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Podium personal best highlights Ben Bargwanna’s season so far
Entering season 2022, Ben Bargwanna was riding a large wave of momentum after a strong finish to his maiden Supercheap Auto TCR Australia season at Bathurst.
Last year’s Michelin Rookie of The Year winner scored his maiden pole position at the Mountain before backing up to secure his first podium in the category by finishing runner up to Garry Rogers Motorsport stablemate Aaron Cameron.
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It was a case of constancy for Bargwanna in 2022 continues in a Garry Rogers Motorsport-run Peugeot 308 TCR supported by Burson Auto Parts, however father Jason steps back from driving to act as mentor this season.
Just past the halfway mark of the season, Bargwanna sits 10th (where he finished in 2021) after a disastrous round at Sydney Motorsport Park due to a variety of technical problems. Heading into Round 4, Bargwanna was third in the standings due to strong finishes at Phillip Island and Bathurst.
AWC Race Tasmania proved a tough outing as Bargwanna finished a best of 10th in Race 2 at Symmons Plains. This result was replicated at Phillip Island’s opening event leading to pole position for the inverted grid format for Race 2 leading to second behind Fabian Coulthard.
Another podium behind Coulthard and Will Brown rounded out the weekend for Bargwanna.
Back at the Mountain for Round 3, Bargwanna picked up where he left off from December to only marginally lose the battle for pole to GRM stablemate Cameron as he took second in the opening encounter.
Seventh was the result after the inverted top 10 grid for Race 2 and sixth in the final concluded a consistent run of results rewarded to enter Sydney Motorsport Park third in the standings.
ECU problems at the fourth round hampered Bargwanna for most of the weekend until cured prior to the final race where he charged to eighth.
With three rounds remaining, Bargwanna remains just 83-points behind series leader Tony D’Alberto as he aims to improve on last year’s finish.
A top five in the final standings is not out of the question for Bargwanna, but one disadvantage is the Peugeot package has not raced at either Queensland Raceway or Sandown, which are the next two stops on the calendar.
The next round of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series contests an event in the Sunshine State for the first time since 2019 at Queensland Raceway on August 5-7.