Sydney Motorsport Park, Sydney: HMO Customer Racing dominated its home round of the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship to set-up a thrilling second half of the season.
The Hyundai outfit scored pole position and won two of three 17-lap races in the fourth round of the TCR Australia Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park, with Nathan Morcom and Josh Buchan scoring a 1-2 finish for the team in the overall round results.
The weekend got off to a flying start with Buchan setting the fastest time in qualifying to claim his maiden TCR pole position for the series’ first ever night race, more than 0.5 second quicker than team-mate Morcom, who was then forced to start from seventh due to a penalty following a precautionary engine change.
Bailey Sweeny in the #130 Hyundai i30 N TCR struggled to find a comfortable set-up and qualified in 18th.
Buchan dominated the spectacular opening duel, taking a lights-to-flag victory under the floodlights with Morcom gaining a position to sixth while Sweeny crossed the line in 11th, narrowly missing out on pole position for the top 10 reverse-grid second race.
Morcom then charged through the leading pack to claim third place in the second race, giving him a front-row start for the double-points paying final race, while Buchan used an alternative tyre strategy to salvage 12th position and Sweeny dropped to 18th.
With it all to play for in the last race, Morcom stole the lead on the opening lap and comfortably managed his pace at the front to greet the chequered flag for his first TCR Australia race victory since the final race of the 2019 championship at The Bend in South Australia.
Buchan used his fresh-tyre advantage to great effect, scything through from fifth to follow Morcom home in a 1-2 formation finish for the team while positive changes to Sweeny’s car lifted the 19-year-old into ninth position for the final race.
Buchan’s pole and double podium in Sydney has elevated him to third position on the championship standings, just 32 points from the series leader, while Morcom has jumped from 13th to seventh and Sweeny has dropped a position to 12th.
The fifth round of the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia will be held at Queensland Raceway on August 5-7.
What the drivers said:
Car 11 – Nathan Morcom
“What a fantastic weekend for the team; it’s certainly been our strongest one so far this year. To get the race win monkey off my back for this year feels awesome, especially at our home circuit. We played a good hand with our tyre strategy over all three races – the boys did a great job with that. We ran out of grip a little bit at the end of the last race, but we sacrificed that in order to get up the front in race two. It’s a shame we had to take a penalty with the engine change, as we could have been even stronger. But that’s what we had to do to get here on the winner’s rostrum.”
Practice 1: P5 – 1:35.2621sec
Practice 2: P2 – 1:34.5207sec
Qualifying: P2 – 1:33.1352sec
Race 1: P6 – 1:35.3553sec
Race 2: P3 – 1:35.1000sec
Race 3: P1 – 1:35.6489sec
Car 30 – Josh Buchan
“It’s been one of my stronger overall weekends in TCR, starting with my first pole position – which is excellent – and then a pretty convincing race win under lights. In race two, it was exactly what we expected with old tyres, but that allowed us to save the best for last and really giving it a nudge in the final race. So, to come home with a 1-2 for the team in the end, and taste some champagne, was a pretty sweet result. As for the championship, I think everyone knows that we are a strong contender for the title; we just need to keep it on the road for the last three rounds. It’s certainly up for grabs.”
Practice 1: P6 – 1:35.3932sec
Practice 2: P3 – 1:34.5877sec
Qualifying: P1 – 1:32.6286sec
Race 1: P1 – 1:35.7842sec
Race 2: P12 – 1:35.9000sec
Race 3: P2 – 1:35.0807sec (fastest lap)
Car 130 – Bailey Sweeny
“It’s been a tough weekend for me overall, but we made some set-up changes towards the end for the final race that moved us forward, so that was positive. I’m really happy for the team and the results for Nathan and Josh, but it was a struggle on my side of the garage. We will go away and learn from these results and come back stronger next time in Queensland.”
Practice 1: P20 – 1:37.5766sec
Practice 2: P14 – 1:35.4187sec
Qualifying: P18 – 1:34.6562sec
Race 1: P11 – 1:36.1326sec
Race 2: P18 – 1:36.2000sec
Race 3: P9 – 2:35.9447sec
2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Championship Points
1. Tony D’Alberto Honda Civic Type R 412
2. Dylan O’Keefe Peugeot 308 TCR 388
3. Josh Buchan Hyundai i30 N TCR 379
4. Jordan Cox Peugeot 308 TCR 378
5. Jay Hanson Audi RS3 LMS TCR 356
6. Aaron Cameron Peugeot 308 TCR 355
7. Nathan Morcom Hyundai i30 N TCR 349
8.Zac Soutar Honda Civic Type R 349
9. Will Brown Audi RS3 LMS TCR 343
10. Ben Bargwanna Peugeot 308 TCR 329
12. Bailey Sweeny Hyundai i30 N TCR 307
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