Brett Youlden’s love affair with motor sport seems to have come full circle. After around 30 years of racing, he’s now behind the wheel of the type of racing car he watched as a youngster. He reckons the Holden HQ Monaro he drives in the Touring Car Masters is virtually the same specification as the cars back in the early 1970s – however, competition on the track is even higher!

When he bought it, Brett says, the bodyshell was a mess after sitting in a paddock for five years. Drawing on his skills in car restoration, he spent thousands of hours over 18 months bringing it back to pristine condition. That includes a Protec charcoal colour for underneath and the interior, plus a unique, almost fluorescent green exterior colour, formulated in conjunction with Protec. Appearance is very important, according to Brett.

“I have a reputation for building cars that are a bit of a showpiece – I feel I have a standard to keep and Protec helps me do that. At the track we get a lot of compliments from people saying this car is too good to race and that’s very satisfying.”

After a 3rd overall at Bathurst and 2nd in Tasmania in 2010, Brett did just three rounds in 2011 but he plans to return with a vengeance in 2012. A rebuilt and tuned 350ci V8 (that brings around 30 extra horsepower) and shock absorber developments are amongst the improvement that Brett hopes will translate to quicker lap times.

“These cars are a barrel of laughs to drive – there’s over 600hp and they are seriously brake and tyre ‘challenged’. It’s very competitive so positions in the top 10 are intensely fought over. I think that’s why the Touring Car Masters has become such a crowd favourite.”