Shane Jacobson - Rev Head

CONTENTS

First published in Australia in 2017

by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited

ABN 36 009 913 517

harpercollins.com.au

Copyright Ocean View Entertainment Pty Ltd 2017

The right of Shane Jacobson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

HarperCollinsPublishers

Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand

A 53, Sector 57, Noida, UP, India

1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF, United Kingdom

2 Bloor Street East, 20th floor, Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8, Canada

195 Broadway, New York NY 10007, USA

ISBN: 978 0 7333 3816 8 (paperback)

ISBN: 978 1 4607 0811 8 (ebook : epub)

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Creator: Jacobson, Shane, author.

Title: Rev head : my life as a motoring tragic / Shane Jacobson.

Subjects: Jacobson, Shane.

Automobile racing fans--Australia--Biography.

Automobile racing--Australia.

Automobiles--Private collections.

Automobiles--Collectors and collecting.

Cover design by HarperCollins Design Studio

Cover photography by Julian Kingma

Photographs are from the collection of Shane Jacobson, except as noted.

NOTE: While efforts have been made to trace and acknowledge all copyright holders, in some cases this has been unsuccessful. If you believe you hold copyright in a photograph, please contact the publisher.

I dedicate this book to all the folks in the motoring industry
who have welcomed an amateur hack like me with open arms to
their wonderful world of motoring mayhem.

Not all my adventures on four wheels have ended well. Not all of them have ended on four wheels.

Caltography

An early trophy. It was obvious to me that Bathurst and F1 glory would follow if I could just master the right pose with my sunglasses.

Into the lions den: filming in England for Top Gear Australia. It was meant to merely look dangerous, but we seriously miscalculated. The park warden said it was very nearly very nasty.

Top Gear Australia

Squeezed into a helmet, and then into a race-prepared Toyota 86 GT, for my first attempt at Bathurst.

Kids, sunshine, the spray of a garden hose, and one of my favourite cars in the driveway. Very happy indeed.

My turn to be co-driver, during an early rally. All the risk, none of the control, and in a car wed built ourselves. What could possibly go wrong?

Ive always called myself a motoring enthusiast rather than a rev head, but my publisher thought Motoring Enthusiast was going to make a mighty dull book title. It was hard to disagree, but her suggestion came with its own problems. I explained that Rev Head seemed a bit too simple, a bit too one-dimensional. Perhaps even just a little undignified.

I wanted a book title that explained my life-long passion for everything on wheels, and the amazing adventures Ive been lucky enough to have in between performing in theatres and making films and television shows. How, after years of acting in obscurity, my unlikely stardom as a toilet technician in the film Kenny suddenly made it possible for me to race at Bathurst, compete in the Australian Rally Championship, take a road trip with Paul Hogan, and co-host the Australian version of Top Gear.

Its an obsession! I told her. To me the streets have always been a moving automobile art gallery, filled with wonders. Ive always believed that the opportunity to hit the road in any direction, and in any type of vehicle, is about as good a gift as life can give you.

Its more than that, though. Its a love of motor sport in all its forms, an overwhelming desire to drive every type of vehicle I can, a fascination with big engines, particularly V8s, and particularly when they are...

Revving?

Yes, revving. Revving so hard you can feel it in your body, in your soul...

And in your head.

I suppose so, yes.

So lets go back to calling it Rev Head.

OK.

Wearing my most serious face while waiting for the start of a special stage in the Australian Rally Championship. Heres co-driver Darren Masters (right) putting all his faith in my abilities. Brave man.

motorsportphotography.com

Proud as punch, with early rally Escort and fellow Rover and lifelong mate Steve Lawton.

So here am I, an actor with one film under my belt, driving the legendary Sandown race track at something close to 200 kilometres per hour. Theres a voice in my right ear. It has a heavy Canadian accent and is familiar... has been for decades. Its Allan Moffat, multiple Bathurst winner and touring-car icon, and hes saying, Well done, Shane. Yes, you got that corner close to right. Bit faster here, ease off the brake a touch earlier this time, well done! Now flat out from here...

This wasnt for a film, but it was because of one. Kenny had become a runaway success. I now had a fully recognisable face even if it was one that could make a lemon squint and had fielded a call from the Australian Grand Prix organisers. They werent inviting me to partner Mark Webber in his new Renault-powered Red Bull for the 2007 GP, but as the great English philosopher Michael Jagger once stated, You Cant Always Get What You Want.

Anyway, they did want me to drive in something, even if it was only the so-called celebrity race. I knew it was a complete sideshow, the circus act or juggling before the main event, but that was fine by me. I had limited circuit-racing experience, yet here was a chance to compete on a real Grand Prix circuit in front of a real Grand Prix audience.