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Audi international star secures Sydney TCR drive
Audi GT driver Rik Breukers will drive the Audi RS 3 TCR car for Melbourne Performance Centre in the opening round of the 2019 TCR Australia Series at Sydney Motorsport Park this month.
The 20-year-old Dutch driver has secured the one-off drive, giving the inaugural TCR Australia race a distinctly international feel.
Breukers currently drives for leading GT squad WRT, competing in an Audi R8 LMS in the Blancpain Endurance GT Championship.
He recently won the Dubai 24 Hours and is also a two-time class winner of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.
Breukers has competed in numerous TCR events across the world, giving him a great head start compared to many of the ‘TCR rookies’ that he will face at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The deal for Breukers to compete at Sydney Motorsport Park has been brokered by Ryan McLeod, owner of MARC Cars Australia and a keen advocate of TCR racing.
Due to clashing commitments, Breukers will not be available to test with the majority of the other TCR cars at Winton on May 6. MPC will still take the Audi to the test day with another MARC Cars driver taking the driving duties, 19 year old Victorian Aaron Cameron.
Every TCR Australia race across the seven rounds will be broadcast live, free and in HD on SBS.
Tickets for the opening event at Sydney Motorsport Park are now on sale via the Shannons Nationals website. CLICK HERE to secure race day tickets and see touring car history created …
QUOTES:
Rik Breukers
Driver, MPC Audi
“I’m really looking forward to my first race in Australia,” said Rik Breukers.
“It will be my first visit to the country and I’m very grateful and happy with the deal to compete with Melbourne Performance Centre in the Audi RS 3 TCR car.
“I want to thank Ryan McLeod and everyone involved who put it together. We will do our best to get a good result and to represent Audi in the best way possible.”
Troy Russell
Managing Director, Melbourne Performance Centre
“He has driven a lot of cars in some big races all around the world so it is a privilege to have Rik for the first round of TCR Australia,” said Troy Russell.
“At this stage, the deal we have is just for the opening round, but we’ll see what happens after that.
“For us, it’s good to have an European driver in there, someone with international TCR experience. He will be a good benchmark for the entire field.
“Naturally, he won’t be at Winton for the pre-season test, however, with the level of international TCR experience, it will not be a problem. The only real thing Rik will need to is the Sydney track layout.”