Robb Holland admits that he is hoping for a “long and prosperous” relationship with the British Touring Car Championship, as Rotek Racing prepare to make their début in the series this weekend.
Holland will be the first driver from the USA to contest a full season in the BTCC and does so at the wheel of the brand new Rotek Racing Audi S3 saloon. The American racer has not yet raced in the BTCC at Brands Hatch, having previously made appearances only at Snetterton and Knockhill.
“I’m incredibly excited about launching my first full-time BTCC campaign and I’m anxious to run on track and get the racing underway on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit,” said Holland. “I hope this will be the start of a very long and prosperous relationship with the championship.”
Holland added that the team had not rushed their pre-season preparations, instead opting to sit out the afternoon media day test session in order to run with confidence for the first time at Silverstone on Friday last week (21 March).
“I was always adamant that we shouldn’t cut corners to make any arbitrary deadlines and those high levels of preparation and attention to detail have really paid off,” added Holland. “The Rotek Racing Audi S3 ran flawlessly and without issue for the duration of the test day at Silverstone on Friday.
“Nothing prevented us from running, which means reliability is one less thing to worry about at Brands Hatch. This is great when you’re running with a brand new car, in a brand new series and on a new race track.
“Of course, it’s impossible to tell whether we have pace because we have yet to share a circuit with other touring cars and there were no laptimes to reference on Silverstone’s Grand Prix layout. However, the car felt solid and I think we’re in the ballpark.”