, Crate Media JEP, and a team photo