News
‘Massive’ Team Effort Rescued Soutar’s Phillip Island Weekend
Press Release / Tufflift Racing
With “The Island” as it is affectionately known being a favourite of both the drivers and team, the entire Tufflift Racing crew was looking forward to the trip down to Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for Round 3 of this year’s Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series.
Zac Soutar managed to have another positive points scoring weekend. After a solid day of practice on Friday, Qualifying didn’t exactly go to plan for Soutar, with the #110 Audi only just making it through to Q2 before eventually Qualifying in sixth place. Not to be deterred by a difficult qualifying, Soutar made a fantastic start in Race 1, moving up four spots on the opening lap to find himself in second place. This is where he would eventually finish to score not only some fantastic points, but also his best result of the season to date.
Sunday proved to be a little more difficult for both driver and team. A solid run to seventh from ninth during the reverse grid Race 2 saw Soutar gather enough points to start the final race of the weekend from third. However upon returning to the pits from that race, Soutar realized that his clutch had completely failed. This instigated an incredible reaction from the Tufflift Racing crew, who with less than two hours between Race 2 and 3 managed to pull off the unlikely feat of getting the clutch changed and the car ready in time for the final race of the weekend, albeit from a pit lane start.
From there Soutar had a very entertaining race, passing eight cars and finishing the final race of the weekend in sixth place. The unbelievable effort from the team to get the car out on track for the final race means that Soutar is still well and truly in the title hunt, and will head to the next round at The Bend Motorsports Park in second place, only seven points away from the series lead.
Glenn Nirwan enjoyed his first event at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. Having never seen the circuit a week prior to the event, Nirwan did a phenomenal job to adapt so quickly to the difficult to learn track.
After a great Saturday where Nirwan qualified in 13th before finishing Race 1 in 12th, he had more of a challenging Sunday. An incident in Race 2 saw Nirwan have to retire the car from the race. After a great drive in Race 3, a puncture with only one lap to go ultimately caused Nirwan to once again register a DNF to round out the weekend. Regardless of a frustrating Sunday, Nirwan remains positive about his continued progression in the TCR Australia Series, and is looking forward to visiting The Bend for the first time in May.
Quotes:
Zac Soutar
“It was probably one of the most wild weekend’s I’ve ever had at the track,” said Soutar.
“We qualified sixth and then made up for it in race one, had a great start, great race, finished second and that was great for our championship points. Got to seventh in the reverse grid race, and unfortunately coming in from that race the clutch failed so it was a race against time to get it changed and get out for the last race.
“Didn’t make the start but we made it to pit exit and drove from the pit lane to sixth place, massive effort from my boys in the garage there. They just got it done and I couldn’t be more proud of the effort they put in there, without them we wouldn’t have been racing. We can’t wait for the next at The Bend in a few weeks time.”
Glenn Nirwan
“Unfortunately it wasn’t the weekend we were planning. The pace was there, I’m quite happy that our pace is increasing and increasing with every session. I’m hoping that we’ll do better at Tailem Bend, and we’ll have some luck as well,” said Nirwan.