Kaleb Ngatoa is looking to focus on the positives after a tough first round of the 2022 Australian S5000 championship at Symmons Plains Raceway.
Ngatoa returned to the series after completing part of the championship last year, racking up some strong results including two race wins and a pole position.
The opening round of the 2022 championship was held at Symmons Plains, a track Ngatoa hadn’t previously driven.
Despite a tough qualifying session and issues with the car hampering the team’s progress, Ngatoa continually improved through the weekend, taking a ninth, seventh and fourth-place finish, to end the weekend sixth for the round.
“We’d been very close to the pace in testing, even though I’d been out of the seat for quite a while,” Ngatoa said.
“Unfortunately few gremlins put us on the back foot and that combined with learning a new track and a few changes to the cars meant I wasn’t where I wanted to be in qualifying or on our lap times. Nevertheless, by the last race our lap times were on a par with those at the front, so we know we can do it.”
Ngatoa worked with teammate Tim Slade to improve his performance through the weekend, as well as working with the team engineers.
“The team spirit was great and the engineering side was excellent and we made solid progress throughout the weekend and came away with plenty of ideas and areas to focus on,” he added.
“With a big learning curve behind me I’m already wanting to get back in the car and go racing at Phillip Island. The ups and downs of the Tasmania weekend have just made me more focussed and more determined to do well.”
Ngatoa is focused on taking the learning from Symmons Plains into the next round at Phillip Island March 18-20.