FOR almost half of his career, David Reynolds has had the calm voice of Alistair McVean on the radio, guiding him through the ups and downs of Supercars competition.
In a seven-plus-year span from late 2016 to the end of last season, the Reynolds/McVean combination delivered 34 podiums including five wins.
But the duo has each taken on a new challenge for the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship, Reynolds moving to Team 18 where he’ll be engineered by Richard Hollway, while McVean remains at Grove Racing to run recruit Richie Stanaway.
It is actually a reunion of sorts for Reynolds, even if it will be a change of dynamics.
“I had Krusty (Hollway) as my engineer in 2008 when I was with Paul Dumbrell for the enduros, so I have known him for a long time,” Reynolds told V8 Sleuth.
“But I had Al for such a long time, we got on so well, I had huge respect for him, he had huge respect for me, and we had a good working relationship.
“Now I have got to go form this new relationship with another engineer; it’s going to be a bit different for me but I’m really looking forward to it.
“I really rate Krusty as a person, as a character.”
The chance to put fresh ideas into practice began at last week’s Winton pre-season test, where Reynolds turned his first laps in the #20 Tradie Beer Camaro.
“When you work together, you sort of take on a part of their life and their lifestyle of how they think and how they act and everything,” he said.
“I had Al for so long, you kind of get a bit – not stale – but you kind of understand each other too well.
“We didn’t really have to communicate much, he could just look at me and go ‘yes, it’s good or bad’. That’s the sort of communication level we had at the end, we had worked together for so long.
“So we have got to establish some new communications; it’s going to be fun.
“I’ll say speak to me as little as you can, or give me as much information as you can, I don’t mind, but I don’t really talk much back… I’m not going to drive around and whinge about the car because that doesn’t do anything. I’m not that sort of person.”
Reynolds will race for Mercedes-AMG GT3 squad GruppeM in this weekend’s Repco Bathurst 12 Hour, before backing up for the Supercars season-opener at the Mountain on February 23-25.
