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Thomas Randle’s new-found viral fame as a pianist was the genesis of a joint effort between Castrol and Tickford Racing.
The announcement was that Randle would quit Supercars, effective immediately, to join the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as the lead pianist.
“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this, but I’ve decided to park my racing career, hang up the helmet after 20 years, and I’m going down the avenue of becoming a professional classical pianist,” said Thomas Randle.
“It’s been a very big decision to make. It’s a big career change to go from being a professional driver in Supercars to putting that aside and focus now on my professional piano career.
“After the Grand Prix with the video that we did with the F1 intro, the messages I’ve received from different musicians, artists, orchestras … my inbox has just been flooded. I really think this is the best opportunity for me to take the next step in my career.”
The sensational move, of course, drew the ire of Tickford owner Rod Nash.
“He’s been so passionate about being in an orchestra for so long, but his driving duties have held him back. And although we would have liked to have delayed it, it’s just been really working him over,” said Nash.
“It’s pretty disappointing because to have a driver leave your team, you know, early in the season like this and there’s sponsors and team and everything, we’ve got to work through it.
“It’s a bit of a kick in the guts. We’ve invested a lot of our time and energy into Thomas’ career, and we tried to change his mind, but he’s pretty adamant that he’s doing it.”
Meanwhile, PremiAir Racing announced the latest addition to its growing technical and management team – Guenther Steiner.
The ex-Haas boss and Drive to Survive star apparently signed on for the squad, in an unnamed role, after meeting with team owner Peter Xiberras at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival.
The always outspoken Peter Adderton took his chance to make a stir as well with a personal announcement that he is replacing Mark Skaife on the RACE board and will take over the marketing strategy for Supercars – or V8 Supercars, as it will soon be known.
“I am and excited and welcome [the] opportunity to work with the RACE fellow directors,” said Adderton.
“My first thing will be to help redesign the current website and kill off the current app and add back the V8 into Supercars and I will ensure all fans that there will be more than 18 races in 2025.”
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Over at Team 18, the big news was that Mark Winterbottom will do more than just drive Supercars this year… he’ll also drive shuttle buses for team sponsor East Coast Car Rentals to keep sharp between races.
“I’m excited to be joining East Coast Car Rentals and taking on this new challenge,” said Winterbottom.
“Driving is my passion, whether it’s on the track or off, and I look forward to bringing that same passion to my role as a shuttle bus driver.
“With Cam Waters off racing on the dirt and Chaz [Mostert] and Dave Reynolds racing GT cars, It’s a great opportunity for me to stay sharp and focused while also setting a record pace for customers getting into their rental cars.”
