By Peter Cleeland
THE Australian Grand Prix corporation launched the Australian round of the MotoGP at Phillip Island with “Brakefast 2025”. Over 100 local industry representatives attended a delightful breakfast at AGP headquarters above the main straightaway. The much-appreciated gesture was organised to thank the local community representatives for their respective roles in “making it happen”.
As part of the morning program, three guest speakers entertained the audience with their experiences and insights surrounding the MotoGP. Australian Moto3 GP rider Jacob Roulstone, who was born in Jamberoo, spoke passionately about the challenges of being an Australian rider on the world stage over the course of a demanding 23-round season.
Living in Barcelona, Jacob had a major pre-season setback when he broke a vertebra in his neck while testing his bike for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team for the forthcoming season. The challenges of living away from family and recovering from such a serious injury gave the audience a window into the life of a GP rider.
Jacob recounted how the Aussie riders like Jack Miller, Senna Aguis and Joel Kelso really look after each other and are good mates off the track but super competitive when the lights go out. Being a mate of five-time MotoGP world champion Mick Doohan, Jacob wore a specially designed helmet featuring artwork related to Mick Doohan as a tribute to his successful career.
Part of the three-speaker panel, Frine Velilla has been working with Dorna Sports for over 20 years as the MotoGP Media Manager responsible for the media operations organisation of 23 events over the calendar year on five continents. Certainly, a daunting task to be working with so many different professional people across a wide range of venues to bring a meeting to a demanding worldwide audience.
Organising reporters, photographers, internet services, and the list goes on requires astute judgement and high-level interpersonal skills to bring the exciting product that is MotoGP together. Frine’s undoubted dedication and passion for being a major driver in the sport were clearly evident as she spoke of the uniqueness of the event at Phillip Island with its natural beauty and wildlife parks.
Kaitlyn Miller, Australian Grand Prix special events and catering co-ordinator, completed the trio of special guests, outlining how her team provides quality catering for an event where 80,000 fans turn out. In these heady times, where feeding a family is a handful, Kaityln’s responsibility to feed 80,000 people in a weekend would be a logistics nightmare.
The highlight of the “Brakefast 2025” event was the opportunity for attendees to do a lap of the world-famous Island track in a trailer at a whole lot less than 300kmph that the GP riders experience. Congratulations to the Australian Grand Prix team on an engaging launch to an amazing, adrenaline-pumping weekend of motorsport.
