Young mechanic makes a pit stop at the V8s

Aspiring mechanic Bradley Rosser gets a taste of motor racing – experiencing first-hand the exhilaration and adrenaline rush at the V8 Supercar Races.
Bradley’s boss Matt Luck, Service Manager at Armstrong Auto Group in Toowoomba Queensland, said the day out at the V8s sparked a renewed sense of motivation in Bradley.
For one day the 20-year-old mechanic experienced all the thrills and excitement of one of the country’s fastest-growing motorsports – witnessing some of Australia’s best young drivers, engineers and mechanics working together at the V8 Supercar Races.
“One of the biggest improvements I’ve seen in Bradley was after he was granted a weekend working with the V8 race team in Ipswich – it completely changed him as a person I believe,” Mr Luck said.
Bradley, a third-year mechanic specialising in light vehicles, was given the opportunity of a lifetime through the Nissan Mentored Apprenticeships Program (NissMAP), having proven his ability and strong commitment towards producing good-quality work for his Toowoomba employer.
“It engaged him with the Nissan product a lot more and it gave him the chance to see a streamlined automotive team working together, chasing a win,” Mr Luck said. “I think the professionalism of that team got him out of his comfort zone and built his confidence to the next level.”
Bradley, whose love of cars came from his Pop’s stories of tuning old vehicles, joined the Toowoomba garage three years ago where he was selected to join the NissMAP program which aims to support young mechanics in gaining the skills needed to ultimately land a job in a Nissan dealership.
The TAFE courses offered through NissMAP, Bradley said, have assisted with his apprenticeship, particularly the online training courses which help to consolidate what he learns on a day-to-day basis in the workshop.
“They’ve got a pretty good online training course – you can go online and do some technical training and watch videos. It also has handy, little tips on how to do certain mechanical things which makes what I have to learn easier,” Bradley said.
Apart from fostering great future employment prospects and providing useful educational tools, Bradley credits the NissMAP program for sending him to the V8 event which he believes has taken his ambition and enthusiasm for his job to a new level.