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Supercheap Auto TCR Australia drivers excited for added night challenge
Sydney Motorsport Park marks the halfway point of this year’s Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series and yesterday it was confirmed the category will race under lights for the first time in its history.
Drivers got a taste of racing in similar conditions at Bathurst during Easter as the second race was held during the sunset where brake discs and the exhausts glowed as the evening headed into darkness providing a unique spectacle for the class.
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Following two victories at the Mountain, Valvoline Team GRM’s Aaron Cameron is confident the racing will not be something to be missed based on his previous experience racing under lights in TCR.
“The turbos, the intercoolers, those will be really cold so we’ll be setting some fast times, which is great,” Cameron remarked.
“Once you get the tyres up to temp at night is probably the only real issue, it will just take an extra couple of laps.
“It will be nice to get back to some night racing, my last was the Dubai 24 Hour back in 2019 in a TCR car as well, so I’ve got a step ahead on many drivers.
“You could see the red glow from the Hyundais out the back and that was just in low sunlight type conditions in the evening. Once we go proper night racing, there will be glowing exhausts, the brakes will be lighting up, so I think it will be awesome racing.
“I can’t wait to have headlights in my rear vision mirror blinding me!”
Racing at his home track under lights is the perfect scenario for Purple Sector privateer Lachlan Mineeff.
“In a proper night setting when the sun is set, I think it’s exciting for TCR and it’s something different the category hasn’t had yet,” said Mineeff.
“I’ve done some running at Sydney Motorsport Park in the Purple Sector Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, so we’re really keen to get back out there.
“Sydney is a great event for us, we’ve got a lot of local support and it’s just fantastic to have an event there.”
Returnee Luke King agrees with the sentiments shared by his rivals and hopes this leads to more races of this type in the future.
“I Loved racing into the twilight at Bathurst and I’m excited to be competing under lights at SMP, which I think we should do more of,” he enthused.
“I was starting to see [Will] Browny’s exhaust during the second race at Bathurst and I could see it glowing orange, so it will be even more spectacular during night conditions.”
The Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series headlines the third round of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships where fellow Australian Racing Group categories the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship, Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters and Turtle Wax Trans Am Series feature.
Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge, the Australian Production Car Series, Radical Cup and the Australian Prototype Series complete a stacked program of categories.
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