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BARBOUR: PRIVATEER SUCCESS THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO TRANS AM
After enduring a personal best result at Queensland Raceway, Pioneer DJ’s Elliot Barbour believes privateer entries running at the front of the field is the best thing that could happen for the National Trans Am Series.
The fourth round of the season saw the Victorian power his way to two top-three finishes, taking the second step of the outright podium beside another privateer entry in Tom Hayman – who took out round honours after a clean sweep of victories.
After joining the series in 2022, Barbour and his Pioneer DJ team have worked endlessly to not only prepare the car for meetings, but deliver impressive results without the resources of many of the other teams in the field.
With the hard work clearly paying off, the 32-year-old now sits fifth in the standings while Hayman’s round win has him in a solid third – meaning privateer entries occupy two of the top five positions in the title race.
See the National Tran Am Series at Sandown on 8-10 September, get your tickets at www.motorsporttickets.com.au
Barbour was thrilled with his results at Queensland Raceway and relished the opportunity to fight at the front of the pack with another privateer team.
“Queensland Raceway was a really good round; it was more a feeling of relief because it had been a hard 12 months since joining the category, so it was a great feeling,” Barbour said.
“Doing it all yourself as a privateer team means there are a lot of responsibilities on and off the track, it was good to repay the faith to the commercial sponsors and the team who work tirelessly on the car to get it ready every round.”
“I’m not sure what technical support the others get from other teams, but we don’t have any of that, I think it’s the best thing that could have happened for the category to have two privateer teams go one and two at Queensland Raceway.
“It was really special for not only me, but our team. My guys have put so much work into both the team and the car and to be able to take it up to the likes of Garry Rogers Motorsport is incredible. Hopefully it encourages more teams to join in the future.”
With the attention now turning to Sandown International Raceway, Barbour was looking forward to building on his recent results at a circuit he has completed many laps at.
“A round like that one has given me heaps of confidence as we turn our focus to Sandown, it’s one of my favourite tracks and we can do it again and keep pressing on,” Barbour explained.
“I have done a lot of racing at Sandown and have done a bit of work there in the past, it’s one I really enjoy because it feels very much like a street circuit, It’s a real risk vs reward type of track.
“Last year we had a fifth place there in the wet, it was our strongest round and I feel like I’ve not only improved the car speed, but there has also been a lot of improvement in myself so I feel like we can roll out strong.”
Currently sitting fifth in the standings, Barbour knows what work needs to be done to achieve his goal of a top three finish by seasons end.
“The DNF in Tasmania hurt us a lot, I stopped thinking about the title early on but now that we have made ourselves back into the top five it starts to creep back in a little,” Barbour added.
“My goal now is to get some wins and continue to the podiums. If we do that, the points will take care of themselves.
“We have got a few hard rounds coming up, the back-to-back at the end of the year is hard for privateer teams like ours.
“I would love to finish the year in the top three. If we can have a strong finish, I definitely think it’s possible.”
Elliot Barbour and the National Trans Am Series will return to the track next month, when the category returns to Sandown International Raceway on 8-10 September.