News
New Audi delivers straight out of the box
The newest addition to the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia paddock, Jay Hanson’s latest specification Audi RS3 LMS TCR was successful almost immediately and the young gun was left impressed by the package.
Having arrived at Audi Sport’s Australian agent Melbourne Performance less than a week before the opening event AWC Race Tasmania, it didn’t provide the team much time to acquaint itself with the new RS3 LMS TCR, let alone Hanson himself.
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Despite the tight turnaround, the new RS3 LMS TCR was on the pace almost immediately straight of the box as Hanson proved this by qualifying on the front-row for the first time and followed it up with a dominant victory in Race 1.
Contact with James Moffat’s LMCT+ Racing GRM Renault Megane R.S. popped a tyre off the rim for Hanson and he was forced to retire. A recovery drive in the last event ended in sixth leaving him seventh in the standings heading to Round 2 at Phillip Island.
Hanson was complementary of the new Audi following his transition from the Romeo Ferraris-developed Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR.
“My initial impressions of the Audi straight off the showroom floor was it was presented well and very professionally put together, you can see how much time and effort has been put into it,” Hanson said.
“To roll out and be pretty quick was good. We still had a few teething issues because of how late we received the parts and tools to adjust the car, but other than that we rolled out pretty quick. Plus, there were no other dramas during the weekend.
“Credit to everyone at Melbourne Performance Centre for doing the late nights working on the car. It’s not easy when the car and spare parts arrived to then pack it all up to go to Tasmania.”
The benefits are not only experienced by the driver as the ergonomics for the MPC crew to complete set-up adjustments and repairs have been improved.
“My mechanics have told me it’s a really good car to work on it’s a lot easier to work on, which awesome considering these qualifying and race situations when those sessions can be back-to-back,” Hanson explained.
Hanson credited the strong base package provided by Audi Sport for his results across the weekend.
“We ticked off a few firsts at Race Tasmania being a front-row start and my maiden race victory, which was really cool, and winning by 5.1s was even better,” Hanson emphasised.
“It shows the car is quick, though we do need to fine tune it from round-to-round, so I think it will be a good year.”
The next round of Supercheap Auto TCR Australia aligns with the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships at Phillip Island on March 18-20.
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