HE’S certainly the man to call if you have a problem with your portable toilet, but when Shane Jacobson heads to Bathurst next weekend he will be out to prove he is just as handy behind the wheel as he is with a plunger.
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Jacobson shot to fame in 2006 thanks to his movie Kenny, a mock documentary about a waste management technician.
But in real life, Jacobson is a man who loves the challenge of motor sport much more than he does the challenge of unblocking a toilet.
That also means Mount Panorama is a special place for him.
It was back in 2013 when the man who also acted as a host on Top Gear Australia last buckled in to test himself in the sport of circuit racing.
He was a member of the Pedders Racing Team that came to Mount Panorama for the Bathurst Motor Festival.
Sharing a Toyota 86 GTS with Victorian Grant Phillips in the NSW Production Touring Car Series, Jacobson did his first racing lap of the famous 6.213 kilometre circuit during the driver B practice session.
Though he was not near the top of the time sheet – his fastest lap was a three minutes, 9.3741 seconds effort in the previously untested car – he did improve over the course of the weekend.
In the driver B race on the Saturday, he placed 34th in the field of 45 and sixth in class. He made a big improvement in his lap times as well, this time his best circuit being a 3:00.5518.
On the Sunday, in a one hour race in which teams were able to utilise both drivers, Phillips and Jacobson placed 29th outright and fifth in class.
That experience has stuck with Jacobson, so when he was offered the chance to race with Pedders at the 2015 Bathurst Motor Festival, he was happy to accept.
“After a conversation with Pedders Racing’s team principal Grant [Phillips] back in 2012, and hearing only the words ‘race Bathurst’, it has been a great journey with the small yet supremely professional team,” he said.
“I was able to live a dream of racing at the mountain two years ago, putting my trust in the crew while they put their trust in me, even if maybe they shouldn’t have at the time considering I’d never sat in the car until the first practice session at the mountain.
“To know that this year the old gang is getting back together after more development with the car, it will be a bit like Sir Paul McCartney rejoining with The Beatles for another world tour.
“Okay, so maybe not, but it’s going to be a big weekend for us and we have high hopes that the 86 is ready to push harder than ever.”
Unlike their first appearance at Mount Panorama when the Toyota was making its debut, the 86 is now a realistic chance of pushing for a Bathurst podium.
Phillips can’t wait to show the crowd what his race car is really capable of doing.
“I can’t wait to get back there. I am very much looking forward to seeing what we can do now we finally have a decent car,” he said.
“When we first came to Bathurst the car was brand new – the first session up there I had to use to get the brakes in because it had never been tested before that.
“We might give them a run for their money this time as opposed to last time when the main aim was to finish.
“I am also excited about teaming up with Shane. I think it is going to be a very formidable partnership. He’s very keen to get back up there and have a go. He got the chance to drive the car at Winton ahead of this weekend’s Australian Motoring Festival and said it was like a completely different car.”
The Bathurst Motor Festival runs from April 3-5.
