WHEN the Touring Car Masters series hit the track at Mount Panorama yesterday morning for their opening practice session, the field included many of Australian motor sport’s iconic names.

But as the likes of John Bowe, Glenn Seton and Jim Richards lapped the 6.213 kilometre track they know so well, there was another driver who got his first taste of Mount Panorama.

It was sixteen-year-old Adam Garwood.

“I was always going to do TCM, either me or my Dad [Greg]. The opportunity was there for me to do it thanks to Tony Hunter and I took it,” Garwood explained.

“I used to race motocross, but I got out of that due to the injuries. I’ve really only just jumped into a car, but my Dad has been into it for a very long time, so I guess you could say it is in my blood.”

Garwood was poised to contest his first race of the Touring Car Masters series in early September at Sydney Motorsport Park, but engine dramas prevented him from lining up on the grid.

Still, the Tasmanian native was delighted at the prospect of making his racing debut in his 1974 Holden Torana SL/R 500 at Mount Panorama.

“We did the first practice session in it [at Sydney], but then we had some engine issues. We swapped out the engine, but then the timing belt snapped. So I am glad to come here and get a proper crack at it,” he said.

“It is quite different to what we are used to in Tasmania, it is an awesome track and it was an awesome experience.”

While he is a Touring Car Masters rookie, Garwood has been in good form in this year’s Australian Sports GTA Championships.

In each of the six races he has contested in his Porsche 997 GT3 he has finished on the podium and with two of those being victories, he sits second in the championship.

That gives him confidence of doing well in the series which features pre-1976 era cars and drivers he laughs are ‘more than three times my age’.

“The car is a little bit different because I am used to racing a Porsche. I still have got to get used to the tyres because we run different tyres to what I am used to,” Garwood said. 

“Once I get used to that I should be alright.”

Garwood’s best lap in the opening practice session was a two minutes, 37.0668 seconds effort which ranked him 20th out of 23 cars.

He lowered his best time to 2:31.4075 in practice two.

It was Seton who was the quickest man in practice, his 1964 Ford Mustang clocking a 2:19.1594 in the second session.

He was followed on the time sheet by Steve Johnson (2:19.3412) and Bowe (2:19.4747)

But the highlights arguably belonged to Mark King and  Eddie Abelnica.

Abelnica’s 1974 XB Falcon recorded a genuine 290km/hr just before the famous The Chase kink in practice two while King’s 1970 Chevrolet Camaro RS was clocked at 286 kilometres an hour down Conrod Straight.