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Bargwannas rivalry continues during TCR Australia’s mid-season break
The Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series maybe on a mid-season break, but the father-son rivalry between Jason and Ben Bargwanna continued at Winton Motor Raceway last weekend.
The theme was the same, sort of. Front-wheel-drive, four-cylinder models, however not the Peugeots the duo campaign in TCR Australia but a pair of orange Hyundai Excels.
Jason’s Excel was a recent purchase and prepared in the week leading up to the event, whilst Ben’s was built new earlier this year.
Both Excels feature in the trademark orange adorning the Bargwanna family race cars.
“It’s a cool thing,” described the younger Bargwanna.
“It was the first time we raced against each other in Round 1 of the TCR Australia Series at Symmons Plains, but to take it back to Excels – the little buzz boxes – and battling out at Winton was really fun.”
In Victoria, the Circuit Excels are split into two classes – Masters and Trophy – so the Bargwannas were split between the two. In a highly competitive field of Trophy entrants, Ben placed a best of fifth across the three races, whilst Jason in the Masters was disqualified for being under weight in the opening encounter before taking victory in the final race.
“He actually did alright,” said Ben. “We put a car together for him in about a week and he went racing in the Masters Class. He ended up coming from the back to finish fourth and in the last race he ended up winning. It was pretty cool to watch.”
Although a vastly different race car to the Burson Peugeot 308 TCR he races in Supercheap Auto TCR Australia, Bargwanna Jr said the Excels provided the perfect opportunity to keep match fit between rounds.
“There’s always something to learn at a race meeting and the best way to do that is to do laps, so no matter what it’s in you can always learn something,” he said.
“The Excel obviously provides a good learning experience towards the TCR car. It’s still very different but you can pick up a lot of things whilst keeping race fit to when we go back TCR racing.”
The next round of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series will be held at Morgan Park Raceway in Queensland on August 13-15. CLICK HERE for ticketing information.