Kaleb Ngatoa hopes a solid performance in the S5000 series through the Australian Grand Prix weekend, will help to secure his seat at Team BRM for the rest of the season.
A fourth in the third race of the weekend, and consistent top ten runs in the remaining races, have seen Ngatoa leave the round sitting fifth in the championship.
“That’s as comfortable as I have been in the car and I think that showed,” Ngatoa said.
“The next challenge will be to find some budget to guarantee that I can continue that progress at the next round in just over a month’s time. I really want to be there with the speed we have. Sadly you cannot show that speed on paper but I am super keen to be there and make sure that all goes to plan and we can show what we are capable of.”
Ngatoa was involved in contact at the start of the second race of the weekend receiving a 30-second penalty, dropping him back in the results and as a result, his grid position for the following race.
Despite staring further back, Ngatoa was able to regain ground early on.
“These cars are going to be always hard to pass because of the long braking zones and high horsepower,” he added.
“You’re always in a rubber band effect catching and losing the car in front then when you finally get close enough you start to get aero wash and sadly this weekend the draft just wasn’t enough.
“We just need a weekend where from the first session of the weekend we are on top of the car, me as a driver getting the most out of every lap to be closer to the front before qually. If we can qualify up the front and from there get some good starts and good races I know we’ll get the results. I’m working hard on and off the track I know it will come.”
The next round of S5000 is at Sydney Motorsport Park as part of the Shannons Motorsport Australian Championships on May 27-29.
Main image: S5000