MOTORSPORT: Molly Taylor going touring car racing

Taylor, the 2016 Australian rally champion, will race a Subaru WRX STI for Kelly Racing in the series starting at Sydney Motorsport Park on May 17-19.

"This is an exciting opportunity for me ... the chance to make my circuit racing debut," said Taylor, 30.

She will continue rallying with Subaru and calendar clashes will force her to miss the last two rounds of TCR at Melbourne's Sandown circuit and South Australia's The Bend.

"Rallying has always been my passion, but I'm always up for a new challenge," Taylor said.

"While I was in Europe late last year I had the opportunity to drive one of the Subaru TCR cars (at the Cremona circuit near Milan) and it was an awesome experience.

"I'll have a lot to learn switching my rally style to circuit racing."

TCR is for private teams rather than manufacturer factory participation. The cars are being acquired from top racing outfits overseas, predominantly Europe.

The Kelly brothers, Todd and Rick of Nissan -- and previously Holden -- Supercar fame, are yet to announce the driver of their second TCR Subaru. The Kellys also will field two Opel Astras, with the drivers as yet unnamed.

The other six makes in the series will be Alfa Romeo, Audi, Honda, Hyundai, Renault and Volkswagen.

Garry Rogers Motorsport -- like the Kellys, renowned for V8 Supercar racing -- will field two Renault Meganes for James Moffat and New Zealander Chris Pither and two Alfa Romeo Giuletta Veloces (drivers yet to be named).

Up to 18 or even 20 cars may race in the first season of TCR Australia, with perhaps 15 at the first round. Many of those will be tested at Victoria's Winton circuit next Monday.

Each of the seven rounds will have three 30-minute races - the first on Saturday and then two on Sundays with only 30 minutes between them.

All races will be telecast live on SBS and streamed on the series website.

The TCR category -- for front-wheel-drive C-segment (small) hatchbacks and sedans with turbocharged engines of up to 2.0 litres -- is already running in about 20 countries.

The Australian series will have $250,000 prizemoney in its first season, with $100,000 for the winner.

Jason Bright, a long-time Supercar racer and Bathurst 1000 winner, has entered two Volkswagen Golf STIs and he will drive one of them.

"The class is perfect for Australia -- affordable, competitive and relevant to the current motoring market," Bright said.

"It's going to be a great addition to the motorsport landscape."

James Warburton, who was the Supercars chief executive for five years and has joined TCR organiser Australian Racing Group as a director, says the category "is dynamic as well as being market and manufacturer relevant".

"It is targeted to a growing demographic and features cars people are buying and driving on a global basis," Warburton said.

One of the Audi RS 3s in the series will be driven at the opening round by Dutch 20-year-old Rik Breukers.

The TCR Australia line-up (make, model, team, drivers):

Alfa Romeo
Giuletta Veloce
Garry Rogers Motorsport
Two drivers to be named

Audi
RS 3
Melbourne Performance Centre
Rik Breukers (Netherlands), another driver to be named

Honda
Civic Type R
Wall Racing
Drivers Tony D'Alberto, John Martin

Hyundai
i30N
HMO Customer Racing (Barry Morcom)
Drivers Narhan Morcom, Will Brown

Opel
Astra
Kelly Racing
Two drivers to be named

Renault
Megane RS
Garry Rogers Motorsport
James Moffat, Chris Pither

Subaru
Impreza WRX STI
Kelly Racing
Molly Taylor, another driver to be named

Volkswagen
Golf GTI
Team Tradie (Jason Bright Racing)
Jason Bright, another driver to be named

TCR Australia debut season calendar:
May 17-19 -- Sydney Motorsport Park
June 6-9 -- Phillip Island, Victoria
July 12-14 -- The Bend, South Australia
August 2-4 -- Queensland Raceway
August 31-September 1 -- Winton, Victoria September 20-22 - Sandown, Melbourne November 15-17 -- The Bend, South Australia

The world's new open-wheeler category for women, the W Series, kicks off in Germany this weekend.

Australian Caitlan Wood, 21, who has been racing GTs in Europe, is among the 18 drivers in the field selected from an initial squad of 55 aspirants.

The women will race turbocharged 1.8-litre Formula 3 cars with all -- or at least most -- expenses paid and $1.5 million prizemoney.

The series will run as part of the Deutche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) -- the German touring car championship but with races throughout Europe.

The first round is at Hockenheim in the Rhine Valley south of Heidelberg.

The W Series concept has divided opinions, with multiple Formula 1 Grand Prix winner David Coulthard a keen advocate while Red Bull Racing supremo Helmut Marko says he can't see it producing a woman driver for F1.

"I think the physical strain is way too big (for women)," Marko said.

The series is being strongly supported by Motorsport's world governing body, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), but some of the best women open-wheeler drivers also are opposed to segregated racing, saying they need to compete directly against men to show their capabilities.