By Sarah Schwager
A FORMULA One mad Cranbourne man rubbed shoulders with racing’s best last week thanks to an original hairstyle.
Grant Dunn was splashed across the television with Ferrari drivers at the Melbourne Grand Prix last Thursday after sporting a chequered flag shaved into his head.
Mr Dunn’s daughter Kerry Dunn, a hairdresser at Cranbourne’s Absolute Style in Cranbourne Place, has been making her father the crowd pleaser at racing events for the past seven years.
While the chequered flag is a favourite, Mr Dunn has also worn his favourite driver Mark Webber’s number and colours. Mr Dunn was rapt when he was asked to attend a press conference last Thursday with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.
He was invited by Shell after staff saw his hairstyle a year ago.
“We shook hands and they made me turn around and signed my shirt. Not only was I on TV, I got a signed shirt out of it,” he said.
The next morning he was on 774 ABC Radio for an interview with comedians Glenn Robbins and Peter Rowsthorn.
Mr Dunn said the crazy hairstyles were a way of showing his support at the racing events.
He is a regular at Bathurst every year and the MotoGP at Phillip Island.
He and daughter Kerry booked spots in the corporate box at the Grand Prix.
An engine reconditioner by trade, Mr Dunn said his daughter was a racing fan as well and they always went to the events together.
He said his wife, Kathy, was also a fan and while she didn’t mind the crazy hairdos, it was another question when it came to shaving it off.
The chequered hairstyle, which takes three hours of bleaching, dyeing and shaving to perfect must be shaved off afterwards.
“I don’t look great as a bald,” he said.