TPS Racing driver Brett Holdsworth has declared this weekend’s fourth round of the Trans-Am National Series one of his most enjoyable motorsport experiences, after running inside the lead pack throughout the event.
Holdsworth qualified seventh, before improving to sixth on the opening lap of race one. In the second race, he made up another place to finish fifth and he was again running inside the top five in the third and final race before his Camaro became jammed in fourth gear
Despite the untimely retirement, Holdsworth was enthused by his car’s performance, along with the closeness of the competition.
“This weekend has been some of the most fun racing I’ve ever had,” Holdsworth said.
“The category produced some awesome entertainment. In the last race, I was in fifth and I was watching the four cars ahead put on an incredible battle for the lead.
“It was a shame I had the gearbox problem, because I was loving being part of such an enthralling contest.”
Holdsworth said the team has made progress, but feels there is still some work to do at the higher-speed venues.
“We’re always there for the fight, but we probably need an extra half-second of race pace to be consistently in the hunt for podiums,” he said.
“We made some changes to the car throughout the weekend and we definitely learned a few things, but we’re still working out how to optimise the performance of the tyres over a race distance – the car started to fade in the closing laps of races one and two, and I was vulnerable to attack from behind.”
Holdsworth believes the baseline setup of his TPS Camaro will be well-suited to tighter circuits.
“I think we’ll go better at a tight track and I reckon the next round at Morgan Park will be one of our better circuits,” he said.
Holdsworth also paid credit to his Shaw Motorsport team for their efforts over the weekend.
“A big thank you to the Shaw Motorsport crew for preparing and working on the car, we definitely made some improvements,” he said.
“Even when I had the gearbox problem in race three, the team did their best to fix it and get me back on track to score points, but unfortunately it was too far gone.”
The next Trans-Am round will be held at Morgan Park, 25-27 June.
Round Results Summary
Qualifying: 7th
Race 1: 6th
Race 2: 5th
Race 3: DNF
