I guess it's somewhat early days to get really excited, or start contemplating the team as a regular winner, or perhaps championship contender.
What struck me was the unbridled gratitude and pleasure displayed by Betty, the team owner - I presume that she holds that position. It must be the devil of a handicap to lose two major sponsors, have one car drop out (no longer a third car ?), have two drivers leave the team (by necessity ?) - Mario Engel and Tim Slade, and I suspect that SP Tools are now sponsoring a Holden Team. That all would be hard to accept and a devastating blow to anyone's confidence in themselves and those around you.
It has been made abundantly clear that the team really needs to do consistently well by no later than say half way through the season. Reading between the lines, it could well make or break the 2015 season. So obviously, let's really hope that the team is now on a continuous upward spiral.
BTW, it is indeed interesting to also follow the fortunes, or maybe lack thereof, by some of the others. Nissan for instance, contended that they were virtually pushing along a solid brick right throughout the 2013 season. Apparently, from an aerodynamic perspective, the cars were hopeless, and 2014 was going to turn around the fortunes of the Nissan teams - on the same platform, how about Volvo - very promising indeed. Incidentally, I couldn't understand why the Red Bull Holden teams performed so poorly in that last race. Was this all fair dinkum, or did some special rules come into play that penalized Lowndes and Whincup ? I also understand that Mercedes themselves, never approved nor supported the formation of the Erebus team - any reason why ? In addition, the 5litre engine - AMG produced (?) and sponsored (?), or are the dollars all coming from outside sources ? Maybe we can get some answers from the "knowledgeable" boys ? Regards Styria