MICHAEL Clemente will return to the TCR Australia grid at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International after being forced to sit out Race Sydney.
Clemente withdrew from last weekend’s Sydney Motorsport Park event due to a budget shortfall, slipping to ninth in the standings as a result.
It will just be the one round on the sidelines though, with the Carl Cox Motorsport Cupra confirmed as part of a 24-car entry list for this Friday to Sunday at Mount Panorama.
It has been a breakthrough year for Clemente, with the Cupra’s arrival in time for Round 2 at Phillip Island quickly leading to the Victorian’s first two race wins.
While the news is good for Clemente, it is not so for Kody Garland, who’ll miss Bathurst due to damage sustained to his Garry Rogers Motorsport Peugeot in a practice crash at SMP.
The only other week-on-week change to the field sees Teddy Clairet take over from brother Jimmy in the #4 Hangcha Forklifts Peugeot, as planned.
The TCR Australia title will be decided this weekend, with Hyundai/HMO Customer Racing teammates Bailey Sweeny and Josh Buchan the leading contenders, split by 29 points (in Sweeny’s favour).
It is also the penultimate round of the TCR World Tour regular season; Hyundai holds the advantage there too, with Norbert Michelisz one point ahead of Audi’s Rob Huff.
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Entry list: TCR, Supercheap Auto Bathurst International
| Number | Team/Sponsor | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Honda Wall Racing | Tony D’Alberto | Honda Civic FL5 |
| 4 | Hangcha Forklifts | Teddy Clairet | Peugeot 308 |
| 9 | MPC Team Liqui Moly | Will Brown | Audi RS3 LMS |
| 14 | Purple Sector | Lachlan Mineeff | Audi RS3 LMS SEQ |
| 15 | Carl Cox Motorsport | Michael Clemente | Cupra Leon Competicion |
| 18 | Team Valvoline GRM | Aaron Cameron | Peugeot 308 |
| 22 | Challenge Motorsport | Iain McDougall | Audi RS3 LMS SEQ |
| 30 | HMO Customer Racing | Josh Buchan | Hyundai Elantra N Sedan |
| 33 | Schaeffler GRM | Jordan Cox | Peugeot 308 |
| 71 | Burson Auto Parts Racing | Ben Bargwanna | Peugeot 308 |
| 74 | Exclusive Switchboards / Wall Racing | Brad Harris | Honda Civic FK7 |
| 76 | Exclusive Switchboards / Wall Racing | Will Harris | Honda Civic FK7 |
| 105 | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Course | Norbert Michelisz | Hyundai Elantra N Sedan |
| 110 | Team Soutar Motorsport | Zac Soutar | Audi RS3 LMS |
| 111 | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Thed Björk | Lynk & Co 03 FL |
| 112 | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Santiago Urrutia | Lynk & Co 03 FL |
| 115 | Autoglym / Ashley Seward Motorsport | Tom Oliphant | Lynk & Co 03 |
| 122 | Audi Sport Comtoyou | Frederic Vervisch | Audi RS3 LMS |
| 129 | Honda Wall Racing | Nestor Girolami | Honda Civic FL5 |
| 130 | HMO Customer Racing | Bailey Sweeny | Hyundai i30N |
| 155 | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Ma Qing Hua | Lynk & Co 03 FL |
| 168 | Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Yann Ehrlacher | Lynk & Co 03 FL |
| 179 | Audi Sport Comtoyou | Rob Huff | Audi RS3 LMS |
| 196 | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Course | Mikel Azcona | Hyundai Elantra N Sedan |
