WHAT’S IN THE WORKSHOP – PETERS MOTORSPORT

What’s in the workshop – Peters Motorsport

Leading Touring Car Masters team Peters Motorsport has been busy completing a range of projects, including one shrouded in mystery during this enforced lay off from racing.

By HEATH McALPINE

The team’s roots can be traced back to the popular GT-Performance category of the early 2000s where team co-owner Brett Peters drove successfully to back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002.

The second bugeye Subaru Impreza WRX STI was built late in the season by the team’s co-owner and mechanic Rod Dawson. It was driven by Peters in the final two events of the year at Phillip Island and the Gold Coast to secure his second title on the trot.

The WRX STI went on to compete in the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour and later a 12 Hour before it was mothballed. The car is still owned by Dawson and is now being restored to its former glory by the team.

“It’s still early days,” Peters said of the refurbishment status.

“The very first part of the process was the engine because the last time it was run it was definitely not sounding terrific and at the Bathurst 24 Hour race it actually didn’t finish whereas the year before in my two-door WRX we had a terrific result.

“It clearly had an issue because when they rebuilt the car, it still wasn’t right so the first thing to do was to rip the engine out, which is what the photo of me in the engine bay was all about. Rod’s [team co-owner Rod Dawson] nephew Pete, who’s our number one man and an engine builder by trade is currently giving it a big freshen up.”

The Subaru has brought back special memories for Peters as it was built quickly, though was a rapid car straight away when it debuted at the penultimate round of the Procar Champ Series 2002.

“The GT-P category was a parity class and for various reasons because the two-door STI was a very lightweight car Rod believed it went against us,” Peters explained.

“He volunteered to fund the build, which occurred over three weeks.

“It was a crazy scenario.

“We drove it to Queensland Raceway at 6:30am on the Tuesday and if it tested well, we kept going to Phillip Island and if it didn’t go well, we were back to pick the two-door up and off we went.

“It was quick. We went to Phillip Island and smoked them so that’s a great memory.”

Once the refurbishment of the Subaru is completed Peters hopes to test and then a decision will be made on whether it is kept or sold.

The next project is a bit of a mystery as Peters was unwilling to reveal much more than it features some Supercars componentry and is an entirely new build.

“We’ve got an exciting project that we haven’t entirely revealed yet,” Peters told Auto Action. “It’s a complete ground up build of a car, including design and all will be revealed fairly soon.

The chassis is expected to be tested in the coming weeks and appears to be similar to a time attack or MARC Car in its design.

“It’ll be shaken down within the next couple of weeks as soon as track time is available. If it’s as successful as we hope it to be, it’ll be the start of many more builds.”

The team has both its TCM entries right to go, Ryal Harris has rewrapped his Chevrolet Camaro after its Adelaide accident.

The lack of racing has also enabled Peters to return to the workshop, something he hasn’t done since his Formula Ford days.

“This situation has meant I’ve had to get my hands dirty,” Peters laughed.

“The admin side of the business with the V8 experience and other things has kept me chained to the desk apart from going away racing.”

Not only has it got Peters out of the office, but it has allowed the team to expand by one before racing returns.

“We’ve been busy enough to put a young fellow on,” Peters said. “It’s been pretty good to put someone on, there aren’t many businesses doing that at the minute.”

Auto Action is kicking off a new feature series called ‘What’s In The Workshop’ that aims to showcase just that. If you are a team member or competitor that is working on a new racing project during this enforced break from on-track action, drop us a line at [email protected]. Please attach images, contact details and a small explanation of your racing project.

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