It is hard to imagine many dinner table conversations being more interesting than Brad and Berenice Statton’s.
The Queensland-based couple, married since 1997, will serve as the Lead Safety Car Driver and Lead Safety Car Communicator respectively for the Porsche Carrera Cup at the 2026 Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix, with the latter also officiating as Safety Car Communicator for Supercars too.
The two Motorsport Australia officials have a combined 68 years of experience between them, meeting one another in the late 1990s through a mutual friend, merging their love of motorsport from that point on.
“We’ve both worked really hard to be in the position that we are in, we’ve officiated at a lot of events across a range of different roles,” Berenice said.
“I got my start mainly in scrutineering working my way up that chain for several years.
“Then after a bit of a break from that, the Queensland course car crew gave me a bit of an apprenticeship, and from there I started communicating with Brad in the driver’s seat from the mid-2000s.
“I haven’t done any of this overseas, but during the other events we have done together, we have continued to learn more about the positions and it has made it even more enjoyable as the years go by.”
The pair attend multiple events throughout the year, such as Supercars, Shannons SpeedSeries, the recent Bathurst 12 Hour and the rest of the national support categories in the same safety car role.
They also spend time supporting their local car club, the Brisbane Sporting Car Club, competing in supersprints, circuit racing, hill climbs and any other events that pique their interests.
Berenice described herself and Brad embody a “Ying” and “Yang” dynamic in the car together, with Brad being the “calmer” of the two and Berenice actively communicating with Race Control.
“We’re very fortunate to be in our roles at the largest motorsport events of the year,” Berenice said.
“Event such as the Grand Prix are obviously massive on the event calendar at Albert Park, which Brad has previously raced on in historics.
“Then there’s events like the Bathurst 12 Hour at Mount Panorama where the sun peaks over the horizon while we’re coming down Skyline with 35 roaring GTs behind us – there are not many moments that can beat that.
“We also look forward to catching up with the other officials too, at every race event, but especially here at the Grand Prix, it is just a different atmosphere, in a positive way.
“So we love making the trip down to Victoria together to do a job we both really love.”
To start your journey as a Motorsport Australia official, head to the website.
