WEDNESDAY 5 March – Adelaide
Our first show was in Adelaide on Thursday 6 March and to make this happen we had to ensure Crofty would be in Adelaide on the evening of Wednesday 5 March. We (the FoS team of 4 – Phil, Brad, Anthony and me) had already landed in Adelaide on the Wednesday afternoon, so we were well-settled at our Arkaba accommodation before Crofty made it to the hotel – not without a bit of drama though! Being very windy the pilot of Crofty’s plane had to have two attempts to land the plane. After spending nearly 24 hours in the air, Crofty was very pleased to reach the hotel at around 8:15pm that evening.
After a satisfying dinner in the Arkaba restaurant we all retired to our rooms to get a good night’s sleep before the launch of our 13-day tour!
THURSDAY 6 March – Adelaide
The VIP event prior to the Thursday show was a relaxing way to start.
The show itself was a great success with well over 200 excited F1® fans hanging on every word from Crofty. This was the first time anyone had seen our introductory video and it proved to be a great success with Oscar Piastri lending his droll wit to an entertaining exchange with Crofty.
The show seemed to end too soon for many, with people wanting to stay on and chat well after the scheduled finish of the event.
FRIDAY 7 March – Adelaide
On Friday morning we met up with Guether Steiner at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival for a photo shoot with Jaguar, where Crofty and Guenther chatted for a long time about the extraordinary sport that Formula One is.
Our Friday night event, which was to be a private VIP function in Adelaide had to be cancelled at the last minute, due to the hosts circumstances, but Crofty did still go out to a local venue to meet up with some of those guests who had originally committed to the evening.
SATURDAY 8 March – The BEND SA
On Saturday morning, we drove our rented Pajero to the Adelaide Motorsport Festival (whilst Brad and Anthony set off in the second rented Pajero to the Bend Motorsport Park to set up for our evening event), and were greeted by our host for the morning. We arrived at the Pagani Suite in our golf buggy transport where we saw Guenther and Damon Hill, but were soon ushered to the Grand Marquee where Crofty regaled the large crowd with his humorous observations of the sport, and all its contributing characters.
After another tour of the Jaguar garage with Guenther, where we also got to chat with David Brabham, always followed by the press and dozens of fans, we had to get our ‘buggy’ back to the Pagani Suite for some refreshments before being dropped back to our vehicle for our journey to the Bend.
Before we got out of the city, Crofty said he would like a sandwich, but Phil was hoping to stop once we cleared the city limits, so we headed to the Adelaide hills and the road to the Bend. Unfortunately for Phil, the ~100kms road to the Bend doesn’t have any petrol stations, towns or service areas! After several dozen reminders from Crofty about the sandwich, Phil took an exit that advertised two towns only to find out that the two towns were a further 22km one way, or 28km the other, on the exit road, so performed a ‘U’ turn and then took the exit back to the road to the Bend – only to find out that the ‘exit’ was the exit back to Adelaide!!
A 30km round trip got us back to our original exit location but at least Crofty and I got our sandwich.
We arrived at the Bend mid-afternoon to be greeted by a wonderful party of people from the Bend who were keen to show us the Crofty ‘signage’ and explain their plans for the next 24 hours. It wasn’t long before Crofty was leading a group of F1® fans and their personal cars around the track for a twilight cruise.
After a short break, we then put on a great intimate show for around 60 enthusiastic fans in a wonderful room overlooking the track. Our intro video, featuring Crofty and Oscar Piastri engaged in a humourous exchange, again proved to very popular with the audience. Prizes were given away and some items were auctioned off to assist our preferred charities.
SUNDAY 9 March – The BEND SA – Sydney
On Sunday morning, Crofty was again involved in being driven – and driving cars – around the impressive Bend circuit, along with dozens of other drivers and their cars. It was mentioned by a couple of the driver-instructors that Crofty was driving much better than the year before when he was placed behind the wheel of a couple of unfamiliar, powerful vehicles. Crofty was well-pleased with the comments.
We set off back to Adelaide airport to catch our 5:15pm flight to Sydney, so after dropping off our Pajeros we spent less than an hour in the lounge then took our seats for the relatively short trip (we live in Perth remember!) to Sydney. We arrived at our hotel in Bondi around 7:30pm that evening and after a brisk walk around the beach area, we settled in our rooms.
MONDAY 10 March – Sydney
Monday morning saw us all at an unplanned 3-hour breakfast and morning tea at a café on Bondi Beach where the weather was remarkably good and the views magnificent. A wonderful way to prepare for our evening show at the Bondi Pavilion.
The show at the Pavilion was with a full house of very enthusiastic F1® fans who witnessed one of the best shows to date. Special guests included Gary Connelly, the chief steward at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix who explained, in great detail, what actually happened during that most controversial of races. The crowd was transfixed by Gary and his clear and professional way he described what the stewards had to consider in their deliberations. Fascinating.
Also in attendance were Repco Supercars and Channel 10 commentators, Neil Crompton and Jess Yates. All guests had the chance to get a picture with Crofty and get items signed at the end of the show.
TUESDAY 11 March – Sydney – Melbourne
On the Tuesday morning, Brad and Anthony set off back to Perth with all the equipment whilst Crofty, Phil and I set off to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix.
Crofty was staying at a hotel on St Kilda Road and was keen to start his meticulous preparation for his role as the leading F1® commentator, so we had dropped him off before settling in to our hotel. We had our usual ‘loft’ room at the Mercure Hotel directly across from Gate 9 at the track, and we were well-versed in what was to come over the next few days.
WEDNESDAY 12 March to SUNDAY 16 March – Melbourne
The Australian Grand Prix is always a well-attended event and there was a lot of hope in the air that Oscar Piastri could finally get an Aussie on the Podium. We were keen, and hopeful, given the contribution Oscar had made to our opening video for our Australian shows.
Our base during the Grand Prix is the wonderfully situated Brabham Sky Box situated on Turns 1 and 2 and I had many guests in this location, along with dozens more in other hospitality and grandstand locations all around the track. Almost everyone had a wonderful time during the 3 days of the Champions Club with the waitlist for next years event filling fast, this starting immediately after the race was concluded on the Sunday. There is no doubt that this popular venue could attract a full-house every year – and even it was expanded beyond its current limits.
One of the special guests for the Champions Club was David Croft, so we had a chance to catch up and have a chat after his appearance, before he had to get back to the Paddock for his next speaking engagement.
After getting overheated on the stifling Friday and Saturday, the Sunday turned out to be a day interspersed with cold drenching showers and strong winds which meant the only action for the day was the actual race itself. The race ended with elation for one of the McLaren drivers but unfortunately Oscar had to settle for ninth after skidding off the track and then fighting his way back through the field.
MONDAY 17 March – Perth
On Monday morning, we picked up Crofty and Karun from their hotel (about 3am Perth Time!), and went to the airport to catch our 9am flight to Perth. The time difference of three hours meant that we landed around 10:30am Perth time and were picked up and taken to a private garage in the southern suburbs for a tour and refreshments. The ‘garage’ was home to numerous vehicles with lots of Ferraris!
Phil left early to pick up a rental vehicle whilst I escorted Crofty and Karun to the Ritz-Carlton at Elizabeth Quay. They were checked into their rooms by 1pm and given a few hours to rest before our scheduled show rehearsal at 4pm at the Regal Theatre in Subiaco, in preparation for our biggest-ever show in Australia for around 900 guests.
Phil stayed at the theatre to go through the final planning whilst I picked up Crofty and Karun from the hotel and dropped them at the Regal at 4:20pm. As the VIP guests would be arriving from 5:15pm we had to make sure that everything was working. Fortunately, Brad and Anthony had all the technical side of the show well in hand, so there was little for Crofty or Karun to do except test the mics.
The VIP event was popular, with a big tick for the catering and a lot of excited people looking to get a chat with either of the show’s stars – or an autograph for their freshly purchased merchandise. We managed to give Crofty and Karun a few minutes to grab a bite to eat and a drink before taking to the stage.
At 7pm the introductory video started on a screen that can only be described as ‘massive’, with the Crofty and Oscar dialogue proving to be tremendously popular with the crowd. Crofty entered the stage in time for his legendary catchphrase, closely followed by Karun to be greeted by thunderous applause from the hundreds of fans in attendance. With an Australian a chance for the Driver’s Championship and our silent auction involving a “Thank You Daniel” theme, there was a predominantly Australian feel to the whole event.
The backstage event with around 20 guests at the conclusion of the show would probably still be going if we hadn’t been told that the Regal needed to lock up everything at 11pm!
TUESDAY 18 March – Perth
At 7:15am the next morning we met Crofty at the Nova studios in Subiaco (coincidently directly across the road from the Regal Theatre) for Crofty’s chat with Nathan, Nat and Shaun (Nathan was unfortunately not there). Phil and I were invited into the booth for the whole 40-minute event which was a lot of laughs and great entertainment (even when not on air!). Crofty was a big hit with the Nova stars and their audience and even ‘replaced’ Shaun to read the Sports news during the morning!
From Nova, it was back to the Ritz for Crofty whilst Phil and I set off for Nikola Estate to prepare for the lunchtime show for 60 VIP guests at this exquisite venue. Crofty and Karun both arrived in style in chauffer-driven exclusive and iconic Ferraris, and joined the many other spectacular cars on display directly outside the restaurant – the venue for the show. Thanks to McLaren Perth for providing a couple of new McLarens for the display.
After enjoying a 5-star three course meal with matching wines, Crofty and Karun took to the specially constructed stage to wow the guests with their entertaining dialogue and raise funds for another of our designated charities. Special thanks here go to Sean Carren and his Goldstar Transport for their support for the two shows in Perth as part of their ongoing support of our efforts to bring these shows to Perth over many years.
Crofty and Karun were given an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the winery after the conclusion of the stage show.
We took Crofty and Karun back to the Ritz-Carlton where I had arranged with the splendid staff at this marvellous hotel to provide both of our guests with access to the Club Lounge and the Spa before leaving for the airport that evening to fly to China.
WEDNESDAY 19 March – “zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz”
A big thank you from the Fan Of Sport Team for all the support we receive and the positive comments are always welcome.
It was quite an adventure over the 13 days, and exhausting, but we wouldn’t change anything – so stay tuned for our 2026 plans which we will release once we can confirm dates and guest availability.
Let us know what you thought of any of the shows you may have attended, and if you have any constructive suggestions for us, just drop us a line 😊
