PRESTON HIRE RACING Perth SuperSprint

Preston Hire Racing have set a continuing pace and improved their race performance at Round 4 of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship as Lee Holdsworth celebrated his 150th Supercars Round.

Endurance Co-Driver Karl Reindler joined Driver Lee Holdsworth for Friday’s practice races and believed his experience in the wet was beneficial for the season to come.

"It was tricky conditions for me because I was driving on both a wet and drying track, but it was the first time driving the Preston Hire Racing Car in those conditions,” Reindler said.

“I felt confident and comfortable in Lee’s seat and for me at this stage it’s just about getting some miles and acquainting myself with the car. It’s great to get some laps in the car this early in the season."

The Preston Hire Racing team adjusted the car balance throughout the day, climbing from P17 in Practice 1 to P9 in Practice 2.

"We didn't get a chance to run our greens but we definitely made a lot of progress throughout the day with car, I wasn't happy with it at the start of the day but ended up with a decent balance," Holdsworth said.

Saturday’s weather at Barbagallo Raceway changed from wet to dry spontaneously and saw Holdsworth finish in P9 in Practice 3 and Qualify P17 for Race 8.

Team Owner Charlie Schwerkolt and the team were disappointed with the Qualifying round, after reaching such quick times in Practice.

“Really disappointing result that we had no control over for the session to be red flagged just before we crossed the line after a car going into the sand and had to qualify in heavy wet conditions," Schwerkolt said.

A great drive in Race 8 by Holdsworth saw the number 18 car climb up into P12 before two fumbled pit stops that were out of the team’s control tarnished any chance of a top 10 finish.

"It was not the result we wanted, it’s an incredibly hard day and we were let down in pit stops which cost us 5 seconds each time as well as plenty of spots," Schwerkolt said.

The Preston Hire Racing Team had a 2 stop strategy for Race 9 which put Holdsworth into P2, but the tyre life let them down in the last laps.

“Lee drove really well, our strategy was great which gained us plenty of spots but the tyres just didn’t hold out for the final stint,” Schwerkolt said.

Holdsworth believes that their latest test day prior to Perth assisted the team in their ability to set a continuous pace throughout the weekend.

“I definitely think our test day proved vital for our progress at this round and our race pace, we are gaining consistency and certainly moving forward as a team, so looking forward to seeing what we can do at our home base,” Holdsworth said.

Preston Hire Racing will now prepare for Round 5 of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship at the Woodstock Winton SuperSprint on May 20-22 with all races to be televised LIVE on FOX Sports.