Brian Hawke: industry-aligned

People

There's not much Brian Hawke hasn't done in the crash repair industry -- bodyshop owner, TAFE teacher, equipment supplier -- Brian's done it all. We talk to him about his experiences with Smash Repair Team Australia and in the industry he loves.
Tucked away in a corner of leafy Asquith, Sydney, is the office and workshop of Dataliner Australia, run by Brian Hawke and his wife Dorothy. Brian has been working in the smash repair business since 1954, including 23 years as a TAFE panel beating teacher. It was while he was a teacher that he first got involved in Smash Repair Team Australia and with Doug Wait, was one of the first TAFE teachers to donate his time to the fledgling project.
Since taking on the Dataliner agency in 1993 Brian's involvement in TAFE smash repair teams has become even more frequent. Dataliner started sponsoring the Victorian TAFE team in 1993 and five years ago became a full sponsor of the New South Wales team. When Brian sells a Dataliner bench he spends several days if needs be, training staff at the shop that has purchased the equipment. Likewise, when Brian decided to sponsor Smash Repair Team Australia, the team not only got Dataliner's equipment and support, they got Brian too.
"I love it, it's really interesting and rewarding too but it's really hard work," he says. Brian takes the time out from his business to attend the eight race meets the team works at each year and takes along his Dataliner benches and equipment. The races can be real red-eye affairs and Brian readily admits to working throughout the night and really putting in the hours. Dorothy confirms this is the case. "If you want your car repairing, go to Bathurst when the racing is on and make sure you ding your car. Brian and the team will repair the dent and do the rust and any other things need doing and have it out better than new!" she says. "And all for free!" laughs Brian.
It is clear that no one would take on the workload that Brian and others in the Smash Repair Team like Tony Warrener and Warwick Hale take on, without a love of motorsport, the crash repair industry and the desire to put something back into the industry that has been their life. "Working for the team does give me a lot of satisfaction -- I had a letter a while back from one of the lads on the team who took the trouble to write to me and thank me for helping out with the team. He said he had learnt more in those five days [at Bathurst] than in a year in a normal workshop." Brian is modest about his work however; "One lad came up to me and said 'thanks very much for letting us work with you' and I was surprised you know, because I just do it!"
A tySuch dedication to the industry does has its downside of course. "I don't go to the racing," says Dorothy, "Someone has to look after the office while he's gone!"