Young talent, Lachlan Mineeff, has taken the plunge into professional Motorsport with his Phillip Island debut in the 2021 TCR Australia Championship.
Before committing to the series, Mineeff and the VAGPARTS team entered the Phillip Island round of the Championship under the Melbourne Performance Centre banner in a team run by DNA Autosport Engineer, Andrew Schaap.
Practice 1 of the event saw Mineeff experience his first laps in his Golf GTi, gaining pace and increasing his understanding of the car in each of the following sessions.
With Practice and Qualifying behind him, it was time for Phillip Island to stay true to it's nature and change seasons, providing Mineeff with a very wet Race 1 and therefore, a completely different car setup.
Regardless, Mineeff showed his potential by driving the car from P20 to P10.
With the sun making an appearance for Races 2 and 3, the learning continued and the pace picked back up with Mineeff logging his fastest lap of the weekend in Race 3.
The round now over, Mineeff and the VAGPARTS team took ownership of the GTi and delivered it to DNA headquarters to begin preparing for the remainder of the Team's TCR Australia campaign.
Here is what Team Manager, Paul Fry had to say:
"I've worked with the team at DNA before and know that they are very down to Earth and simply love their racing. Phillip Island showed us that they are super confident in running the team and looking after the car's setup. With all that was going on, our Engineer [Andrew Schaap], remained calm and professional to get the job done and we walked away with a great result."
We also had a chance to catch up with Driver, Lachlan Mineeff:
"After seeing the experience they [DNA] showed running the car at Phillip Island, it was almost a no-brainer to build our team with them. Phillip Island came together at the last minute so we all went in somewhat blind. We were super impressed with Andrew and what we were able to achieve that weekend, so it makes sense to continue working together."
A note from the Director of DNA Autosport, Andre Nader:
"A big part of what we do at DNA is help guide people through the ins and outs of the track. What we will endeavor to do with Lachlan is much the same. He has a whole heap of experience behind the wheel, but he has taken a massive step up here. This [TCR] is a platform he doesn't have much experience with, and this is a stage he has never performed on so there's a lot to cover. One thing I can say for sure is that we are excited and honored to be a part of it.