Third-year agricultural machinery apprentice at STAG Machinery in Toowoomba, Brendan Holmes, is set to get a trackside view of the NTI Townsville 500’s high octane thrills as part of New Holland’s apprentice program.
Brendan Holmes was always interested in machinery from a young age, able to tell his teacher what trucks were coming down the road but struggling to focus on classroom screens.
Growing up in Toowoomba on his family’s beef property just outside of town, he developed a passion for agriculture through work experience at ag dealerships.
"At the end of year 11, starting year 12, I did work experience with STAG Machinery for two to three weeks during school holidays, and it sort of just grew from there,” Brendan said.
“As soon as I finished year 12, it was straight into the apprenticeship and full time."
Now in his third year as an agricultural machinery apprentice, Brendan spends his days servicing a wide range of New Holland machines from small subcompacts to T9 tractors both in the field and in the workshop.
Brendan’s attitude and aptitude will see him join the Red Bull Ampol Racing pit crew trackside at the NTI Townsville 500 from 11 – 13 July, as part of New Holland’s apprentice program that recognises its exceptional service apprentices.
STAG Machinery Toowoomba Branch Manager, Tony Morris, said the company saw Brendan as a future leader for the company.
"We do have quite a few work experience kids come through. We can already see the next level of leaders coming through and Brendan really stood out.
“Brendan showed us early that he certainly was capable and had a future in the industry, and since then has become a very valuable member of the team.
“He has a natural gift for dealing with customers and their needs. There have been many occasions where customers have called to praise Brendan's exceptional service level.”
With New Holland branches in Toowoomba and Chinchilla, Tony said STAG Machinery apprentices like Brendan get to work on a full range of machinery, from lower horsepower tractors to high horsepower broadacre equipment.
“We value cross-skill sharing across our branches, which gives apprentices like Brendan broad exposure to different machinery and farming sectors including vineyards, vegetable growers, dairy farmers, and grain growers.”
As part of the New Holland apprenticeship program Brendan also attends training with other apprentices at Wagga Wagga three times a year.
CNH National Parts and Service Manager, Gary Pertot, said the training is exclusively on CNH and New Holland machinery to complement on-the-job learning.
“Our program is about showing school leavers, young people or those looking to reskill that agriculture offers an exciting, high tech viable future career,” he said.
“The Supercar experience is also a part of this, not only letting our apprentices experience what it’s like to be trackside in the action, but to show how high performing teams operate.”
Brendan said he was excited to see behind the scenes on race day.
“When you see it on television, you never get to see all that’s happening in the team sheds.
“I’m really looking forward to getting a different perspective on how the team performs and what they do to achieve an overall win.”
Brendan is one of six exceptional apprentice service technicians who will get to experience race day action at Supercars races across Australia and New Zealand this year thanks to New Holland's sponsorship of the Red Bull Ampol Racing team.
The program is open to service apprentices working across New Holland Agriculture’s network of 125 Australian and New Zealand dealerships, where Dealer Principals or Service Managers nominate outstanding apprentices.