March 25, 2012 (St. Petersburg, FL) -- Beautiful weather and huge crowds were abundant for the season opener of the SCCA Pro Racing Pirelli World Challenge drivers as they commenced their 2012 season as part of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
The double header weekend began with Holbrook showing considerable speed in practice with her TrueCar #67 C360R Honda Civic Si race car atop of the practice leader board early in the weekend. Qualifying for race one resulted in a 7th place starting position for the first race. At the start of the first race the always challenging standing start made for an exciting race for Holbrook as she sliced her Civic through the field for a 5th place finish. “That was a solid result” said Holbrook after the race. “The team spent considerable time and effort preparing and enhancing our racing operation for this season opener, and a top five was very rewarding.”
The start of race two had Holbrook starting sixth on the grid, and that is where she remained for much of the race until a lap 11 incident in turn one ended her day. Shea's #67 TrueCar Civic dove deep into turn one to make an aggressive pass on a GTS Class car that she had been battling with much of the race. That move resulted in hard contact to the rear suspension and wheel that proved to be too severe to allow her to continue.
“The Compass360 crew did all they could to get me back in the race,” Holbrook said from pit lane. “I'd hoped for a better finish to the day, but we'll regroup and look forward to the next race at Miller.”
Click the video above to take a lap in Shea's TrueCar #67 C360R Honda Civic Si
“I really want to thank my new team at C360R," she said. "They provided me with a great car for the weekend and the future looks bright for us to have a successful 2012 season."
Not only was it an important weekend for Holbrook but also her new sponsor TrueCar as four of the six TrueCar Racing drivers competed in the grand prix. TrueCar’s Director of Motorsports, Charles Kim had much to say about Holbrook’s success on track. “I’m very proud of Shea after this big weekend for all of us. She’s a strong competitor and her charisma makes for a perfect TrueCar Racing “Women Empowered” representative. We’re looking forward to seeing her on the podium soon” said Kim.
Holbrook was just as busy off track last weekend as one of her Compass360 Racing teammates explained. “It was impressive to see her working just as hard out of the car with fans and media” said Todd Lamb, driver of the team's #71 car and second place finisher in both of the weekend’s races.
C360R Team Principal Karl Thomson was similarly pleased with Holbrook’s results. “Shea really impressed us this weekend in her first race meeting as a driver for our team. She took a measured, analytical approach to each session, improving her lap times and working closely with her coach. We're looking forward to another great event in Utah in a month's time."
Watch the double header weekend online at http://www.world-challengetv.com and on NBC Sports Network April 8, 2012 4:30-6:00pm EST.
Photo credits: Michael Wong Photography.
