Nathan Herne has locked in his second international appearance of 2024, with the Lismore local returning to the American TA2 Series next weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Herne spent the 2023 season living in America and competing in the hotly contested category, recording three podium finishes in a Howe Racing chassis. The Howe family also took Herne in as the 21-year-old worked at their factory and helped to develop their 2023 and 2024 TA2 cars.
What is for now a one-off return to the TA2 Series, comes off the back of a recent foray to Europe where Herne excelled in his Super Trofeo Europe debut at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Mid-Ohio will play host to round seven of the 2024 TA2 Series and was one of Herne’s strongest tracks in his rookie season. After a subpar qualifying result, the two-time Trico Trans Am Series Champion charged through the field to finish in sixth.
The return comes as a satellite operation with F.A.S.T Auto Racing, a Brooklyn based team owned by Adrian Wlostowski. The deal was brokered via the team’s relationship with Howe Racing, who supply chassis’ to a number of teams in the TA2 field. Herne will race the #15 Chevrolet Camaro backed by Owosso Speedway, a premier short-track facility in Michigan.
Herne will hit the track in Mid-Ohio from June 27-30, with international viewers of the TA2 Series able to follow the racing action live via TheTransAmSeries on YouTube.
Quotes:
Nathan Herne, F.A.S.T Auto Racing #15
“I’ve been speaking with the Howe’s all year, mostly on a personal level. While I was over there I lived with them so we built a very close relationship, but obviously I always had the want to go and race with them again” said Herne.
“I was working on my car last week in Lismore when I got the text saying we had finally got things ticked off, I booked the first flight out the next day so I could come and do some laps on the Howe’s skid pan and here we are. We’re partnering up with F.A.S.T Auto Racing owned by Adrian Wlostowski, who I got to know across 2023 and he’s a big supporter of the Howe chassis over here in America.
“It’s crazy how different the cars are in America, especially since I’ve been working on my own car in Australia, I’ve come to understand what I’m really looking at more. It’s a different set of rules, they handle quite differently with a radial Pirelli tyre and all the under-chassis aero. Our cars in Australia are more comparable to the 2015 cars, it’s just a constant development race in America.
“Mid-Ohio was the track we had our eye on all year, mostly given its nature. The Howe cars are really strong at the tighter tracks, and with all the quick direction changes the track really suits the chassis. The Series itself has changed a lot since I was here even last year. Majority of the top teams are in the wind tunnel and on shaker rigs now, where last year it was really just starting to come into that phase.
“So it’s definitely a lot more competitive from an engineering standpoint, but from what I’ve seen of the Howe chassis and the Howe crew, and even driving with them last year, we’ll be strong, I have no doubts.
“I didn’t get to tick off a win last year and it’s the only category I’ve competed in and haven’t got a win in yet, and that’s bugged me quite a bit, so I really want to get that ticked off. I want to enjoy it though, last year I probably should have taken more time for that, so I’m definitely going in with a different mindset this time and more relaxed,” concluded Herne.