Hawthorns Motorsport return to TVR with Team Holden Racing
Discussion
Press release 16 May 2012
British Endurance GT Championship
Hawthorns Motorsport, Britcar stalwarts and overall ‘GT’ Champions in 2008, are on the verge of re-entering the British Endurance GT Championship, but with major changes afoot.
Having run for several years under Neil Garner’s preparation team, the Hawthorns Porsche 997 is now up for sale as part of a re-organisation. Plans are well advanced to return to the series with the stunning 6.2 litre TVR Sagaris V8 GT, built and run by Team Holden Racing.
The tie up sees the Hawthorns’ team owner/driver Rod Barrett and owner/manager Diane Barrett returning to their TVR roots, Rod having cut his teeth in the infamous TVR Tuscan Challenge back in 1995. The combined team is a ‘tale of two couples’ with Team Holden Racing run by Andy and Yvonne Holden. Andy completes the ‘ex-Tuscan’ driver line-up.
Hawthorns Motorsport has been trying to find a way forward since long term driver Jan Persson announced his semi retirement and attempts to secure a substitute driver to take his place were unsuccessful. In hindsight replacing the irrepressible Persson was perhaps an impossible task and a different route was therefore required to get the team back out on track.
The new venture with Team Holden Racing ticks all the boxes with the car a proven and reliable example of the breed, built to an exacting specification. It has run successfully through its development period in the Dunlop TVR Challenge, AMOC Super GT and Dutch Supercar Challenge securing several podiums and wins. After running faultlessly though testing the car is now ready for the challenge of longer endurance races. Team Holden will run the car, with the new venture likely to work alongside Neil Garner Motorsport at the Britcar rounds, due to the strong and long term connections that exist between the teams.
The main drivers will be Andy Holden and Rod Barrett with Jay Shepherd potentially joining for longer races. Jan Persson may also come out of retirement for the occasional drive, with the line up for each race selected to suit its nature. The team will enter selected rounds of the British Endurance Championship this season, commencing on 2 June at Brands Hatch, with potential for a full Championship challenge in 2013.
Hawthorns Motorsport’s Rod Barrett: ‘We enjoyed the reliability of the Porsche but running costs in an endurance format were high and Jan’s retirement prompted us to reconsider our approach to racing. Having tested the TVR we were immediately impressed at the pace and driveability of the car. We had some fabulous times in the Tuscan Challenge and it’s great to be back in a TVR again.’
Team Holden Racing’s Andy Holden: ‘We’re delighted to combine forces with Hawthorns. We’ve all been great friends for years and whilst we’ve talked about doing some racing together for some time, the circumstances have never been right. We’re now able to combine the endurance experience of Rod, Jay and Jan with an exciting and fast addition to Britcar, in a package which we expect to be very competitive.’
For further information contact:
Andy Holden
+44 7540 494 864
info@teamholdenracing.com
Rod Barrett
rod@hawthornsmotorsport.co.uk
British Endurance GT Championship
Hawthorns Motorsport, Britcar stalwarts and overall ‘GT’ Champions in 2008, are on the verge of re-entering the British Endurance GT Championship, but with major changes afoot.
Having run for several years under Neil Garner’s preparation team, the Hawthorns Porsche 997 is now up for sale as part of a re-organisation. Plans are well advanced to return to the series with the stunning 6.2 litre TVR Sagaris V8 GT, built and run by Team Holden Racing.
The tie up sees the Hawthorns’ team owner/driver Rod Barrett and owner/manager Diane Barrett returning to their TVR roots, Rod having cut his teeth in the infamous TVR Tuscan Challenge back in 1995. The combined team is a ‘tale of two couples’ with Team Holden Racing run by Andy and Yvonne Holden. Andy completes the ‘ex-Tuscan’ driver line-up.
Hawthorns Motorsport has been trying to find a way forward since long term driver Jan Persson announced his semi retirement and attempts to secure a substitute driver to take his place were unsuccessful. In hindsight replacing the irrepressible Persson was perhaps an impossible task and a different route was therefore required to get the team back out on track.
The new venture with Team Holden Racing ticks all the boxes with the car a proven and reliable example of the breed, built to an exacting specification. It has run successfully through its development period in the Dunlop TVR Challenge, AMOC Super GT and Dutch Supercar Challenge securing several podiums and wins. After running faultlessly though testing the car is now ready for the challenge of longer endurance races. Team Holden will run the car, with the new venture likely to work alongside Neil Garner Motorsport at the Britcar rounds, due to the strong and long term connections that exist between the teams.
The main drivers will be Andy Holden and Rod Barrett with Jay Shepherd potentially joining for longer races. Jan Persson may also come out of retirement for the occasional drive, with the line up for each race selected to suit its nature. The team will enter selected rounds of the British Endurance Championship this season, commencing on 2 June at Brands Hatch, with potential for a full Championship challenge in 2013.
Hawthorns Motorsport’s Rod Barrett: ‘We enjoyed the reliability of the Porsche but running costs in an endurance format were high and Jan’s retirement prompted us to reconsider our approach to racing. Having tested the TVR we were immediately impressed at the pace and driveability of the car. We had some fabulous times in the Tuscan Challenge and it’s great to be back in a TVR again.’
Team Holden Racing’s Andy Holden: ‘We’re delighted to combine forces with Hawthorns. We’ve all been great friends for years and whilst we’ve talked about doing some racing together for some time, the circumstances have never been right. We’re now able to combine the endurance experience of Rod, Jay and Jan with an exciting and fast addition to Britcar, in a package which we expect to be very competitive.’
For further information contact:
Andy Holden
+44 7540 494 864
info@teamholdenracing.com
Rod Barrett
rod@hawthornsmotorsport.co.uk
Edited by Racing Rod on Wednesday 16th May 17:48
Brilliant News, Andy's Sagaris is a fantastically prepared car, and a real credit to the team. Its about time uncle rodders got back in a TVR and I cant think of a better tie up.
When are you looking to get out on track
All the Best
Cheers
Graham
Edited to say : DOh I should read the full press release I see your aiming for brands on june 2nd
When are you looking to get out on track
All the Best
Cheers
Graham
Edited to say : DOh I should read the full press release I see your aiming for brands on june 2nd
All looking good, car will be ready and so are we, now looking forward to it. We are there testing on the Friday to sort out a couple of issues and we have yet to decide driver lineup in so far as who starts etc. We have had to upgrade ourselves to class 2 invitation as we feel that we would have an unfair advantage if we stayed in class 3, and anyway, it's the right thing to do so that nobody gets upset or feel that we are taking the mickey !!!
It also has the advantage of placing us right up against the Topcats cars
It also has the advantage of placing us right up against the Topcats cars
Racing Rod said:
All looking good, car will be ready and so are we, now looking forward to it. We are there testing on the Friday to sort out a couple of issues and we have yet to decide driver lineup in so far as who starts etc. We have had to upgrade ourselves to class 2 invitation as we feel that we would have an unfair advantage if we stayed in class 3, and anyway, it's the right thing to do so that nobody gets upset or feel that we are taking the mickey !!!
It also has the advantage of placing us right up against the Topcats cars
Power is unchanged but it turns out the winter upgrades didn't add anything like the weight I thought they would. So Class 2 it is.... quite happy with that.It also has the advantage of placing us right up against the Topcats cars
teamHOLDENracing said:
Racing Rod said:
All looking good, car will be ready and so are we, now looking forward to it. We are there testing on the Friday to sort out a couple of issues and we have yet to decide driver lineup in so far as who starts etc. We have had to upgrade ourselves to class 2 invitation as we feel that we would have an unfair advantage if we stayed in class 3, and anyway, it's the right thing to do so that nobody gets upset or feel that we are taking the mickey !!!
It also has the advantage of placing us right up against the Topcats cars
Power is unchanged but it turns out the winter upgrades didn't add anything like the weight I thought they would. So Class 2 it is.... quite happy with that.It also has the advantage of placing us right up against the Topcats cars
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