Michael Caruso has ended a 288-day run without a podium, while also delivering the first TCR podium for Ashley Seward Motorsport since early 2021. The ASM crew enjoyed a fruitful weekend, with a podium in Sprint Challenge and third place in the Trans Am Championship.
Debutant Matt Slavin earned a podium in Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge in Pro-Am, after Jacob Li took pole in Class B. Brett Holdsworth fought back from a broken pulley bolt in qualifying to seal his championship position in third.
Friday practice brought plenty of promise for Caruso with results of fifth and second. In qualifying the AutoGlym Alfa Romeo then earned itself eighth on the grid. In race one, Caruso had battled to fifth before some frenetic battling saw him finish in sixth position.
A superb launch in race two had Caruso into third and multiple car lengths clear of anyone behind entering turn three on the opening lap. Unfortunately, in the slippery conditions a mistake from behind saw Caruso get taken out and plummeted to the back of the field. After two safety car interventions Caruso clawed his way back to finish in sixth, before a five second post-race penalty demoted him to 11th.
The final race of the weekend was a stunning drive, starting from seventh Caruso methodically worked his way forward until he found clean air running in third. Caruso set the fastest lap of the race as he looked to catch the leaders after being as much as six seconds behind. A quick pass for second and Caruso was only two seconds away from the leader but unfortunately ran out of laps and finished just one second back in P2.
“It’s great to get a result finally, we knew on Friday that we had a quick car and I’m glad we’ve been able to get a result out of it,” said Caruso.
“It could have been even better, we got taken out through no fault of our own which cost us a shot at winning two races.
“Our pace in the wet was phenomenal, I believe we had the quickest car in those conditions. Had it not rained though I believe we’d have still been up there as our dry pace on Friday was really good as well.
“We’re just looking to continue on now and carry this to Bathurst. It’s a place where you can really turn around the year with some good results, so we’ll be aiming to finish strong.
“Hopefully we can avoid the trouble that keeps finding us, even when we’re up front, we seem to cop it.
“Most importantly it was great to have a good weekend for our sponsors, AutoGlym, Robson and Timken who’ve been great backers all year,” concluded Caruso.
In Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge, the weekend started well with Li earning pole in Class B while Slavin qualified fifth in Pro-Am ahead of McGregor in eighth. Those are the same positions in which they finished the opening race, with Li getting a hard-fought victory.
Due to the rain, there were just two races for the Porsche’s on the weekend. In the second race it was chaos all around with wet tyres the right choice but many drivers opting for a slick tyre gamble. Slavin enjoyed a superb drive to finish in second in Pro-Am and 11th outright. Li was unlucky to receive damage when a car spun in front of him, and McGregor came home just outside the Pro-Am top 10.
The two results were enough for Slavin to earn third overall for the weekend in Pro-Am.
“The last time I gave some quotes I was talking about how I just wanted to go out and have fun so to come home with some silverware is the icing on the cake,” said Slavin.
“It seemed like the rain was always scheduled for our race starts, but I just sat in the car and did what I was told. I did what I had to do with whatever tyres I had on the car when we rolled out.
“It is all on Brucey and the whole ASM team though for making the right decisions on tyres and setup which made it a lot easier for me,” concluded Slavin.
The recap from Holdsworth in Trans Am can be found here – https://highperformancemedia.com.au/2022/09/holdsworth-stoked-to-close-out-championship-in-p3/
The final round of TCR Australia will be at the Bathurst International, alongside a non-points round for Trans Am. The Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge team will be in action next at The Bend from October 21-23.