MOTORSPORT: Supercars star switches to TCR

Two-time Supercars race winner Michael Caruso is shifting gears as he mounts a championship challenge in the second year of the carsales TCR Australia Series.

Caruso was a winner in junior categories from karting to Formula 3 but never had the car or crew to be a serious threat in Supercars.

Now he is confident he has the package to run at the front as he joins the TCR championship with a renewed link to Garry Rogers Motorsport in a two-year deal with backing from Valvoline.

Caruso is jumping into a brand-new Alfa Romeo Giulietta and has his shakedown in the car today (February 10) at Sandown Park in Melbourne as GRM prepares a three-brand assault on TCR that runs to Alfa Romeo, Peugeot and Renault racers. He will drive again at the official pre-season test at Winton on February 26.

“I’m out to win it. One hundred percent,” Caruso tells carsales.

“I’m really excited. I watched the first season of TCR Australia and you can see the potential. I knew I wanted to be part of it.”

He believes the TCR regulations, for turbocharged front-wheel drive hatchbacks, will ensure an even playing field and give him the best possible chance to return to the winner’s circle on a regular basis.

He admits he found things tough in Supercars, despite earning a full-time place on the grid for 11 years with GRM and Kelly Racing and having two comeback drivers with Rogers as a replacement when the mercurial Richie Stanaway got into trouble last year.

“I think the one thing that gets taken away in motorsport is the element that the car and team bring. What separates me from the drivers that have had a more successful career is the opportunity around the equipment and the team,” Caruso says.

“The Alfa is a competitive car. Not just here in Australia, but globally it’s been a competitive car.

“I’ve also got my race engineer from my Supercars days, Steven Todkill, joining me. So we should have everything we need.”

The Giulietta was one of the quickest cars through the first season of TCR Australia, carrying youngster Dylan O’Keefe to fifth in the series standings, and was particularly fast at high-speed circuits including Phillip Island.

“I’m really excited. My Alfa is a brand-new car. It arrived at the end of last year but hasn’t been raced.

“I believe we are definitely a chance to give the series a shake-up. I know it’s competitive, with drivers like Will Brown. He won the series and he will be tough to beat. But that’s good for the category.”

Caruso confirms that his new deal is a paid drive, not just a push by TCR Australia to get some big-name hero drivers into the category, and jokes that it’s an ideal fit for an Italian-heritage driver in an Italian car.

“The wog chariot is what the crew are already calling it,” he laughs.

“Garry Rogers and I have been talking about doing this for probably 12 months. It’s good that we could make it happen. And get it right.”

Caruso’s Alfa will carry Valvoline signage as Rogers continues a relationship with the lubricants company that has run through three decades.

“We have been partners in motor racing for over 30 years, but TCR is a brand-new experience. What is not new is the passion, commitment and hard work the GRM bring to the sport,” says Peter Besgrove, managing director of Valvoline Australia.

Although Caruso is focussed on a championship win he also admits that he will have a special focus on the born-again Bathurst 500, a two-driver enduro in November.

“Everyone loves endurance-style racing at Mount Panorama and that race will be the perfect way to end the season. I definitely want to be the inaugural winner and have my name on that trophy,” he says.