MOTORSPORT: Mostert dominates Bathurst TCR

Nothing could stop the Mozzie bites at Bathurst as Chaz Mostert stung his rivals three times in a clean sweep at round two of the 2021 SuperCheap Auto TCR Australia Series.

Mostert’s unbeatable form in the tiny turbo tin-tops was as absolute as Shane van Gisbergen has been this year in Supercars, as he romped home ahead of Aaron Cameron in all three TCR sprints.

He has now won five of his last six starts in an Audi RS 3 and is more than 60 points clear of his closest rival.

Even Mostert could see the parallels with van Gisbergen, who had his own Easter party at Bathurst when he won the first leg of the GT World Challenge Australia sharing a Mercedes-AMG GT and then took top spot in the Bathurst 6-Hour for production cars.

“It’s a good thing he’s not racing TCR,” said Mostert as he claimed his third trophy for the weekend.

He started each race on pole position but was forced to come from behind each time thanks to the brilliant launch control system in Cameron’s Peugeot 308, managing the feat in less than two laps in the shortened sprint on Sunday morning.

“It was a ball. I’ve had a lot of fun this weekend,” Mostert told carsales.

“It’s fun to drive the car around here at Bathurst. And a clean sweep.”

Cameron went 2-2-2 for Easter but admitted there is nothing he can do to stop Mostert, although he has improved to second in the series pointscore
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“I knew he would be the one to beat. And Chaz had us covered all weekend,” he said.

“He’s really motoring over the top of the Mountain so he’s improved through the weekend.”

Veteran Garth Tander filled third place in the two Saturday races in a sister Audi RS 3 to Mostert’s car, but was over-run by speedy Jordan Cox in the final event in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

Cox started from the back of the grid after a mishap in TCR qualifying but improved steadily.

“We had the pace to win, I think. But we started from the back of the grid after qualifying,” he said.

“We were pretty confident of a top three, so it was exciting and fun.”

The Bathurst results give Mostert a choker hold on the TCR title, even though he has yet to confirm backing for a full championship program, with Luke King dropping to third in the standings after a weekend of brake troubles with his Audi RS 3.

“We’re hoping to hang onto second,” said Luke King, who was only a lacklustre 13th in the finale.

The TCR field was the biggest yet seen in Australia, with 22 runners, and it produced hectic action up and down the order.

John Martin did a good job to be best of the Honda Civic Type Rs for the weekend, but the Hyundai i30 N runners were all down on speed and back in the pack.

“I felt like we maximised the package. The car was really good. We just didn’t have the straight-line speed,” said Martin.

In the other Bathurst supporting categories, van Gisbergen partnered Shane Smollen and Rob Rubis in a BMW to win the 6-Hour, van Gisbergen and Jefri Ibrahim split wins in the GT cars with Yasser Shahin and Garth Tander in an Audi R8.

Aaron Seton won two of the three Trans Am races with Nathan Herne taking the Sunday finale.

2021 SuperCheap Auto TCR Australia Series Rd2 results:
RACE 1 Saturday: 1. Chaz Mostert, Audi RS 3; 2. Aaron Cameron, Peugeot 308; 3. Garth Tander, Audi RS 3
RACE 2 Saturday: 1. Chaz Mostert, Audi RS3; 2. Aaron Cameron, Peugeot 308; 3. Garth Tander, Audi RS 3
Race 3 Sunday: 1. Chaz Mostert, Audi RS 3; 2. Aaron Cameron, Peugeot 308; 3. Jordan Cox, Alfa Romeo

2021 SuperCheap Auto TCR Australia Series pointscore:
Chaz Mostert, Audi, 344; 2. Aaron Cameron, Peugeot, 281; 3. Luke King, Audi, 266; 4. John Martin, Honda, 256; 5. Lee Holdsworth, Alfa, 245; 6. Jordan Cox, Alfa, 240; 7. Jason Bargwanna, Peugeot, 222; 8. Nathan Morcom, Hyundai, 221; 9. Brad Shiels, Hyundai, 211; 10. Josh Buchan, Hyundai, 210.