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Four Nationalities Represented on TCR Australia Grid
Round five of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series grid will boast representation from four nationalities as the field welcomes Kiwi debutant Ben Stewart to the grid at Queensland Raceway.
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Stewart, who will be the 66th driver to compete in TCR Australia since the category’s inception in 2019, will line up for 99motorsport in the same Audi which dominated in Queensland at the hands of Will Brown in 2023.
Alongside New Zealand (Stewart), the largely Australian field also boasts Indonesian and British representation in the way of Tufflift Racing’s Glenn Nirwan and HMO Customer Racing’s Tom Oliphant. It’ll be a first visit to Queensland Raceway for Oliphant, who missed the corresponding round in 2023 as he flew home to get married.
The 2024 title fight has been hotly contested so far, with no driver yet to retain the series lead for consecutive rounds. Ben Bargwanna and Zac Soutar have exchanged the bragging rights across the first four rounds, with Soutar currently on top courtesy of a double victory at The Bend Motorsport Park.
Defending Champion Josh Buchan was reunited with his title-winning Hyundai Elantra N last time out, and immediately capitalised to take the round win and vault up to second in the standings. Bargwanna sits in third with his Garry Rogers Motorsport teammates Jordan Cox and Ryan Casha rounding out the top five.
A 5-place grid penalty awaits Cox and Oliphant for Race 1 this weekend, with both drivers swapping engines after issues at The Bend – where Oliphant ended the weekend parked up in the infield.
Previous form in Queensland suggests the Audis and Hondas will be strong, the two manufacturers combining for seven of the nine previous race wins at the circuit. Tony D’Alberto and Wall Racing enter the weekend in hot form as well, looking for a record-extending fourth consecutive pole position.
The action gets underway on Friday with a pair of Practice sessions, before Qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday. Races two and three are set to take place on Sunday afternoon, with all three races live and free on 7plus.