Brett Holdsworth has flagged building momentum as a key factor to watch for during round two of the Trans Am season at Phillip Island this weekend.
The 2022 championship third place getter battled to a fifth place finish at the season opening event at Symmons Plains Raceway despite a challenging weekend. Holdsworth is just 23 points off the top of the table, which the Breeze Holiday Parks driver says highlights the need for consistency in Trans Am.
“I was happy with how we were able to rebound at round one after getting started on the back foot a little bit,” said Holdsworth.
“It wasn’t our best weekend but we still came away with a top five and we’re only 23 points back in the championship which is the crucial thing. We saw this last year where just finishing consistently around the top five will keep you in the hunt all year long. In saying that, we are certainly targeting a faster round at Phillip Island.”
Thanks to the sizeable break in between rounds, Holdsworth was able to complete a day of testing at the Phillip Island circuit, his first mid-season test since joining Ashley Seward Motorsport at the start of 2022. An added bonus was the presence of Bathurst 1000 winning brother, Lee Holdsworth, who turned a number of laps in the #99 Camaro to assist with feedback on the car.
“The day we spent down at the track was crucial, we were able to get the car going in the right direction and give ourselves the best opportunity to enter the weekend with some great momentum.
“That will be the key actually, starting strong and keeping it going across the whole weekend and carrying that forwards. Phillip Island itself is a bit of a momentum track as well, a lot of long sweeping corners and sequences that blend into one another.
“Having Lee at the track is always great, not just because he’s my brother but he’s a pretty handy steerer as well! He had some great feedback on the car, and reinforced what I was feeling, which gives us great confidence in what we’re doing,” concluded Holdsworth.
Round two of the 2023 Trans Am Australia Championship takes place at Phillip Island from May 12-14 as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries. Qualifying and all three races will be live on Stan Sport, with Saturday’s race live and free on the Nine Network.
Round 1 Results
Qualifying – 10th
Race 1 – 8th
Race 2 – 6th
Race 3 – 5th
Championship Points:
1. James Moffat – 140
2. Lochie Dalton – 126
3. Jaylyn Robotham – 126
4. Owen Kelly – 122
5. Brett Holdsworth – 117
6. Josh Webster – 111
7. Jett Johnson – 108
8. Craig Scutella – 107
9. Edan Thornburrow – 106
10. John Holinger – 105