TCR test gets thumbs up

Australia’s newest touring car formula, TCR Australia, hits the track this week with its first official test session.

New race cars from Honda, Hyundai, Subaru, Opel, Alfa Romeo, Volkswagen and Audi were shaken down on Winton Motor Raceway in NE Victoria yesterday, ahead of TCR Australia’s opening championship round in Sydney on May 17-19.

The new formula has been drip-feeding news about new drivers and cars/teams for most of this year. The Winton test session, however, was the first time the multiple makes and models had been seen on the track together Down Under.

Corresponding with the test day was news from Honda Australia that it would be the first manufacturer to officially support an entry in the inaugural championship. That will be via Supercars co-driver and GT champ Tony D’Alberto’s Wall Racing Civic Type R.

All but one of the brands expected to front the starter at Sydney Motor Sport Park on May 17-19 were on track at Winton. The missing link was the pair of Renault Megane RS racers of the Garry Roger Motorsport outfit currently awaiting transport to Australia. They are expected to arrive in time for the SMSP event.

In total 12 TCR cars lapped at the Winton Raceway today in the open test. Most of the confirmed drivers were able to sample their new cars and were largely positive of the performances of the 2.0-litre turbocharged racers.

Although no official lap times were posted the fastest laps surprised many observers placing the TCR cars within a few seconds of times of Supercars and Porsche Carrera Cup cars.

It was the start of a steep learning curve for Australian rally champion, Molly Taylor, who spent a full day in her Kelly Racing Subaru WRX TCR.

“There was a lot to take in and so much to learn but I really enjoyed the day,” said Taylor.

“I have had a taste of the Subaru TCR car previously in Europe, but the conditions here are very different and today I had an engineer and data to work with so that part of it was new to me and that’s where I have a lot to learn.

“I’m used to having someone else in the car talking to me so I was all alone in the car, and adjusting to tarmac from gravel was a huge learning experience as it requires the driver to be very precise, so those were the key differences for me,” Taylor stated.

Established racer and Bathurst champ, Jason Bright, shook down his two ex-Team Engstler TCR Asia Volkswagen Golf GTI TCRs. Bright will pilot one of the cars, although he is yet to confirm his Team Tradie teammate.

“I’ve driven a lot of different cars in my career, from GT cars to Le Mans Prototypes, Sports Cars and Open Wheelers, and the TCR is a lot of fun to drive,” said Bright.

“The racing is going to be awesome because the cars move and bounce around so much and it’s going to create plenty of excitement... The cars are still very fresh and teams haven’t had the chance to do any testing yet so it’s a very level playing field in that regard and I think that’s a good thing,”, he stated.

Other confirmed drivers on hand included Hyundai HMO Customer Racing appointee, Will Brown.

The young Super2 racer look very much at home in the i30N TCR car on the Winton layout. Challenging Jimmy Vernon (Alfa Romeo Giulietta) and John Martin (Honda Civic Type R) for the fastest laps of the day.

“The cars are faster than everyone expected, they look tough and they feel great to drive out on track. It was certainly a different feeling getting used to the front wheel drive, but once I got used to that it I loved every second of it. It was a ball of fun to steer,” said Brown.

TCR Australia has confirmed a “for television” format for the Sundays of race weekend with two 30min races separated by a short ‘parc ferme’ during which pit crews must work on the cars in plain sight of race fans. The category will be televised by SBS, free to air in high-definition format.

Although no series sponsor has been announced for TCR Australia, series organiser The Australian Racing Group is promising “more surprises” before the cars hit the track in anger Friday week.