162 wheelsmag.com.au
WHEELSTORIESMICHAELSTAHL
RECKON you could talk all day about motor
racing? Maybe you could – but try doing it for 13
hours, intelligently and informatively, live to an
international audience, with a producer talking
in your headphones, with barely time for a, er,
pit-stop. And without swearing. That’s Richard
Craill’s idea of heaven. Or one of them.
Craill, 32, is now one of the staples of
motorsport commentary in Australia, his quick
wit and warmth perhaps most familiar to
followers of the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12-Hour.
‘Craillsy’ nominates that race as one favourite.
The Clipsal 500 is another, because it’s
effectively his home race.
But real heaven awaits in Lyndoch, in South
Australia’s Barossa Valley, where Craill grew
up and still lives. “The best part is coming back
here after a race meeting, after all the hubbub,
you come back to the serenity and peacefulness.
It’s a nice place to recharge your batteries.”
Craill grew up in a “very pro-Holden
family” and idolised Peter Brock. “He was
my introduction to motor racing, I suppose- watching Bathurst as a kid, then becoming
more engaged with it. And I was interested
from an early age in the media side – I
followed Neil Crompton especially, because
he could race and he could commentate.”
Picture any group of high-school mates
slumped on a lounge watching motor racing.
The one that’s endlessly commenting on brake
lock-ups and drivers’ back-stories and the
evolution of the race – that’d be Craillsy.
“I just had to get into motor racing and
journalism and broadcasting. When I was in
Year 10, a community radio station opened
in the Barossa Valley. I started there doing a
music show, but very quickly, with a friend
of mine, we started a show about motorsport.
Through that, we spoke to people in Supercars;
spoke to IndyCar drivers when they came for
the Gold Coast.
“That was the launching pad. Then I met
some friends who were at uni – I never went to
uni myself – they were producing a TV show
for their uni major, on Adelaide community TV.
From hosting that TV show, I met [race team
owner] Bronte Rundle and started looking after
their PR and media. That was my first paid gig.
“Through that, I was able to snowball into
doing race commentary and really building a
career from there.”
When the Bathurst 12-Hour was revived for
2007, Craill volunteered to do commentary. He’sbecome a part of the furniture since, handling
media accreditation, writing press releases
and, of course, doing the day-long stint in the
commentary box.
“The 12-Hour day starts at 3:30am, because
I’ve got to be there to open the Media Centre,”
he says. “It’s the longest day of my year, but
it’s always one of the most satisfying. I love
doing long-distance races because they’re like
a novel: in the beginning, you’re building the
characters and building the story, through the
day all these compelling storylines are playing
out, then you’ve got this thrilling finish when
it all explodes, and the protagonists either fail
or succeed.”
Speaking of exploding: “Yeah, comfort
breaks are when there’s a conveniently placed
safety car and you know there’s going to be
a commercial break – you dive out. We run a
strategy like a race team, so if there’s a safety
car, you pit!”
As drivers dream of international stardom,
commentators are no different. “I’ve never had
a grand plan for where I’d like to go, but if I had
to target anywhere – as cool as Formula 1 would
be – I’ve always been really attracted to IndyCar
racing ... I think I’d fit in with that.”Calling all cars
Talking his way on air was as easy as a chat for this racing fan
CASH FOR COMMENTARY
Commentator Richard Craill gets
to literally rub shoulders with
motorsport greats, but it took a lot of
sacrifice; he started on community
radio and TV, working for free. “I’d
said: ‘I’m going to have a year off, do
the radio stuff, see where it takes me.’
I had a part-time job in the Barossa
Valley, picking grapes and pruning
vines. I discovered that manual
labour is not my thing.”