Holden F1RWRS Racing Team

The Holden F1RWRS Racing Team (also simply known as HRT) is a motor racing team that competes in Formula 1 Rejects World Race Series. It was formed midway through the 2011 Formula 1 Rejects World Race Series season, as a merger between Rosenforth Engineering, who had just gone bankrupt, and ZimSport, operating at the time as Fwifwi-Holden Racing.

History


As a result of the feud on- and off-track between Rosenforth drivers Frank Zimmer and Phoenix McAllister, the team was forced to sell off its assets, including the contracts of McAllister and Zimmer. McAllister bought his own and set up Team Phoenix, while Zimmer bought the team itself. He merged it with ZimSport, a team run by Frank's brother John Zimmer, who had been operating a single-car entry up until that point. The team debuted at the 2011 British Grand Prix, with Frank driving his #6 and John the #23, and were known as Zimmer-Holden Racing. Shortly before the 2011 English Grand Prix at Snetterton, the team secured works status from Australian automobile manufacturer Holden, as well as title sponsorship from the National Australia Bank, renaming the team as NAB-Holden Racing Team. At the same time, they announced that Mark Skaife had acquired shares in the team and was named as team principal.

The team ended the season fourth in the Constructor's Championship, scoring 53 points, 64 behind champions Prospec. Frank Zimmer was tied with Gary Cameron for 4th in the Drivers' Championship, behind on countback, while John encountered a difficult season, finishing =14th with Hagane Shizuka, also losing on countback. However, the team did enjoy highlights, winning the Tasman GP with John, while Frank was third, as well as individual podiums at the Kent and Australian Grands Prix.

At the end of the year, John Zimmer would announce his retirement from racing at the age of 42, having competed in the F1RGP2C, IndyCar Series and F1RWRS. NAB-HRT announced that former F1 World Champion Rhys Davies would join the team for 2012. While he would fail to qualify for the Bavarian Grand Prix at the Norisring, he scored pole and fastest lap at the Saxon Grand Prix, and would finish 4th. He would also take his first podium at the Dutch Grand Prix, while Frank Zimmer would also take a podium at the British GP, where the team had debuted a little more than year before. However, after an incident involving Sammy Jones and Barii Mori, the team was forced to find a temporary replacement driver after Davies was suspended for two races. Former Hemogoblin Autowerks driver Ashley Watkinson, who won the first ever F1RWRS race, drove the #8 at the Kent Grand Prix, finishing third, before he drove for HRT's rivals Team Phoenix at the English and Australian Grands Prix. At Snetterton, HRT hired American Rusty Gannit for the race, but after he failed to pre-qualify, he was sent packing. The team was impressed with Watkinson's performance having never driven the car before, and they released Zimmer from his contract, albeit on good terms, so that Watkinson could drive for the team. It worked, as Watkinson took the team's second victory, again at Eastern Creek, while Davies also won the United States Grand Prix that year. The team would finish 4th once again that year, just 2 points behind third-placed Manx-Anglo-Nippon Racing Team.

Following a revamp of the regulations prior to the 2013 season, HRT built their chassis and engine with reliability in mind. During the first half of the year, it worked well, with Davies finishing second at the Australian GP and the French GP. Watkinson would also score a few podiums. Davies would end the year with the record for most consecutive points finishes. However, as other teams started to catch up with reliability, it became apparent that HRT weren't as fast as their rivals. While more reliable than Dagnall Engineering, for example, the Dagnalls would destroy HRT in qualifying, and would usually do so in the race if the cars kept going. When Frank Zimmer and Garry Rogers set up GRM mid-season, HRT used it as an oppurtunity to focus on 2014 by hiring a pay driver for the rest of the year. John Zimmer had returned, with plenty of sponsorship from various Australian companies, to drive with Team Calinetic after the first few races, and was called up to drive for HRT. He replaced Watkinson at Akrotiri Bay, finishing third. He then replaced Davies for the next three races, because the GRM was faster than the HRT and he wanted to hold second in the championship (which he would lose to Aurelien Moll and Chris Dagnall in the final races). However, when Zimmer failed to qualify for the Japanese GP at Autopolis, HRT brought Davies back for Interlagos.



2014 got off to a good start, as Watkinson scored 5th place at Adelaide, and Davies 4th in Brasilia. However, both came about from attrition, as it was immediately obvious that the car was neither as quick nor as reliable as the previous year. After Watkinson's 6th straight retirement, he was replaced by Australian pay driver Dean O'Lauchlan, although he didn't do much better. Near the end of the year the team announced that they would merge with GRM, and that Frank Zimmer would return to the team.

2015 was quite disappointing, however.

Holden Young Lions
When the F1RWRS Council announced the new F2RWRS to begin in 2014, HRT announced that they would enter a junior team, calling it the Holden Young Lions. They have signed Tommy Nash to drive the #0, and George Liquor to drive the #2. In the first full grid test at Oschersleben in 2013, Nash showed some pace, but Liquor had an engine blow up, and lost a lot of time. There has also been rumours of 18 year old Jason Hamilton replacing George Liquor in the #2.

At the first race in Istanbul, Liquor seemed to dispel doubts about his driving as he finished fifth in the chaotic race. However, he was poor in the next few races, overdriving the car and causing several engine failures. Nash, by comparison, managed to score points when he was seemingly out of it, and he took his first win at Silverstone. This was the final straw for Liquor, who was sacked and replaced by Hamilton.

However, the only other success the team had was a podium for Hamilton at Spa, with the Aussie picking up a pair of fastest laps in his season. After his win, Nash only scored three more points, and the team fell from fourth to sixth. The season ended badly, as Hamilton was injured in a large accident at Indianapolis.

As part of the merger between HRT and Garry Rogers Motorsport, the Young Lions were run by GRM in 2015. The team decided to rest Hamilton until he was fully healed, but he left the team for MRT's RoLFS team as they promised to put him in the car straight away.