When Tayla Flannery was assigned to go study at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst five years ago, little did the then-teenager know what an impact the town would have on her life.
Despite not having a huge interest in motorsport before her year of studying, Flannery decided to sign up as a volunteer at her new home’s local event, the Bathurst 1000, purely out of curiosity.
Volunteering as an event official, Flannery was introduced into a new world and such was her experience positive, she made a pact with herself that she would one day join up as a Motorsport Australia official and attend as many events as she could.
Three years later, she made good on her promise and found herself volunteering at Wakefield Park, Sydney Motorsport Park and Mount Panorama whenever the opportunity arose.
Spending many weekends at Wakefield Park working under the likes of Jessica Nicholson and Kate Eppelstun, Flannery began to soak in as much information as she could from her mentors and quickly moved up the ranks.
Starting as a flag marshal, Flannery is now seated at Wakefield Park’s Race Control in communications and relishes working with such a solid team every day.
“First and foremost, I love watching the actual racing. There is something exhilarating about watching talented drivers fight it out on the race track,” Flannery said.
“You also can’t go past the smell of fuel and rubber in the morning, as well as all the people you meet along the way. We are a family at Wakefield and I love seeing them every time I go.
“I am always one to learn new things and better myself. I would like to work my way up to a Clerk of Course role at some point.
“Right now though I enjoy learning from Jess Nicholson, who has been around since I first started. She is smashing goals at the moment, I definitely look up to her.
“I have been to a fair few Bathurst events, I love The Mountain and it’s somewhere I like to go once a year. I try to do all the New South Wales tracks though, and I hope to make it down to Winton for Supercars one day.”
When Flannery first got involved, the now 24-year-old believed there were far less women in the sport, both as drivers and officials. However in recent years, women’s participation in motorsport has been increasing steadily – particularly amongst Motorsport Australia’s officials community.
Flannery believes that the motorsport community generally makes it easy for anyone to join.
“I feel like more women are becoming officials and want to get involved because people are realising that women are just as capable of doing jobs just as well as men,” Flannery added.
“It’s nice to see a lot more females drivers getting involved too.
“When I first started, there weren’t as many women. There were only a few, but since I joined, we have been getting more and more.
“One major milestone I remember is that for a race meeting back in 2019, we had an all-female pit lane and marshalling crew which was awesome to see.
“Being an official is definitely a great time and women who have a passion for motorsport should join because no one is going to turn you back. Everyone is really welcoming and it’s something I highly recommend.”
This feature is part of a series of stories celebrating International Womens Day on 7 March.
80eaf84f98c04ce7bbccdd82022b39e29330eb1de27a4aa38b81ff4f88011dec.jpeg)
Motorsport Australia acknowledges Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present.