26.03.2004 PROMISING DEBUT FOR GTA RACING'S NEW ALFA ROMEO 147 GTA IN THE OPENING NATIONS CUP SERIES RACE AT ADELAIDE

The final race for GTA Racing's V6 147 GTA Alfa Romeo at the Clipsal 500 GT Performance class in Adelaide last weekend was cut short due to the race being red flagged.

"Its disappointing the race was red flagged so early on. This is our first race meet in the 147 Alfa and I'm only just starting to get a feel for the car and how it drives," said Hugh Harrison, Driver of the 147 GTA.

"In the first two laps I had moved up from 25th position to 19th and was about to move in to 18th when the safety car came onto the track, followed by the red flag."

"Out on the track in race three, the car felt really good," Harrison said further. "Following race two we made some further adjustments to the suspension that really helped the car around the track. The car felt much more managable and with its excellent acceleration, I was able to move up a few positions."

"The biggest disappointment though is that we missed the opportunity gather further information on the cars performance following the most recent adjustments," continued Harrison.

"The data gathered from practice, qualifying and races one and two has allowed us to learn a lot about the car and given us great directions for adjustments to improve its performance."

"Even though race three only lasted less than three laps, I noticed a marked improvement in the cars handling from race two which gave me the confidence to go on the attack. I can't wait for round two at Oran Park next month when we really put the car to the test with some of the improvements that we will be making based on the data collected here in Adelaide," concluded Harrison.

GTA Racing's aim for the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide was to test the 147 GTA Alfa Romeo and gather information on its performance to be used in the cars development. As the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA has never before been modified for racing, GTA Racing are braking into uncharted territory.

"We came to Adelaide with an untested car, not really knowing what was going to happen. We had looked at the cars specs and could tell it showed potential to be a good performing GTP car. We have a long affiliation with the Alfa Romeo marque and know that Alfa's will always perform well on the track," said Scott Farquharson, Principal of GTA Racing.

"It came as no surprise to the GTA Racing team that the 147 GTA performed above expectations. The problems we encountered were expected and we have already devised strategies to over come some of the them before round two. We will be looking closely at the data collected from this weekend and seeing what else can be done to further improve the 147's performance at Oran Park," concluded Farquharson.

Round two of the GT Performance gets underway at Oran Park in NSW, 18 April 2004.