Robb Holland was a proud man after he secured his Rotek Racing team’s first points in the British Touring Car Championship, as he finished the first race of the weekend at Snetterton in 15th place.
At the site of his debut and first points score in the series, Holland started the weekend in auspicious fashion where he qualified in 23rd place, well within one second of the points paying positions.
And after keeping his nose clean during the opening laps and taking advantage of others’ misfortunes, Holland found himself in the prized 15th place midway through the opening encounter.
Fabrizio Giovanardi soon forced his way through however, but while the opportunity to score points looked to have escaped him, the Audi S3 driver dug in and frustrated those behind him, with Martin Depper and his recovering teammate Andrew Jordan unable to find a way past.
And that dogged defence paid dividends on the final lap of the race, as a retirement for Tom Ingram promoted the American into 15th, beating reigning champion Jordan to the line by 0.340s.
Two retirements in the subsequent races meant that the 46-year-old was unable to add to his tally, but Holland cared not after securing the landmark result.
“I’ve become wise to the starts here at Snetterton, because you can guarantee that something will kick off at Riches and, as usual, there was absolute carnage!” said Holland. “There’s no margin for slides and contact because it only takes a touch here and there to ruin your race, but I tried to be smart about it, look for opportunities and I managed to sneak past.
“To score a point is fantastic and I’m so delighted with it, having fought for every place. We finally have a car we can race and, psychologically, it was important to do this straight after the summer break.”
And the experience left Holland hungry for more action in his Audi, as he stated his intent to score more similar results in the remainder of the season.
“It felt really great to fight on an even keel with Champions like Fabrizio Giovanardi and Andrew Jordan. While I would have preferred to finish all three races, I can’t be displeased with how this weekend has gone. In fact, I’m thrilled and feel the team has really turned a corner and by surging from 28th to 18th on merit shows we have the ability to fight for points on a regular basis.”