The young pair of Aron Shields and Hamish Fitzsimmons for TekworkX Motorsport have bounced back in strong fashion after a tricky start to round two of Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge at Symmons Plains.

A busy Friday saw the team complete two practice sessions and qualifying for the opening race of the weekend. Shields and Fitzsimmons both adjusted quickly to what was a new circuit for both drivers, ahead of an extremely cold qualifying.

Tyre temperatures were a major talking point, with drivers taking more laps than usual to achieve the peak speed. Shields found his fastest lap of the session on his 14^th effort, before coming to pit lane with a couple of minutes still remaining. Fitzsimmons pitted at the halfway point to fit a second set of fresh tyres, using them to good advantage as he jumped within half a second of the pole time. A mistake on his fastest lap kept Fitzsimmons 11^th at the end of the session. Shields would qualify sixth, with an extra set of fresh tyres available for the races, after only using one set in qualifying.

Fitzsimmons was turned around early in race one which sent him two laps down, while Shields was turned around late in the race while fighting for the podium, resulting in a DNF. The results meant Shields and Fitzsimmons were tasked with coming through the field in race two from the back of the grid.

The TekworkX Motorsport duo were two of the fastest cars on track all the way through race two, with the pair slowed only by the limited passing opportunities on the 2.411km circuit. Despite the tricky nature of the track Shields was able to climb to 10^th, and Fitzsimmons 13^th, by the end of the race.

Race three of the weekend was a 40 lap affair, with both drivers starting from where they finished race two. Fitzsimmons moved forward with seeming ease as he cut through the field, gaining eight places to finish in fifth. Along the way, the driver of the #16 consistently matched the lap times of those out in front, highlighted as Fitzsimmons set the fastest lap of the race – which also served as a new race lap record for the category. Shields also demonstrated strong lap speed through the race but got caught out in the fierce battling for the top 10, coming home in 11^th position.

Thanks to Fitzsimmons’ efforts in race three at Phillip Island as well as at round two, he sits fourth in the Enduro Cup standings. Shields remains sixth in the outright standings, with Fitzsimmons 11^th.

Quotes:
Hamish Fitzsimmons
“It’s great to be showing that speed, and ultimately we did what we could from an unfortunate start in race one,” said Fitzsimmons.

“We got turned around but that sort of stuff happens in motorsport and in that race, it was my turn to be in that spot. It’s been good to get that racing experience though, coming through the field and really learning how to race against other cars.

“In the first two rounds we’ve driven to fifth from outside the top 10 twice, which highlights the speed we’ve got and obviously the fastest lap in race three showed how quick we were. Looking forward, we can certainly build off that pace into a strong third round,” concluded Fitzsimmons.

Aron Shields
“Obviously not the weekend we wanted, but there are positives that we will focus on,” said Shields.

“The TekworkX cars are fast, some of the quickest field, we just need to get track position to be consistently capitalising on that. It starts in qualifying, this round it was tough as were only three tenths off pole and that put us sixth. The same margin at round one would have put us on the front row.

“We’ll keep working extremely hard to make sure we can deliver on our potential, and I’m excited for Sydney Motorsport Park which is a track I’ve got prior experience at,” concluded Shields.