TRAFFIC COP
BAIRD TAKES UP NEW SUPERCARS ROLE
GOLD Coast motorsport veteran Craig Baird has taken on the toughest gig in Supercars, becoming the new driving standards adviser.
Baird replaces Jason Bargwanna in a revised role whereby he will advise the race stewards on penalties.
The 46-year-old’s appointment effectively brings an end to his own Supercars career as an endurance co-driver, though he will continue racing a Mercedes in the Australian GT Championship.
Baird is looking forward to entering his new position following experience in a similar role in categories such as the Porsche Carrera Cup.
“I’m still excited to be involved in a sport that I love and I guess more importantly from the role point of view, I understand the cars, I understand the drivers – I know all of them – and I’m a pretty level player,” he told the Bulletin.
Controversy swirled around the handling of a dramatic three-car crash between Jamie Whincup, Garth Tander and Scott McLaughlin at Bathurst last October and the resultant penalty handed to Whincup, which drew an appeal from his Triple Eight team.
Baird, known as a tough personality, is ready to face such scenarios.
“There’s always going to be controversy because if we look at a lot of other codes, we can’t just blow the whistle and stop the game and make a decision. The ball keeps moving,” he said. “It’s not what you would call a rewarding job because nine times out of 10 you’ll have two people walk into a room and one is going to be right and one is going to be wrong so half leave happy and half leave sad.
“Sometimes I think in the heat of the moment, people can’t actually put their hand up any more and say ‘hey, I did something wrong’.”
The biggest thing, he said, is to provide consistency in adjudications – which hopefully will be aided by a newly overhauled judicial system.
As for his own career behind the wheel, Baird confirmed he was unlikely to return to a Supercars co-driver seat in the future. Last year he endured a difficult Enduro Cup campaign with David Reynolds at Erebus Motorsport.
“To be honest, a few years ago when Tomas Mezera actually stepped out of co-driving, I said to him ‘mate, you’re hanging your helmet up too early’,” Baird said.
“But as you get older you find out the reasons … (when you have to think about) the easy things and the things that you don’t normally think about, you’re better to let some of the younger talent come through who are probably doing the development series and driving Supercars.”
A five-time Carrera Cup champion, Baird pinpointed two highlights from his Supercars career: A race win at his debut event as a fulltime driver in 2000 at Phillip Island and a pole position at Winton in 2004 for minnows Team Kiwi.