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Casha Storms to Maiden TCR Victory
Ryan Casha has etched his name into the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series record books with an assured drive to victory in the reverse top 10 grid race at Ipswich.
After finishing 10th in the Saturday leg, Casha capitalised on pole for Race 2, blasting away from fellow front-row starter Will Harris to grab a lead that he’d never look like blowing.
The result comes in Casha’s rookie season, having been handed an opportunity by Garry Rogers Motorsport on the back of winning the 2023 TGRA GR Cup crown.
When Harris was swamped by a series of frontrunners, Casha could have panicked – but that he didn’t.
Jordan Cox was the first by Harris, who plummeted to ninth in a matter of laps.
Cox trailed Casha by 1.2s at the end of 11 laps, and was 2.3516s adrift when the chequered flag was waved 10 laps later.
Cox did hold off Josh Buchan to make it a GRM one-two, while Tony D’Alberto’s drive from 10th to fourth ensured he’ll be on pole for Race 3 later today.
There was action in the mid-pack when Tom Oliphant made contact with Ben Bargwanna on the exit of Turn 3, bouncing the #71 Peugeot driver into Aaron Cameron on his left.
Bargwanna and Cameron picked up damage that resigned them to bottom two finishes, the latter having initially had to cut across the track.
The drama wasn’t over yet though, with Oliphant making no secret of his fury at being issued a drive-through penalty relating to the incident.
Brad Harris was best of the TCR Challenge class in fifth outright, while sixth was enough to keep Zac Soutar in the series lead.
Race 3 is scheduled to start at 4:15pm.