STORY: V8 SLEUTH STAFF
IMAGES: SUPPLIED
THE inaugural carsales TCR Australia Series gets underway this weekend at the Shannons Nationals round at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Here’s what you need to know.
HOW CAN I WATCH IT?
All three races will be shown live on free to air, with SBS showing coverage on both Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday: 2-3pm AEST
Sunday: 1-3pm AEST
The entire Saturday and Sunday track schedule will also be broadcast online via the live video stream on the Shannons Nationals website.
The TCR races will be commentated by Greg Rust and V8 Sleuth’s Aaron Noonan – the duo also co-hosting the Shannons Nationals live stream – while Emma Notarfrancesco and Cameron van den Dungen reporting from pit lane.
WHAT IS TCR’S ON-TRACK SCHEDULE?
Friday
1:30pm – Practice 1 (30 min)
4:45pm – Practice 2 (30 min)
Saturday
10:55am – Qualifying (30 min)
2:15pm – Race 1 (30 min)
Sunday
1:15pm – Race 2 (30 min)
2:20pm – Race 3 (30 min)
RACE FORMATS
Each of the three races will be a half-hour sprint. Qualifying sets the grid for the opening race, with a progressive grid format determining the lineup for the other two (ie the finishing order of each race will set the grid for the next race).
Races 2 and 3 will be held with only 35 minutes in between. Teams will have only 30 minutes to do any repair work or make setup changes.
Refuelling between Races 2 and 3 is not allowed, so cars will have to start Race 2 with enough fuel to do both races.
From the start of qualifying, each driver will have 10 new tyres to use across qualifying and the three races.
Each driver has to start qualifying with four brand new tyres on their car, and use at least two new tyres in both Race 1 and Race 2.
ENTRY LIST
17 cars will be on the grid for the inaugural TCR Australia Series races, including a Bathurst 1000 winner, Supercars race winners, an Australian Rally Champion, and Super2 Series champions and race winners.
Eight brands of car will be represented, with Honda, Renault, Alfa Romeo, Volkswagen, Audi, Subaru, Hyundai and Opel (rebadged as Holdens courtesy of dealer support) on the grid.
Wall Racing
#24 John Martin (Honda Civic Type R)
#50 Tony D’Alberto (Honda Civic Type R)
Garry Rogers Motorsport
#7 Jimmy Vernon (Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce)
#9 Dylan O’Keeffe (Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce)
#33 Chris Pither (Renault Megane RS)
#34 James Moffat (Renault Megane RS)
Alliance Autosport
#8 Jason Bright (Volkswagen Golf GTI)
#35 Alexandra Whitley (Volkswagen Golf GTI)
HMO Customer Racing
#11 Nathan Morcom (Hyundai i30 N)
#30 Will Brown (Hyundai i30 N)
Kelly Racing
#6 Molly Taylor (Subaru WRX STi)
#37 Chelsea Angelo (Holden Astra)
#62 Alex Rullo (Holden Astra)
#777 Andre Heimgartner (Subaru WRX STi)
Melbourne Performance Centre
#2 Aaron Cameron (Volkswagen Golf GTI)
#22 Rik Breukers (Audi RS3)
GWR Australia
#29 Michael Almond (Hyundai i30 N)
