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Seven Manufacturers Set for TCR Battle at Phillip Island
A season-high seven manufacturers will take to Phillip Island for round three of the 2024 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series this weekend.
The full entry list can be found here.
The addition of Jude Bargwanna in an ex-GRM Alfa Romeo Giulietta sees the field continue to grow in strength, with Bargwanna coming off the back of a series victory in the V8 Touring Car Series.
Provisionally, Zac Soutar (Tufflift Racing) leads the points standings by just a single point over both Ben Bargwanna and Jordan Cox (Schaeffler GRM) after a dramatic opening two rounds of the season. At Sandown, Hangcha Racing’s Bargwanna dominated to claim his first round victory.
Symmons Plains, the results of which are still to be finalised by the verdict of a Motorsport Australia hearing, saw the second first-time round winner in as many rounds with Tom Oliphant coming out on top for HMO Customer Racing.
The upcoming round at Phillip Island will be the first for TCR Australia on the resurfaced track, which is expected to see lap times tumble under the existing lap record. The current race lap record is a 1:37.0827s, set by Will Brown in 2019 – the fastest qualifying lap is a 1:35.6708s set by Chaz Mostert in 2021.
2024 will mark the fifth visit to Phillip Island for the series, which has visited the Victorian circuit in every season to date. There have been four different polesitters – Dylan O’Keeffe, Mostert, Jay Hanson, Josh Buchan – and eight different race winners, with O’Keeffe, Buchan, Mostert and Fabian Coulthard all tied on two wins each.
Every manufacturer on the grid has won at least once at Phillip Island, with the exception of Ashley Seward Motorsport’s Lynk & Co which made its debut at the corresponding event last season.
The form guide suggests a wide open weekend for the field of 14 drivers, which also features the TCR Challenge fight to be contested between Glenn Nirwan and the Harris brothers duo of Brad and Will (Wall Racing).
Practice one, the first of two 20-minute sessions on Friday, kicks off the action at 11:25am AEST on April 12.
The two-part qualifying commences at 11:25am on Saturday, live and free on 7plus, before the opening race of the weekend 3:15pm. Race one will be live on 7mate in all markets except Sydney, with 7plus also showing the action live Australia-wide.
Sunday’s two races will be live on 7plus, at 1:25pm and 4:10pm.
Round three takes place from April 12-14 as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries, with live and free coverage on the Seven Network and international coverage available via the SpeedSeries website.