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OFFICIAL PROGRAMME a lot more because I knew all the people in the team - and the mechanics are very good guys - all of them . Not just on my side ; I also speak to everyone in the team because they are all good guys . When we get a podium everybody enters my side to say “ good job ,” so this adds very strong motivation for me .”
This close connection on a human level transcends results for Toprak and his tech guys . Win , lose or draw the relationship seems the same , according to Marron .
“ Toprak is one of the most popular guys in the paddock , and not just because of what he is doing on track ,” said Phil . “ He is a very , very good human being , a lovely guy . Every morning he comes in to speak to everybody individually . And not just one side of the garage - he goes around everybody . Sometimes it is just hello , how are you , sometimes it is a longer conversation . And he ’ s genuine about it too , it ’ s not just small talk . He likes to have ‘ the craic ’ ( happy conversation and laughs ) with us in the garage . On set-up day he likes to be in with us , messing about . He loves that side of it , and we enjoy him as well . In the evening , over dinner , he is just a good guy to be around - he is always entertaining . He is also very good to the boys . Everybody in the team has received a pole position winner ’ s watch from him . I got his first one and he has gone through the rest of the team giving them his pole position watches .” As Toprak himself said about this , “ It also gives good memories for the mechanics .” And lasting ones , no doubt .
Possibly the most widely known WorldSBK rider / mechanic relationship is that between Jonathan Rea and his KRT crew . He has a remarkably close working relationship with his Crew Chief , Pere Riba , but Rea has also been with his main ‘ on-the-tools ’ mechanics for over eight years now .
He is pretty tight with them , and vice-versa , in both a working and personal sense . “ I think you have to be ,” said Rea . “ They have a huge responsibility . You put your life in their hands . They are connected to the bike but I also really enjoy having a good atmosphere in the team and that starts with everybody . It is about making sure everyone is OK . You cannot create that . I was really lucky to walk into an amazing team of personalities when I first arrived at Kawasaki . My chief mechanic Uri ( Oriol Pallarés ) and my mechanic Turo ( Arturo Perez ) have been with me from the start . Pere has been with me from the start . When I retire , not so many people will know what I have gone through , but these guys will because they have been through the highs and the lows . That is a really special bond .”
That bond to his guys has been proved again in a concrete way recently . “ We ( the Rea family ) have a place in Barcelona now and a lot of that is because they are like my second family ,” said Rea . “ After the racing is over we hang out , we go to restaurants , the beach , go on walks together . It is more than work or career mates ; they are very good people . I think it is because of them that I have had longevity in my career , with these good people around me .”
The skillsets required of a mechanic working at WorldSBK level have to reach a certain standard , of course , but in terms of the relationship between the riders and mechanics , and between each other as they do their pressurised jobs , strong and positive personal relationships seem to be fundamentally important .
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