AutoAction
FREE DIGITAL MAGAZINE SIGN UP

Football, meat pies and Ford cars… David Noble on DJR

Noble

By Andrew Clarke

David Noble and his path to the CEO role at Dick Johnson Racing is not a traditional motorsport path, so how did this football player and coach transition to DJR? He sat down with Andrew Clarke to discuss his journey in the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.

Noble was a handy rover and played a couple of games with Fitzroy in the AFL, but he proved more adept to the game at its highest level in other roles, peaking as the coach of North Melbourne in the AFL.

He lasted two years with the Kangaroos and was effectively replaced by a coaching genius named Alastair Clarkson – perhaps the greatest coach of the modern era, I say, with my Hawthorn hat on my head. 

This led Noble down an exciting path he’d never really contemplated. From his Brisbane days, he knew Nigel Calder, the Commercial Director at DJR. He loves cars and car racing, and the next steps were logical and straightforward. 

David Noble inside the Dick Johnson Racing garage. Image: Ross Gibb Photography

“I guess I was more of an avid fan,” he says of his time before joining DJR.

“I stayed in contact with Nigel, who I knew from when I was with Brisbane. I’d been down and had looked through the workshop, not overly deep, but certainly as a fan. 

“I had a love for cars and watching the sport. I have a couple of cars of my own, too. I have a foot in both camps, you could say.”

Brisbane was a basket case when he joined as general manager of football. Players were leaving like rats off a sinking ship, but he and coach Chris Fagan stopped the desertion.

In 2019, two years after finishing last, the Lions were back in the finals and are still there now and playing a home Preliminary Final this weekend. 

How does it all relate? 

“Both are team sports. That was the one thing that hit me really strongly and clearly: there are a lot of people that work towards the one goal,” Noble said.

David Noble is in charge of the two DJR Mustangs steered by Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale. Image: Mark Horsburgh

“Yes, we’ve got two cars and we have two drivers and there’s sort-of two teams within that, but we’re all working towards one thing on race day. 

“And that struck me loudly. It’s a bit undersold, I think, in our sport – from the guy who does the stickers, to the guys who redo the panels in the paint shop, from the machine shop to sub assembly, to fabrication and a whole lot of mechanics.

“Then you’ve got the commercial guys that add the element of our great partners. It’s a really big team sport.”

Read the full four-page feature on Noble in AUTO ACTION’s latest issue #1870, is out now in its digital form downloadable right here, and available in all good newsagents and stockists near you on Thursday, continuing on as Australia’s most trusted independent voice in motorsport.

If you can’t get a copy locally, you can also subscribe to the print or digital edition of the magazine here.

Latest podcast: It’s post Sandown and have we got a stack to talk about!

The action off the track at Sandown was just as exciting as the action on it, and we cover it all in our latest podcast! Triple 8 boss Jamie Whincup show everyone he is THE BOSS… Is Tickford set for a leadership shake up, and a new Formula 1 winner, there is plenty to talk about this week.

Listen to our latest podcast episode here or on your podcast app of choice.