Quenching the need for speed

As well as being understandably focused on speed, Porsche employees have another hidden talent – many of them are athletes, former athletes, or adrenaline junkies of one stripe or another. Understandably, a marque with Porsche’s tradition of ferocious competition attracts staff with a competitive streak. As we head into the 2021 sporting season, let’s look at three dedicated Porsche Centre Brighton staff members whose lives have been shaped by sport and fitness.

Rhys Mainstone Nic Sparrow

Rhys Mainstone, Service Advisor & Warranty Administrator at Porsche Brighton, is a swimmer with a taste for open-air adventure. Perhaps his most notable feat is winning two races at the recent Portsea Swim Classic – the first time one of our staff has won this venerable competition, first held in 1987.

Even this year with a looming COVID-19 presence, places for the event filled fast. One of those entrants was Rhys, building on his series of outstanding aquatic achievements. ‘I made the Australian national swim team in 2009 and raced all around the world doing marathon swimming,’ he says. ‘I competed in events from 5km to 25km, specialising in the 10km distance.’ Rhys has been amply awarded for his dedication to the sport. ‘I won a World Championship Silver in the 5km teams event in Shanghai in 2011, four National 10km titles, and five World Cup 10km events. In 2015 I came third in the World Championship Series for World Cup swimming.’

speed

Another staff member with a serious high-wire act is Porsche Sales Executive Nic Sparrow, whose former life was literally a high-wire act. While many people joke about running away to join the circus, Nic actually did it. ‘I was on the flying trapeze before I came back to Australia and sold cars, having always been acrobatic as a kid,’ he reveals.

It all started from an early age. ‘My parents gave me a trampoline when I was little, and I did backflips onto the ground from that. When your mates find out you can do backflips, they want you to perform at every opportunity … which led to me nearly getting expelled from school for doing a backflip off the library roof.’

Nic’s family has a major family history with highstakes sports. ‘My dad’s always been in the car industry, so I grew up around racetracks, fast cars and adrenalin,’ he says. ‘I loved the thrill of trapeze, and the experience of doing something most people couldn’t do.’ When Nic got older, he decided to take the plunge. ‘I joined Club Med in the Whitsundays as a trapeze artist. I would teach people how to do trapeze during the day, then perform each night.’ Returning to Melbourne after two years of sunsoaked adventure, Nic realised that trapeze wasn’t a full-time venture – so he swapped the high wire for high-performance automobiles.

Shelby Soltoggio

Another notably sporty staff member at Porsche Brighton is Service Advisor Shelby Soltoggio, whose former interests include BMX and Motocross. While she’s presently taking a break from tearing up those dirt tracks, she’s still retained the taste for competition sharpened in her youth. ‘I used to be really into Motocross, but I ride road bikes now,’ she says. ‘When I was young, growing up in WA, I competed at various racetracks starting when I was around three and a half!’ For Shelby, it’s the sheer buzz which makes all the difference. ‘The adrenalin rush, especially the excitement of the gate drop, was the attraction for me,’ she says. ‘I also got to make heaps of friends throughout all those competitions, and I’ve kept in touch with many of them to this day.’ Although Shelby stopped riding competitively, she hasn’t lost the love. ‘Now, I ride the road for fun,’ she says. ‘My cycling group and I do “twisties” (winding paths) in places like the Dandenong Ranges, King Lake, and the Black Spur.’ This ongoing need for speed is reflected by Shelby’s position at Porsche Centre Brighton. ‘As a Service Advisor, I do get to sample some of the cars, which is a source of adrenalin as well!’ Given their shared commitment to thrills of various types, it’s no wonder Rhys, Shelby and Nic are such a natural fit with the Porsche Centre Brighton family. •