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Brown Doubles Up with Storming Sydney Drive
A reverse top ten grid wasn’t enough to stop Will Brown from claiming his second win in as many days in the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The MPC Team LIQUI MOLY Audi was once again in a league of its own as the Queenslander stormed through from tenth on the grid to claim another statement victory in front of the stars of the Kumho Tyre TCR World Tour.
Thed Bjork made the most of his reverse top ten front row start in the Cyan Racing Lynk & Co, however Aaron Cameron got an even better jump from fourth on the grid, challenging the Swede around the outside of turn one.
Pole sitter Nestor Girolami then got back into the mix, being pushed onto the grass on the run to turn two by a defensive Bjork, who then ran wide into turn two allowing the Team Valvoline GRM Peugeot of Cameron into the lead.
Several of the TCR World Tour runners found drama in the opening exchanges, as Yann Ehrlacher and Mikel Azcona both ran onto the grass at the exit of turn five, with the Spaniard’s Hyundai forced into the pits with a punctured tyre.
Ehrlacher would then cop a big hit from Jordan Cox’s Schaeffler GRM Peugeot on the run to turn two on lap three, with Cox being forced to the pits to repair damage to the front of the Peugeot that finished third of the TCR Australia runners in race one.
The safety car would soon come out after the Honda Wall Racing Civic of Girolami ground to a halt on the outside of turn six on lap three, and it was during this safety car period that Cameron was handed a five second penalty for a jump start.
The TCR Australia title contender was handed a lifeline at the safety car restart on lap seven, when the battle for second between Bjork and Norbert Michelisz ended with the Hungarian pushed off the track at turn two, and the Swede retiring to the pits with a damaged Lynk & Co.
The HMO Customer Racing teammates nearly added to the chaos on the first lap back under green, as Josh Buchan had a lurid slide exiting turn seven, forcing TCR Australia points leader Bailey Sweeny to have a wild ride through the grass.
The race then settled into a rhythm as the field began to slowly spread, however attention quickly turned to Brown, who had charged through from tenth to be challenging the rear of Cameron on lap thirteen.
Though the Queenslander was in position to win the race with Cameron’s penalty, the Peugeot ran wide at the turn eight hairpin, allowing Brown to cruise by and power on to another emphatic win.
Cameron would finish second on the road three seconds behind Brown, however was demoted to eighth outright and fifth in the TCR Australia field in what was a disappointing end to a brilliant drive.
The Audi Sport Comtoyou teammates would round out an all-Audi sweep of the podium, with Rob Huff finishing ahead of Frederic Vervisch, with Norbert Michelisz rounding out the TCR World Tour top three in fourth outright.
Buchan and Sweeny would recover from their hairy moment to round out the TCR Australia top three in fifth and sixth outright, ahead of Tom Oliphant’s Autoglym / Ashley Seward Motorsport Lynk & Co, having recovered from stalling on the grid to finish a remarkable seventh outright.
The combined Supercheap Auto TCR Australia and Kumho Tyre TCR World Tour field return to the track for their third and final race at 7:55pm AEDT.
You can catch all the action live, ad break free, and on demand on Stan Sport.