20.06.2004 Alfa Romeo 147 GTA driver Hugh Harrison remained in good spirits despite coming away from round 4 of the GT Performance series at Winton Motor Raceway with substantial body damage

Hugh Harrison, driver of the Alfa Repairs 147 GTA Alfa Romeo, remains in good spirits despite coming away from round 4 of the Procar-run GT Performance series this weekend at the Winton Motor Raceway requiring substantial body repairs.

Harrison sustained the first major accident damage to the Alfa 147 in today's first and third races. Harrison's luck seemed to have run out at Winton with minor damage to the rear, and considerable damage to the front of the car. But in the usual Harrison style, when asked what he thought about the incidents, he simply replied, "That's motorsport mate!"

"The body damage is disappointing, but that can be fixed. The biggest challenge we're facing is being the first team in Australia to race the 147 GTA," continued Harrison. "There is not much of a knowledge base around about the car, its racing abilities and upgrades.

"But the 147 has now been picked up by at least one other team internationally that we know of and we are looking forward to sharing the knowledge we have acquired and working together to develop the 147 as a race car."

As pioneers of the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA's race career in Australia, Harrison and his team are investing a lot of time and effort in analysing the race data they collect each week and translating that into plans for improving the car.

"One of the biggest advantages for other teams who race more common cars is that there has already been a lot of race knowledge developed which is available for the teams to draw on. When you're the pioneer of a car in the racing world, you're the one creating that knowledge base. I'm sure that in the upcoming seasons there will be more 147s on the track using our results to build their teams," said Harrison.

"We are more than happy with the progress we have made here this weekend. We did the research and planned the installation of a Kazz LSD, which has proved to be a good decision.

"In practice days at Winton prior to installing the LSD, we had a fastest lap time of around 1:38. This weekend we have improved on that considerably, shaving more than a second off that time for a 1:36.74," Harrison concluded.