WORKING behind the scenes on a Bathurst 1000 wildcard entry - for Jess Dane it is simply about living out her motor sport passion but at the same time she is also serving as a role model.
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Dane is one of three full-time female team members contributing behind the scenes to the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 wildcard entry driven by veteran Russell Ingall and young star Broc Feeney.
Dane is the deputy team manager of a 14-member unit which also includes data engineer Romy Mayer and commercial partner manager Sian Allison.
The trio has been a driving force behind the team since it was launched back in April and has been on the ground in Bathurst all this week.
"We don't see having three women as part of the team as a big deal, but we acknowledge that it is something that is a positive when it comes to promoting female participation in our sport," Dane said.
"If any of us were not capable of doing the job then we would not be in the roles we have.
"Hopefully young women will see us as part of this program and realise that if they want to be involved in motor sport, then that is possible. They just need to get on their path and passionately follow it."
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Dane is the daughter of Triple Eight Race Engineering founder Roland Dane and is now a co-owner of the operation herself.
She has built a reputation as an on-air media talent in recent years while working full-time in the team and simultaneously completing a law degree.
She is hoping to see both Ingall and Feeney fare well in the 161-lap epic on Sunday.
"We have a duty to create the best team we can for Supercheap Auto and the rest of the team partners and we can confidently say that we have done that," she said.
Mayer has no family background in the sport, but was bitten by the bug while studying automotive engineering in her home country of Germany.
She eventually cut her teeth with renowned Germany outfit HWA which exposed her to DTM and GT3 championships as well as several development programs.
In 2015 she applied for an advertised position at Triple Eight Race Engineering in Brisbane and since subsequently moving to Australia, has worked on several projects across a range of categories.
She has become a valuable member of the Triple Eight Race Engineering organisation, which is the most successful in the modern era of Supercars racing and one which she refers to as "family".
Speaking of family, Mayer actually started her own with the birth of a son in December last year and now successfully juggles full-time engineering duties and motherhood.
"I have had so many great opportunities to extend my career since joining Triple Eight Race Engineering six years ago and working with Russell and Broc and the Supercheap wildcard entry is another extension of that," Mayer said.
"It has been interesting working with Russell, who has so much experience, and Broc who is starting off in his career, but who has an old head on young shoulders.
"I am sure we are all going to get a lot out of being at the Bathurst 1000 together and hopefully we can maybe surprise a few with our result.
"My goal remains to be a race engineer on one of the team's full-time Supercar units and this program will be an important part of my journey to achieve that."
Like Dane, Allison also comes from strong motor sport family background.
Allison is the daughter of former open-wheel ace Bruce Allison and the niece of former grand prix motorcycle star and 1993 Bathurst 1000 winner Gregg Hansford.
The born and bred Queenslander was working in her mother's legal practice before she decided to chase her dream of a job in the commercial side of motor sport in 2019.
Her role with the wildcard program is as a direct connection with major sponsors Supercheap Auto and making sure everything is in place from team race shirts to driver schedules.
"It was always my goal to work in motor sport and to have been a part of the Triple Eight operation for the last couple of years has been a bit of a dream come true in many ways," she said.
"It has not been not been easy through the whole COVID-19 period, but we have survived and the Supercheap Auto wildcard program has provided us with another new challenge which we have enjoyed tackling.
"There has been a lot of work go into the program behind the scenes from all the stakeholders and I think we are all just keen to get to Bathurst and go racing."