Kumho TCR World Tour and TCR Australia join for the first time
Competitors of TCR Australia and Kumho TCR World Tour face each other this weekend in the first of two back-to-back joint events at Sydney Motorsport Park and Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit, at Bathurst, with the two series forming an impressive field of 24 cars.
This will be the seventh event of the season for the Kumho TCR World Tour that will end at Macau one week after Bathurst. Norbert Michelisz (BRC Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N) is the current leader, only four points ahead of Yann Ehrlacher (Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co 03 FL), while Rob Huff (Comtoyou Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS) lies in third position, 19 further points adrift and only four ahead of Michelisz’ team-mate Mikel Azcona. The Spaniard was the winner in the first race of the previous event in Argentina, while Néstor Girolami won the second one, moving up to fifth in the standings. In the two Australian weekends, the Argentine’s Honda Civic Type R will be run by the local outfit Wall Racing.
These two weekends will mark the end for TCR Australia, deciding the battle for the title that remains wide open, considering that 306 points are still at stake. Hyundai drivers from HMO Customer Racing are also on top of these standings, with Bailey Sweeny (i30 N) 30 points clear of Josh Buchan (Elantra N). Their closest rival is Aaron Cameron (Garry Rogers Motorsport, Peugeot 308) who has a gap of 38 points and is followed in fourth position by the defending champion Tony D’Alberto of Wall Racing who will switch from the old Honda Civic Type R FK7 he has driven so far to a new Civic FL5. The Sydney event will also mark the Australian debut of Jimmy Clairet in another GRM-run Peugeot; the Frenchman will hand the car to his brother Teddy for the Bathurst races.
The Event Format - Three races
The event features the standard TCR Australia format, with the Qualifying session split in Q1 of 15 minutes and Q2 of 10 minutes (for the ten fastest drivers in Q1) and three races, with two of them in the floodlight. The race distance will be 17 laps or 30 minutes plus one lap.
- Race 1, Friday at 20:40 local time (10:40 CET)
- Race 2, Saturday at 16:05 local time (06:05 CET) - the grid is determined by the Final Results of Race 1 with the top-ten in reversed order
- Race 3, Saturday at 19:55 local time (09:55 CET) - the grid is determined by the sum of points scored in Qualifying, Race 1 and Race 2
The Track - Gardner GP
Sydney Motorsport Park is owned by the New South Wales Government and operated by the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club. It is one of just two permanent race circuits in Australia that hold a FIA/FIM Grade 2 International Licence.
The first circuit, known as Eastern Creek International Raceway, opened on November 1990. The Australian Touring Car Championship was first held at Eastern Creek in 1992. From June to October 2011, the venue underwent works for upgrading track and facilities.
The layout in use is the original 3.93 km Grand Prix circuit that complies with FIA Grade 2 and hosted major international events such as the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. The circuit was renamed the Gardner GP Circuit in 2013, after the 1987 World Motorcycle champion Wayne Gardner.
Qualifying and the three races will be streamed live on tcr-series.tv and YouTube.
Picture: WSC Group
