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Privateer Lachlan Mineeff Secures Tasmania TCR Start
Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series driver Lachlan Mineeff will be on the grid for this weekend’s season opener at AWC Race Tasmania, securing a late deal with the Melbourne Performance Centre squad to drive the LIQUI MOLY Audi RS3 LMS TCR campaigned by Will Brown in last year’s series.
Mineeff had previously planned to miss the Symmons Plains event, with his privateer Purple Sector team stripping back their own Audi TCR car and completing a thorough refresh to ensure it was fully prepared for the remainder of the season.
Fortunately, the MPC arrangement will ensure Mineeff is still able to compete in Tasmania, scoring valuable points towards his season tally.
“Due to the logistical challenges of preparing the car, our team had decided to miss Symmons Plains but it was a tough decision, knowing that I was going to give my rivals a big head start in the series,” Mineeff said.
“When the Melbourne Performance Centre crew offered me the opportunity to race one of their Audis, I jumped at the chance – it’s an opportunity to race in the opening round aboard a proven package, and make sure I start the season on the front foot.”
While Mineeff will return to his own Purple Sector outfit from Phillip Island onwards, he said the MPC outing will be a valuable learning experience.
“The MPC team is a professional, well-resourced squad with an enormous amount of experience running entries not just in TCR, but in other high-profile categories like GT World Challenge Australia,” Mineeff said.
“Being able to drive for MPC and understand their processes over a race weekend will give me some valuable insights that will be useful for how we approach events with our own team throughout the rest of the season.”
The MPC Audi will be backed by LIQUI MOLY, the long-time MPC sponsor coming on board to assist Mineeff’s Tasmania campaign.
“We have a strong partnership with Melbourne Performance Centre and we were happy to provide some expanded support for the Tasmania round to enable Lachlan to make it onto the starting grid,” LIQUI MOLY Head of Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement, Belinda Narbey said.
“We have the utmost confidence in the professionalism of MPC and look forward to seeing two cars on the grid with major LIQUI MOLY signage at Symmons Plains.”
“LIQUI MOLY is a company that has a rich association with Australian motorsport, especially through their support of events like the Bathurst 12 Hour, and also a loyal and committed sponsor of MPC. We’re very proud to be showcasing their colours at Symmons Plains,” Mineeff said.
In addition to LIQUI MOLY, Mineeff’s Symmons Plains TCR entry will also be supported by Otis Kiama, Southern Cross Truck Rentals, Vagparts Australia, Equipment Dynamics, Midcoast Trucks, MJS Electrical, Jackson Motor Company and Forza Brakes.
The TCR race format is largely unchanged since last year – each round will consist of three races, of which the second will feature a top-10 reverse-grid format. One slight tweak to the weekend structure will be the awarding of series points for qualifying. Mineeff sees it as being a positive change.
“Last year, if you qualified in the lower end of the top 10 and stayed there in Race 1, you would start up the front for Race 2,” he said.
“This year, there’s more an incentive to qualify well, and score those points.
“Symmons Plains will be an interesting round – it will be our first race meeting on the new Kumho control tyres, so everyone will be learning on the run and I think we might see some unpredictable results. Our aim is to be well inside the top 10, continuing on from the sort of form we had at the end of last season.”
Mineeff will join a strong Supercheap Auto TCR Australia field at AWC Race Tasmania on February 24-26.
CLICK HERE for tickets.
All of the racing action can be seen live and ad-break free on Stan Sport, plus free-to-air coverage on 9GEM on Saturday, February 25 from 2-5pm.