Josh Buchan is in the box seat to defend his TCR Australia title after a dominant performance on his home track at Sydney Motorsport Park during the sixth round of the 2024 series on the weekend.
The reigning champion scored a rare triple podium result in his Hyundai i30 Sedan N TCR to claim his second outright round victory of the season, with two lights-to-flag victories from pole position while charging from the back of the field to finish third in the second reverse-grid sprint.
Buchan now leads the 2024 TCR Australia Championship by 36 points from Zac Soutar heading into the final round of the series, the Bathurst International at Mount Panorama on November 8-10.
Teammate Tom Oliphant had front-running pace in his Hyundai i30 N TCR all weekend, finishing third in practice, qualifying in fifth and narrowly missed a podium finish in the opening race as he crossed the line in fourth. But his charge was undone in the reverse grid second race when he was forced to retire with driveline damage, and finished sixth outright following a charging drive to fifth from near the back of the grid in the final sprint.
HMO Customer Racing will next head to Mount Panorama for the final round of the championship, the Bathurst International, on November 8-10.
Car 1: i30 Sedan N TCR – Josh Buchan
“This has been a weekend you can only dream of, with pole position in qualifying, a couple of wins and a podium in the reverse grid race. It doesn’t get much better than that, and it is exactly what my championship attack needed heading into the last round.
“I’m very happy that we converted what we knew we could do. But executing it like that is never easy. There was carnage around me at times, and I’m very fortunate to come away from Sydney with a decent points buffer, a straight car and a some more silverware for the HMO Customer Racing trophy cabinet. Now, my sole focus is to keep the number one on my Hyundai and for the team when we head to Bathurst.”
Car 15: i30 N TCR – Tom Oliphant
“I think this was a weekend that really got away from us. We had high hopes after a positive test day and it all started well great speed in practice. In certain conditions, I am confident we had the second quickest car, but my i30 N hatch is a lot more sensitive to heat in the track than other cars, and it didn’t quite go our way.
“Sadly, in race two when the conditions were in our favour, I made a mistake that at least cost us a podium result, if not a race win. It’s definitely a weekend of ‘could haves’. But we have made a lot of progress with the car and hopefully we can continue that positive trajectory at Bathurst, where hopefully we can end the season on a high.”
Race Results: Round 6, Sydney Motorsport Park
| Josh Buchan | Tom Oliphant | |
| Practice 1 | DNS | DNS |
| Practice 2 | P4 (1:36.5538sec) | P3 (1:36.4296sec) |
| Qualifying | P1 (1:35.2037sec) | P5 (1:35.8838sec) |
| Race 1 | P1 (1:35.7630sec) – FL | P4 (1:36.6575sec) |
| Race 2 | P3 (1:37.8357sec) | DNF |
| Race 3 | P1 (1:36.6055sec) | P5 (1:37.0712sec) |
2024 TCR Australia Championship Standings – After Round 6
| Position | Name | Car | Points |
| 1. | Josh Buchan | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 640 |
| 2. | Zac Soutar | Audi RS3 LMS | 604 |
| 3. | Brad Harris | Honda Civic Type R | 579 |
| 4. | Ben Bargwanna | Peugeot 308 P51 | 555 |
| 5. | Jordan Cox | Peugeot 308 TCR | 548 |
| 6. | Ryan Casha | Peugeot 308 TCR | 546 |
| 7. | Dylan O’Keefe | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 529 |
| 8. | Tony D’Alberto | Honda Civic Type R | 490 |
| 9. | Aaron Cameron | Peugeot 308 TCR | 475 |
| 10. | Tom Oliphant | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 418 |
