MOTORSPORT: World’s best TCR racers coming to Australia
The 2023 local motorsport calendar is falling into place, with Supercars dates to be announced soonThe best TCR outfits from around the globe are set to visit Australia in 2023, when the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia series will feature in the new nine-event TCR World Tour.
To be administered by the WSC Group, the entity behind TCR’s global tech regulations, the popular hot hatch race series will draw together key championships from the platform’s worldwide pool.
With the local event or events still to be confirmed, a logical home would be within the SpeedSeries calendar, which last week was launched with seven events between Symmons Plains’ Race Tasmania over February 24-26 and the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour at Easter (April 7-9), through to the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International set for November 10-12.
The Bathurst International would be an obvious candidate for a local round, with its long-awaited upcoming debut set for November 11-13 to focus on Australian teams, as freight issues have scuppered possible overseas entries for this year.
To date, the only confirmed foreign entry is French driver Teddy Clairet, who is slated to drive a Garry Rogers Motorsport-prepared Peugeot 308 TCR.
The 2023 TCR World Tour will culminate in an exclusive ‘World Final’ event at a to-be-confirmed location.
The announcement came in the same week as the cancellation of the independently owned World Touring Car Cup, which in 2022 featured seven events in Europe and three in Asia.
“The TCR World Tour will race in Australia which will see the manufacturer customer racing TCR World Tour teams race in Australia with the TCR Australia teams and series,” said Marcello Lotti, Founder and President, WSC Group.
“Australia has consistently been one of the most exciting and professional TCR series, and we are delighted to acknowledge this by bringing the benefit of a global audience and the TCR World Tour to Australia.”
For the Australian Racing Group (ARG), the promotors of the TCR class Down Under, the announcement positions the local competition among the best of the class globally.
“This is a very major achievement for Australia to feature as part of the new TCR World Tour Series, it’s a significant commitment by WSC and the teams to come here and compete at our venue(s) and is a great opportunity for our own drivers to showcase their talent to a global audience and potentially create new opportunities as a result,” said Liam Curkpatrick, ARG Chief Operating Officer.
“It is pleasing to see the increased driver pathways that we are now seeing with the resumption of international travel, this has included Aaron Cameron competing in the FIA World games in TCR, Nathan Herne in the USA competing in Trans AM along with international drivers, and now the TCR World Tour Series coming to Australia.”
An interesting inclusion in the announcement is that Australia is set to be one of the first regions to implement hybrid technology in TCR competition, with testing commencing next season before a full rollout in 2024.
Meanwhile, carsales expects the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship calendar to be unveiled in the coming days, with a 12-event roster that will kick off with a return to the streets of Newcastle on March 10-12 before the Australian Grand Prix over March 30 to April 2.
It is believed that the Sandown meet will revert to a two-driver 500km format for the first time since 2019, while a sticking point appears to be the New Zealand event.
With Pukekohe Park Raceway closing to motorsport activity early in the new year, there’s a question mark over backing for a replacement event appears to be a question mark.
The Pukekohe round was supported by the Auckland Unlimited organisation, however, with the mooted replacement venue of Hampton Downs falling outside of the greater Auckland city limits, new arrangements have to be ratified.
If New Zealand does stay on the calendar, it appears that events at The Bend Motorsport Park and Winton Motor Raceway may be under threat, with the schedule set to contract from the 13 events contested in 2022.
Next up on the Supercars schedule is this weekend’s Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, to be held at the Surfers Paradise street circuit for the first time since 2019.
Related: MOTORSPORT: Trio of winners as TCR resumes
Related: MOTORSPORT: Pros return to Bathurst 12 Hour
Related: MOTORSPORT: Supercars kick for TCR series return
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