Taz Douglas will focus on his Pirtek Enduro Cup duties with Nissan Motorsport for the remainder of the year after pulling out of the Dunlop Series.
The 31-year-old had driven an ex-Kelly Racing Holden for THR Developments in the opening four rounds of what was originally scheduled as a full Dunlop Series campaign.
A former race winner in the second-tier class, this year marks the second consecutive occasion where a lack of funds has ousted Douglas mid-season.
“It’s just budget,” Douglas told Speedcafe.com ahead of this weekend’s round at Queensland Raceway.
“If we had a sizeable accident I just didn’t have the money there to pay for it, so I decided not to continue.
“It was good to do some laps throughout the year but now that the enduros are here that’ll be my full focus. I’m not too stressed about it.”
Douglas worked closely with THR and Todd Kelly to improve the car ahead of the season and ran as high as third during the opening laps in Adelaide.
Keeping pace with the more experienced teams proved tough going, however, with Douglas 14th in the standings after Townsville.
THR’s second car had been shared by Chelsea Angelo, Jason Leoncini and Geoff Emery during the season to date, but is also scheduled to miss Queensland Raceway.
Douglas will meanwhile return to the wheel of James Moffat’s Nissan Altima during the Friday co-driver session this weekend.
A podium finisher alongside Moffat at Bathurst last year, Douglas has already had brief runs in the car at Barbagallo and Winton and is typically relaxed about his preparation for Sandown.
“It doesn’t bother me too much, because we’ve got a test day before Sandown and I’m already comfortable in the car,” he said of the dedicated co-driver sessions added for Ipswich and Sydney.
“For all the co-drivers, the Friday sessions are just about driving around, not doing anything silly and basically just enjoying being in the car.
“But once we get to the test it’ll get serious. It’ll be exciting to get back to Bathurst after what we did last year as well.
“You look back at photos from that and think about how special it was and how some guys never manage to get up there.
“From all reports the car will be better this year with the engine upgrade they’re hoping to get. Hopefully that’ll make it a bit easier to race the other guys on the straights.”
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