News
No rest over summer after career best for Zac Soutar
Work hasn’t stopped for privateer Zac Soutar and his team since scoring a breakthrough result at Bathurst.
With the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series set to begin next month, the Soutar team has had no rest during the off-season in pursuit of repeating his sixth place performance at the Mountain.
In doing so, Soutar held off Audi Sport factory ace Christopher Mies.
To keep updated with TCR Australia like us on Facebook and to view the latest images follow our Instagram.
Following on from the potential demonstrated at Bathurst, Soutar believes it can be built upon and is targeting consistent top 10 finishes in 2022.
“There’s no rest for us over summer,” he said.
“We’ll strip the car down and get it ready for next year, but also away from the track we’ll get on the sponsorship mission to try to hit season 2022 hard, starting with Round 1.”
Reflecting on his breakthrough results at the Mountain, it has given Soutar plenty of motivation approaching his second season in the class and built confidence after holding off Audi Sport factory ace Chris Mies in the final race.
“It’s been a great end to the year, obviously we’ve had a few dramas along the way, but to grab sixth place in the final race was fantastic,” said Soutar.
“I think I had Chris Mies behind me for the last seven laps, which was quite daunting. I knew I just had to look after the car and the tyres to bring it home.
“I couldn’t have completed the season without my amazing team including my dad, who has done a fantastic job, Brett Francis from BF Racing and the whole crew there do amazing work, and I can’t thank them enough.
“Obviously there have been a few stumbles along the way, but I think we’ve found a bit of direction and the final race went a long way to proving we’re on the right track.”
Not only did the event prove to be his best in the category, but came with fresh support from Spicers Australia, a partnership he hopes to continue into the new season.
“It was fantastic to have Spicers Australia on the Honda at Bathurst,” Soutar remarked.
“I’ve had a lot to do with Spicers over the years being a printer as we use its products, so to have the company on board has been fantastic and I think it was the best looking car in the field.”
Adapting to the ex-Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R has been a challenge, but one Soutar has enjoyed and hopes to progress on in 2022.
“It’s been tricky, but in terms of driving the car I’ve been comfortable with TCR since I first jumped in, but the hardest part has been to get the set-up right,” Soutar explained.
“We don’t have a technical alliance with a big team, we just run it off our own backs and try to figure it out on our own.”
Race Tasmania will again begin the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series in 2022 at Symmons Plains, supported by the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship, the Turtle Wax Trans Am Series and awesome local categories.
Make sure you get your tickets through Moshtix.