Coulthard wins twice and D’Alberto takes the points lead
The Wall Racing Honda cars took the most out of TCR Australia’s second event at Phillip Island. Fabian Coulthard claimed two victories by narrow margin, while Tony D’Alberto emerged as the leader of the standings.
In Race 1, Jay Hanson converted his pole into a second victory; the Audi driver passed the early leader Michael Caruso in lap 2 and won from Jordan Cox and Dylan O’Keeffe.
After taking a brilliant start in his Alfa Romeo, Caruso lost the lead to Hanson and then was punted off by Liam McAdam in lap 4, with the latter receiving a black flag for the incident. This promoted the Peugeot cars of Cox and O’Keeffe to second and third, while Coulthard finished fourth behind them.
Coulthard claimed his first win in Race 2. With the top 10 finishers of Race 1 reversed on the grid, Ben Bargwanna’s Peugeot was on pole alongside Michael Clemente’s Honda. The latter took a better start, but Coulthard was on a charge and passed both Bargwanna and Clemente to take the lead. In lap 6, Clemente retired with a technical issue. Coulthard beat Barwanna by half-a-second, while D’Alberto completed the podium.
Coulthard had the pole for Race 3; him, Cox and Hanson entered abreast into Turn 1, but Cox and Hanson went wide and dropped back. In lap 5, Hanson pitted with a puncture following a clash with Cox, while the safety car was deployed after Kody Garland’s Renault lost a rear wheel. At the restart, Will Brown passed D’Alberto, O’Keeffe and Bargwanna to chase the leader Coulthard, but the latter held on to the lead and won by one tenth.
In the standings, D’Alberto leads by two points over Cox, while Honda independent Zac Soutar lies third 23 points behind and three ahead of Coulthard. Josh Buchan, who was leading the standings after the season opener, retired in Race 1 with a technical issue to his Hyundai and dropped to 12th.
The championship will resume at Bathurst on April 16/17.
Phillip Island – Race 1
1. Jay Hanson (Melbourne Performance Centre, Audi RS 3 LMS TCR), 16 laps
2. Jordan Cox (Swiftx GRM, Peugeot 308), 1.7162
3. Dylan O’Keeffe (Schaffler GRM, Peugeot 308), 4.1719
Phillip Island – Race 2
1. Fabian Coulthard (Stan Sport Wall Racing, Honda Civic Type R Fk7), 16 laps
2. Ben Bargwanna (Burson Auto Parts Racing, Peugeot 308), 0.5061
3. Tony D’Alberto (Honda Wall Racing, Honda Civic Type R Fk7), 5.6287
Phillip Island – Race 3
1. Fabian Coulthard (Stan Sport Wall Racing, Honda Civic Type R Fk7), 16 laps
2. Will Brown (MPC Team Liqui Moly, Audi RS 3 LMS), 0.1495
3. Ben Bargwanna (Burson Auto Parts Racing, Peugeot 308), 1.7672
Championship points
1. Tony D’Alberto, 224 pts; 2. J. Cox, 222; 3. Z. Soutar 201
Picture: TCR Australia/Jack Martin
