THE Bathurst 6 Hour has given students from TAFE NSW the opportunity to get more hands-on experience as mechanics.
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Whenever there's a major motor sport event on at Mount Panorama, you'll find automotive students in the precinct working on vehicles as required.
Teacher John Ewing said the 6 Hour was busy, with a "very steady flow of work" coming into the shed.
There were a dozen TAFE students and teachers working across the event, doing a variety of jobs, such as welding, panel beating and changing parts.
"Probably the most bizarre job was cleaning the tyres on the medical car. They picked up that much rubber on the tyres that the guys couldn't drive it; it was just vibrating," Mr Ewing said.
"We had to actually heat the tyres up and scrape all the rubber off the tyres."
In addition to working in the TAFE shed, students had the opportunity to assist race teams in their garages.
Among the students working at the event was Steven Hanson, who works at Work Rest Play Here in Dubbo while studying at TAFE.
Having previously worked at the Bathurst 1000, the 6 Hour has given him further insight into the motor sport industry for a mechanic.
With the 6 Hour being a much more grassroots level of racing, he was tasked with more advanced work.
"The work that I was allowed to do on the car [at the Bathurst 1000] was very minimal. I was mainly an extra set of hands for keeping the area clean, keeping the car clean, running the tyres and petrol around," he said.
"... Here, I walked straight in there and they're like 'Can you change the power steering pump?'. It was completely different and they give you more of a go in that aspect."
He said the best thing about working at the event was the chance to make more contacts in the industry.
Mr Hanson and the other students did a stellar job across the weekend.
"The students have performed very well," Mr Ewing said. "We've assisted 36 teams and we've like to thank Bathurst council, ARG and TAFE NSW for the the opportunity."
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