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Soutar – ‘I don’t want to be a one hit wonder’
Recent Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series race winner Zac Soutar doesn’t want to be a one hit wonder as he aims to remain at the pointy end of the field for the remainder of the season.
AWC Race Tasmania proved a breakthrough weekend for the 24-year-old as he topped a practice session, qualified fifth, finished sixth in two races and achieved his maiden triumph in the finale.
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His determination to add further trophies to the cabinet during the year has intensified.
“Like I’ve said before, I’m not getting too excited and it’s only early in the season,” Soutar said.
“As good as Sunday was for moral, for my team, I’m fully focused on the next round and the rest of the season.
“I don’t want to be a one hit wonder, I want to come back and win a few more across the year as well as just be up the front as much as possible.”
Soutar ran second for the entirety of Race 3, but a 5s penalty for weaving when the safety car lights were switched off demoted HMO Customer Racing’s Josh Buchan to fourth after an equally strong weekend for the Hyundai driver, who leads the standings by two-points from the privateer.
It was an emotional victory for Soutar and his family-based team spearheaded by father Shane as well as Brett Francis, who progressed to Supercheap Auto TCR Australia from Formula Ford with the crew.
The result was still sinking in for Soutar as he returned back to reality this week, manning a printer at the family business in Geelong.
“It feels a bit more real now,” said Soutar.
“It felt a bit weird on Sunday night because it was all happening and it didn’t feel like it had just occurred, but it feels a bit more real now.”
Soutar highlighted last year’s final round at Bathurst as a turning point for the team as has been a closer working relationship with Wall Racing, the Australian agent for JAS Motorsport and Honda.
“On the Friday before the final race at Bathurst we took a big swing at set-up and we came out the next day, finishing sixth,” Soutar explained.
“Even though sixth for a lot of people might not be a great result, for us it was a light bulb moment as we found this was the direction we needed to push forward with.
“We came into Symmons Plains with the same set-up and amazingly it worked. We tuned a few things across the weekend, but more or less the car was in the same window as what it was at Bathurst.”
As for the next round at Phillip Island, it is a circuit Soutar went well at last year and one the Honda is well suited to.
“I’m really excited to get to some other tracks like Phillip Island or Sydney Motorsport Park where the Honda should really suit those circuits,” he enthused.
“I’m on a bit of a high after Symmons Plains and I do a bit of driver training around Phillip Island, so I know it like the back of my hand.
“I’m really looking forward to going back down there and getting back to it in March.”
The next round of Supercheap Auto TCR Australia is at Phillip Island on March 18-20 together with the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships.