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2 August 2022 |

Tony D’Alberto’s unique Queensland Raceway advantage

Supercheap Auto TCR Australia points leader Tony D’Alberto hopes stability will help him prevail this weekend at Queensland Raceway.

Three years ago, D’Alberto raced a Honda Civic Type R TCR at the venue and bar a few minor upgrades it remains relatively the same as it was in 2019.

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Back during the inaugural Supercheap Auto TCR Australia season, main title rivals Dylan O’Keeffe and Jordan Cox were in Alfa Romeos, Josh Buchan and Jay Hanson weren’t in the series, while Aaron Cameron was racing a Volkswagen.

It’s this consistency where D’Alberto may have the advantage, however the series leader by 24-points is not resting on his laurels as he targets success in Queensland.

“We’ve got some existing data from 2019 and the only real change is a little bit of bodywork as well as the structure of the tyre, so realistically not a lot has changed set-up-wise since then,” D’Alberto explained.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do ahead of us to lift our game to make sure we’re quick this weekend because it’s pretty crucial that we’re fast, so that’s what we’ve been focusing on.

“We had good results in 2019, but we’re under no illusion it’s going to be a tough weekend and I think every one is going to be quick, there’s no doubt about it.”

One exciting factor for D’Alberto was the opportunity to conduct some pre-round running at Queensland Raceway, the first time this has occurred since the inaugural season three years ago.

“We did a test day a week or so ago just to make sure we ticked off everything that we could and to make sure we get to the track with the car already in a good window,” said D’Alberto.

“It was a little bit hard to tell how we were going, there was no real reference on the day aside from the previous data we had last time we were there.

“We weren’t unhappy with the day, but to say we’ve found things like some of the other teams do after a test day we won’t be making any of those statements. I feel good about the test because we haven’t tested the car since 2019, like a proper program.

“It was just good to try a few things we weren’t confident with doing on a race weekend. If there’s anything to take away from that we feel a bit more comfortable with some of the decisions we need to make if it comes to set-up changes or things like that in a race weekend.”

Although D’Alberto has lost teammate Fabian Coulthard this weekend, the ever improving Zac Soutar will be an ally in Queensland as his relationship with the works Wall Racing team grows.

“I don’t see it as a disadvantage because Zac’s (Soutar) there and he’s been part of the Wall Racing crew in terms of debriefs, pre-briefs and data sharing all year,” he said.

“He’s been really quick, so I don’t see why he won’t be this weekend either, so if we need to check a few things or bounce a few ideas, Zac’s really good to do that.

“It is a shame not to have Fabs there, I mean he will be there over the weekend on the mic, but it’s nice to have a mate talking about the car and not hiding or playing any games with your teammate. It’s just an open book, but that’s the way it is and I don’t think it’s going to hurt us at all.”

The SpeedSeries at Queensland Raceway will feature seven racing categories and 12 hours of live and ad-break free coverage on Stan Sport across Saturday and Sunday.

The coverage will be broadcast on Stan Sport between 11am-5pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

New customers can sign up to a Stan Sport 7-day free trial. Sign up now to watch all of the SpeedSeries action, plus the IndyCar Series, World Rally and more motorsport action >> http://www.stan.com.au/motorsport.

International viewers can watch the Queensland Raceway action via motorsport.tv

To be trackside this weekend, CLICK HERE for tickets.