MOTORSPORT: Double duty drivers for S5000

TCR front-runners Will Brown and John Martin will be doing double duty at Sandown when they front for the start of the S5000 era in Australian motorsport in a fortnight.

Both are past champions in open-wheeler competition and see no difficulty in dovetailing their race-winning efforts in the inaugural carsales TCR Australia Series with the opening event for the new wings-and-slicks S5000 cars.

Martin has already tested the S5000 car at Phillip Island and Queensland Raceway to loom as the most likely threat to former Ferrari F1 race winner Rubens Barrichello in the series opener at Sandown, but Brown is confident he will also be in the leading battle pack.

“I raced in two categories in 2016, Formula 4 and Toyota 86, and it wasn’t an issue,” Brown, the TCR championship leader in a Hyundai i30N, told carsales.

“I’ve driven enough different cars now. You just jump in and do the job.”

For Martin, also a race winner in TCR in his Honda Civic Type R, the return to open-wheelers is something that has him fired up.

“I’m sure the racing will be amazing. It’s going to be really cool, I think,” he says.

“They are pretty loose to drive, but in saying that they should be pretty good to race.”

Brown has big ambitions for Sandown, from September 20-22, as he looks to protect his position in TCR while re-asserting himself in a single-seater with much more grip and go than his Formula 4.

“I’m going to try and win in both,” he laughs.

“I’ve got a handle now on the Hyundai for TCR and hopefully I can get up to pace in S5000 during the pre-race test.

“Being realistic, if I can get into the top three in both categories for the weekend I’ll be happy, for sure,” Brown stated.

Martin, who raced both Formula Renault 3.5 and A1 Grand Prix overseas before returning to re-launch his career in GT sports cars and TCR, says facing up to Barrichello was one of the personal drawcards for S5000.

“As soon as he was announced it was like ‘Okay, I definitely need to get on the grid now’,” he said.

He has the early advantage after his S5000 test runs, but admits he is still adjusting to the car, which is a local development that spun-up from an idea by former racer Chris Lambden through construction and testing with Garry Rogers Motorsport.

“She was a bit crazy at Phillip Island for the roll-out. But I’m sure it will come along quickly,” Martin stated.

“It will probably be a brain explosion there [at Sandown], trying to learn everything in a short space of time.”

Unlike Brown, Martin is unsure about the pressure of double duty at Sandown.

“I’m unsure, yet, really, to be fair. I don’t think you could get two more-different cars, really. Apart from maybe racing a truck.

“Earlier this year I did GT and TCR at the same round, so [I know] it’s going to be pretty full-on. But I’m looking forward to it.”

As S5000 joins the TCR Series program, the SBS broadcast package for the Sandown weekend will also expand the live free-to-air coverage.

The improved deal will mean two hours of dedicated coverage on Saturday, with three hours on Sunday, at both Sandown and the TCR finale at The Bend in November.

The broadcast will include all three TCR sprints, as well as the first S5000 race on Saturday and the S5000 feature race on Sunday.