MOTORSPORT: Hyundai takes final TCR bragging rights

Nathan Morcom applied an appropriate full stop to the inaugural carsales TCR Australia Series at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia.

By winning the final sprint at The Bend, Morcom ensured Hyundai took the final bragging rights as his team leader Will Brown was confirmed as inaugural carsales TCR series champion in an i30 N from HMO Customer Racing.

Second place in the series went close to the flag, as Tony D’Alberto recovered from an early mishap in the final race with his Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R to run sixth and lock down the spot at the expense of Aaron Cameron, who had won his first race in a Volkswagen Golf on Sunday morning before turbo failure in the finale.

Cameron was still fourth for the series, ahead of Dylan O’Keefe who had a fraught weekend with steering dramas in his Alfa Romeo Giulietta and was never close to the front of the field.

The series wrapped with a 21-car entry which grew steadily from the 14 cars at the series opener at Sydney Motorsport Park in May, with two more brands (Peugeot and Cupra from Spain) joining in SA alongside Alfa Romeo, Audi, Holden, Honda, Hyundai, Renault, Subaru and Volkswagen. The newcomers took the final badge tally to 10.

It also showcased the talents of a diverse range of youngsters with nine different winners from 21 rapid-fire sprints, although veterans Garth Tander, Russell Ingall and Jason Bright also stood at the top of the podium.

Andre Heimgartner and Bryce Fullwood will be stars in Supercars next year and have also raced in TCR, with Heimgartner pushing Kelly Racing - which ran parallel programs in the two championships - behind the wheel of a Holden-badged Astra.

Using a format with qualifying and a single race on Saturdays and back-to-back contests on Sundays, Australia’s newest touring car series gained traction with enthusiasts and the public alike.

The last two legs of the seven-round TCR series were also boosted by the arrival of S5000, a booming single-seater series with 5-litre V8 engines that was instantly attractive to Supercars young guns - Anton De Pasquale, Tom Randle, Jimmy Golding and Will Brown - and even boasted former F1 race winner Rubens Barrichello in the debut at Sandown Park in Melbourne.

TCR has been a controversial addition to the Australian motorsport landscape, taking considerable hits from the Supercars world with criticism over its funding, drivers, formats and even its existence.

Many people have drawn comparisons with the failed Super Touring category from the 1990s, which flamed and then fizzled off the back of major manufacturer interest then disdain. But TCR is aimed at customer sport teams with private funding.

TCR is the fastest growing new category in world motorsport with more than a dozen different cars from manufacturers who see the benefit of backing competition with their youth-focussed small hatchbacks. The local series is the premier offering from Australian Racing Group, bankrolled behind-the-scenes by wealthy racing fan Brian Boyd.

ARG has long-term plans for the series and will have an impressive line-up to spin around TCR in 2020, starting from a supporting role at the Australian Grand Prix in March through to a December showcase at Mount Panorama which will see a return of the Bathurst 500 as a two-driver TCR endurance race.

The implications of TCR are still hard to judge, but it has over-achieved by every measure through 2019 including the sale of cars to teams who are not affiliated with Boyd.

Garry Rogers, the long-time Supercars team owner, showed his hand when he withdrew from the Ford-versus-Holden series to focus on running Renaults and Alfas in TCR (with Peugeot to come next year), as well as building 20 S5000 cars and running half-a-dozen in the races.

“It’s fair to say we exceeded expectations. And we’re very excited about the platform we’ve built for 2020,” says ARG director, Matt Braid.

TCR will never be a genuine rival to Supercars, because the cars lack the fire-and-brimstone appeal of V8 engines and household names behind the wheel, but it has already created a new avenue for young drivers and a potential springboard for teams and drivers into the giant pond of global TCR racing.

The car count in Australia is likely to easily top the Supercars grid in 2020 with 32 cars expected at the Australian Grand Prix, with most continuing in the full series, and more than 50 for the Bathurst 500.

CARSALES TCR AUSTRALIA SERIES FINAL POINTSCORE
1. Will Brown, Hyundai, 665; 2. Tony D’Alberto, Hyundai, 505; 3. Aaron Cameron, Volkswagen, 490; 4. Dylan O’Keefe, Alfa Romeo, 483; 5. Nathan Morcom, Hyundai, 436; 6. James Moffat, Renault, 412; 7. Jason Bright, Volkswagen, 368; 8. John Martin, Honda, 352; 9. Russell Ingall, Audi, 308; 10. Garth Tander, Audi, 286.