MOTORSPORT: TCR to open 2021 race calendar

The second-biggest field in the history of the TCR Australia Series will hit the track this Sunday as the championship returns after a year in the pits.

There was zero racing for the turbocharged four-cylinder racers through 2020, but special COVID exemptions will allow an early start to the 2021 season in Tasmania with 18 cars on the grid.

Symmons Plains is hosting the first high-profile motorsport meeting of 2021 with a combination of TCR hot hatches, S5000 single-seat open-wheelers, Touring Car Masters classics and Trans Am muscle cars set to star at the Race Tasmania event.

The unusual format for the meeting will see TCR action begin on Sunday and culminate on Australia Day next Tuesday (January 26).

Reigning champion Will Brown is missing from the Race Tasmania event, as he becomes the rookie Erebus team leader in Supercars, but the runner-up from 2019 is predicting a hectic start to the season.

“I reckon it’s going to be red-hot racing. The field is really full of talent,” Tony D’Alberto tells carsales.

“Outside of Supercars, TCR is now the next best category for talent. And there are plenty of blokes with current Supercars experience, including Chaz Mostert and Lee Holdsworth.”

D’Alberto has had several off-season tests with his Honda Civic Type R, but took a low-key approach to the official season opener when Dylan O’Keefe was quickest at Phillip Island in his Renault Megane.

“Our test day was pretty-low key. The Wall Racing team were stuck in Sydney so they just sent the car down for me. We didn’t put on new tyres and I just ran around for most of the day,” says D’Alberto.

“As yet, we don’t know who is going to be at the front. You can’t discount anybody yet. There will be a form guide from the weekend, but at the moment there are 18 cars and 18 drivers who could be on the podium.”

Apart from some high-profile new drivers, led by former Bathurst 1000 winner Jason Bargwanna, Lee Holdsworth and Michael Caruso, there has been a shake-up in the car choices for 2021.

The Alfa Romeo Giulietta is the most-popular choice with four starters, Hyundai numbers have increased to three cars, and there are also three Peugeot 308s after a single guest appearance at The Bend by a French factory car in 2019.

The slow-poke Holden Astras and Subaru WRXs that trailed back in the pack in the first season have now been parked.

The TCR category has also undergone a change of ownership during the racing hiatus, with Barry and Garry Rogers taking over from Brian Boyd, who provided the seed funding for TCR and the Australian Racing Group.

There will be none of the heavily-funded entries of the 2019 season, with companies including Bostick and Burson Auto Parts, which is also entering the Victorian Hyundai Excel series for the first time, expanding their presence in TCR.

However, ARG has also expanded with management of a number of high-profile categories and a free-to-air television deal with the Seven network.

In Tasmania, there promises to be lots of support-class action with S5000 V8 single-seaters, Trans Am and Touring Car Masters teams all crossing Bass Straight too.

2021 TCR Australia Series Race Tasmania entry list:

#2   Luke King                          Audi RS 3
#5   Jordan Cox                         Alfa Romeo Giulietta
#7   Michael Caruso                  Alfa Romeo Giulietta
#9   Jay Hanson                         Alfa Romeo Giulietta
#10 Lee Holdsworth                 Alfa Romeo Giuliette
#11 Nathan Morcom                 Hyundai i30N
#15 Michael Clemente              Honda Civic Type R
#17 Jason Bargwanna               Peugeot 308 TCR
#18 Aaron Cameron                  Peugeot 308 TCR
#24 John Martin                       Honda Civic Type R
#25 Chaz Mostert                     Audi RS 3
#30 Josh Buchan                      Hyundai i30 N
#33 Dylan O’Keefe                   Renault Megane RS
#34 James Moffat                     Renault Megane RS
#50 Tony D’Alberto                 Honda Civic Type R
#71 Ben Bargwanna                  Peugeot 308 TCR
#110 Zac Soutar                        Honda Civic Type R
#333 Brad Shiels                       Hyundai i30 N