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Audi driver Luke King eyes pre-Morgan Park Raceway laps
Luke King will head to Morgan Park Raceway shortly to get familiar with the Queensland track’s layout ahead of the next round of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series on June 25-27 – but it won’t be in his Moutai Audi RS 3 TCR.
King, currently second in the TCR title fight and keen to stay at the pointy end off the field, has never driven or raced in anger around the little-known 2.967km circuit near Warwick.
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To avoid the expense of taking his Melbourne Performance Centre-run Audi to the venue for a test, he is seeking a car to do a day of testing, or potentially even race at an upcoming state series round.
He says the opportunity to get actual laps at the circuit will be important, ensuring that he can launch into TCR’s first practice on Friday without having to worry about where the track goes left and right.
“Normally, Morgan Park doesn’t do anything except state-level meetings, and not being from Queensland, I’ve never had the chance to race there,” said King.
“I’m not fussed what I drive, or even if I race, I want to get some laps around there before we head up for the TCR round.
“(Motorsport legend) Kevin Bartlett has been asking around for us to see if we can get in a car, so we’re looking at a wide range of cars. It would be an historic touring car, it could be a Formula Ford or even an Excel. I’m not really fussed what I drive.”
King says that the tight layout will produce some frantic racing, but is unsure how competitive the dominant Audi will be.
“From a driver’s stand point, it will be a technical track and might not suit the Audis,” he said.
“I think it will be more a Honda, Hyundai or Alfa circuit.
“So any focus we can do to get ahead of the game is going to help us.”
King says that having a full field of whistling turbo touring cars at Morgan Park Raceway is going to be like winding the clock back, comparing the venue to other old school circuits.
“From a driver’s perspective, its going to be really cool. It feels we’re going to Lakeside, or going to one of those old tracks in the UK,” he said.
“In terms of bumps, tight corners and undulation, it’s got a lot of that.
“Set-up and car balance will be the answer to a fast lap because you’re going to need to get off corners as quickly as you can. Qualifying is definitely going to be the key to the weekend.
“Passing opportunities? I’m not really sure. TCR cars are quite wide, and as we’ve seen, the racing is close, so I reckon we’ll see quite a bit of panel to panel action.”
Round 5 of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series will be held at Morgan Park Raceway on June 25-27.
CLICK HERE to pre-purchase your tickets.
All of the action can be caught live and free on the channels of Seven.
See below for a unique view of Sydney Motorsport Park, riding above King’s Audi.