Despite support from co-driver Steven Richards, and the full support of constructor Reiter Engineering, Dale Paterson was always going to enter his first Clipsal 500 well behind the eight ball, but whilst frustrated at times, the Victorian admitted post-event that he’d learnt a lot from the experience and he could see the potential that first attracted him to the big American inspired GT3 muscle car.

“I have to say, at one point there after qualifying I was about ready to fly home,” Paterson admitted on reflection of his debut weekend with the new German built Sareni Camaro.

“I’ve never been so frustrated by something in my life.. When the car first arrived we struck electrical issues at Phillip Island so laps were limited. Then we sorted it for Winton and I felt really comfortable in it.

“Having never been to Adelaide before, I took in everything that Steve Richards and Tomas Enge were telling me, and I was quietly confident that we had the right car, even more so after Richo topped the time sheets during second practice, something Tomas had also done in P1.. By qualifying we were good to go, but I hardly even got a run before the electrics failed me again, and Justin [McMillan] suffered a similar fate, which left us last and third last for the opening race.

“We were both pretty annoyed by that stage, but to Reiter Engineering’s credit, they did everything they could and Steve and Tomas lined up for the opening 30-minute race ready to go.”

The opening race was sadly impeded by a long Safety Car period after the Morgan Haber Mercedes made heavy contact with the notorious turn eight wall, a delay which allowed the full field to carry out their compulsory stop. Sadly this did little to aid the progress of the two highly credentialed Camaro drivers (Richards a former V8 Supercar driver, Enge a former F1 driver), with both forced to wait much longer during their stops under the Australian GT parity rules.

On the restart though both drivers scythed through the field, Richards taking the DPM Motorsports Camaro to P9 from 28th, Enge to 12th..

“That was good,” Richards admitted afterwards. “The car was much better, although there is still some work to do on setup, but there was no hint of an electrical issue, so fingers crossed we’re right to go from inside the top ten for race two..”

Sadly, by Saturday afternoon’s one-hour race, the electrical gremlins returned, Paterson out after just six laps, McMillan unable to even make the start.. By then, the heat in the pits wasn’t coming from either Camaro..

With promises that everything was repaired, the two Camaros lined up again for the final 30-minute race on Sunday morning where Paterson and McMillan would complete the full race distance.. Again the Safety Car intervened, this time for the bulk of the race after a big crash at turn one on the opening lap eliminated six cars and covered the first chicane in debris.

With just a handful of laps to run, the two Camaros charged through the pack, Paterson ultimately crossing the line in 20th position, but much happier to have finally driven the car in anger..

“It has been an unfortunate start to the season, but we’re through, the car is relatively straight (Paterson suffering a minor off at turn 11 during second practice), and we have Reiter Engineering’s full commitment that they will resolve our electrical issues.

“We expected some teething problem, but nothing like this. I think all up I did 20 laps at speed, and that’s not enough around a place like Adelaide.

“We have a two-day test planned at Phillip Island before the next round, so I hope that come round two, we will have our issues sorted. I’m certainly becoming more comfortable with the car, and Richo showed that it has great potential. It’s also a huge fan favourite which is something we did expect.

“Phillip Island will be more of a challenge, because it’s very much an aero circuit, and the Camaro is very much a point-and-shoot kind of car – much better suited to street circuits – so whilst we’ll be working hard for a result at Phillip Island, I’m really looking forward to the streets of Townsville!”

For the Dale Paterson Motorsports team, the focus now shifts to test-mode ahead of the only endurance race in the 2015 Australian GT Championship, the 101-lap race at Phillip Island on 22-24 May.