Jacob Li has taken a round victory for the first time in Class B in Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge for Ashley Seward Motorsport. In Trans Am Brett Holdsworth had his best weekend of the year until the final lap, while in TCR Caruso missed out on the chance to fight from pole position.
Li formed one part of a four-car attack at the category for ASM at Bathurst with Andrew Goldie, Ross McGregor and Matt Slavin all competing in Pro-Am. Li took pole position in his class, before going on to win in races two races and three.
Goldie mounted a strong comeback after a challenging race one and two, charging up to finish second in Pro-Am in the final race. Slavin took a best finish of sixth while McGregor had his last race cut short after being hit off the line.
“This is my very first trophy in motorsport,” said Li.
“There has been plenty of drama in the last three rounds so I’m very happy with what I did this weekend. From my first round in Sydney, when I had no idea about race cars, I have learnt so much.”
In TCR Caruso qualified his Autoglym Alfa Romeo in 10th place for the season finale. The round was contested over three 130-kilometre races, the longest distance of the year. In the opening race Caruso charged forward to finish in sixth place but was handed a penalty that relegated him to 10th place, and subsequently pole position for race two.
Disappointingly the second race never got going after it was red flagged following one lap behind the Safety Car, meaning Caruso wasn’t able to show off the pace of the Alfa Romeo in clean air. The final race of the weekend saw the grid revert to the finishing order of race one, meaning Caruso again had to fight from 10th on the grid. It was a chaotic end to the year with plenty of hard battling, eventually seeing Caruso finish in ninth.
Trans Am also contested their longest race of the year, with a 100-kilometre finale wrapping up the weekend. Holdsworth was fast all round, qualifying third on the grid and finishing in that spot in the opening seven lap sprint. The second race of the weekend, also seven laps, saw Holdsworth move up to the second spot on the podium with some superb car speed to record his best finish of the year.
The final race was interrupted by a mid-race Safety Car that put a lot of pressure on Holdsworth who had been lapping in second and comfortably ahead of the battling behind. After the restart the Breeze Holiday Parks Camaro fought off the challenges from behind, but on the final lap Holdsworth was sent spinning after contact. The incident dropped Holdsworth off the podium and denied him a trophy for the round, despite spending almost every lap of the weekend inside the top three.
The 2022 TCR and Trans Am seasons have now wrapped up, with Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge to conclude at Phillip Island from November 26-27.