Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Victoria: HMO Customer Racing endured a challenging weekend at Phillip Island for the second round of the Speed Series in the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship.

Teenage sensation Bailey Sweeny was the best placed of the team’s drivers, finishing all three races – in 11^th, 16^th and ninth – while Nathan Morcom and Josh Buchan were forced to charge from the back of the field in Sunday’s final two 16-lap sprints after they both suffered damage in Saturday’s opening race.

All three drivers showcased the potential of the Hyundai i30 N TCR with good race pace and some aggressive overtaking manoeuvres to claw back positions following disappointing qualifying performances.

But the success ballast they carried from the opening round at Symmons Plains, in which all three drivers finished on the podium and Buchan left as the championship leader, hampered the straightline speed – and consequently hindered their ability to challenge the front runners – at the fast and flowing seaside circuit.

In the end, Buchan – who failed to finish the opening race and came home in 11^th and 14^th in the remaining sprints – surrendered his position at the top of the standings and drops to 11^th on 151 points.

Morcom is the highest placed of the three HMO Customer Racing drivers in eight position on 170 points after finishing 19^th, ninth and 11^th in the three Phillip Island events.

Sweeny, meanwhile, holds 14^th position on 131 points.

Nathan Morcom – Phillip Island Results 2022

Practice 1: P8 – 1:37.0829sec

Practice 2: P11 – 1:37.8023sec

Qualifying: P12 – 1:37.3200sec

Race 1: P19 – 1:39.0613sec

Race 2: P9 – 1:38.3541sec

Race 3: P11 – 1:38.5236sec

“It was a weekend of damage limitation after we had a power steering issue in the opening race. We were looking good up until that point, running in eighth place, which would have set us up for a good run in the other two races. Instead, we had to fight back.

“The car felt good and we had great race pace but the Balance of Performance penalties we were carrying made it hard for us to do anything more today.”

Josh Buchan – Phillip Island Results 2022

Practice 1: P10 – 1:37.3079

Practice 2: P4 – 1:36.8366sec

Qualifying: P17 – 1:37.5915sec

Race 1: DNF

Race 2: P19 – 1:38.6342sec

Race 3: P14 – 1:38.4197sec

“We certainly missed a massive opportunity to extend the championship lead after we mucked-up the qualifying strategy and started in 17^th position, which put us on the back foot for the rest of the weekend.

“The car was fast enough to be deep into the top five, but once we were back there it was always going to be tough to get to the front again.

“We’ll learn from this weekend, move on and try again at Bathurst next month.”

Bailey Sweeny – Phillip Island Results 2022

Practice 1: P14 – 1:37.6918sec

Practice 2: P14 – 1:38.0433sec

Qualifying: P13 – 1:37.3425sec

Race 1: P11 – 1:38.8171sec

Race 2: P16 – 1:38.3843sec

Race 3: P9 – 1:38.3599sec

The next round of the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship will be held at Mount Panorama, Bathurst, on April 15-17

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 14.	Tony D’Alberto Jordan Cox Zac Soutar Fabian Coulthard Jay Hanson Will Brown Dylan O’Keefe Nathan Morcom Michael Caruso Ben Bargwanna Josh Buchan Bailey Sweeny	224 222 201 198 188 185 174 170 165 155 151 131

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Victoria: HMO Customer Racing’s Josh Buchan says it is critical that he extends his lead in the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship in the second round of the Super Series at Phillip Island in Victoria this weekend.

Buchan holds a two-point lead in the title race after a consistent run at the front in the opening round at Symmons Plains in Tasmania last month. While brimming with confidence, the 27-year-old is aiming to leave Phillip Island with a bigger buffer to protect his position into following round at Bathurst, where success penalties will play a significant role in the performance of his Hyundai i30 N TCR.

“To win this championship, we have to look at the big picture and score maximum points where we know we can,” Buchan said.

“We had plenty of pace at Phillip Island last year, and we’re going to try and surprise ourselves again and run at the front this weekend.

“Symmons was a real confidence booster and it’s fantastic to be leading the championship, but losing that last race still stings. So, there is a race for me to go and win this weekend and hopefully stretch my advantage at the top of the ladder.”

The Tassie curtain raiser was also a breakthrough weekend for team mates Nathan Morcom and Bailey Sweeny.

For Morcom, he scored his first pole position in the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship, finished on the podium in the opening race and lies fourth in the championship standings.

The Sydneysider is looking to continue his form at Phillip Island after finishing on the podium in the final race last year.

“The Hyundai i30 N TCR is quick at Phillip Island – we had pace all weekend last year,” he said.

“We need to capitalise on that this weekend and get as many points as we can.”

For Sweeny, the 19-year-old proved to be a star of the future at Symmons Plains when he challenged for a race victory – and scored a podium finish – in just his second TCR Championship race, despite never having raced at the tricky Tasmanian circuit.

 The hot shot rookie has also never competed at the fast and flowing seaside circuit on Phillip Island but isn’t letting his lack of experience dampen his confidence.

“I’m not here to make up the numbers or have any excuses,” he said.

“It’s another new track for me, and hopefully we can come away with another podium. That would be pretty cool.”

Track action for round two of the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship begins on Friday with two practice sessions, with qualifying and race one to be held on Saturday with the final two races on Sunday.

2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Championship Points

1. Josh Buchan        Hyundai i30 N TCR             118     

2. Zac Soutar             Honda Civic Type R             116

3. Tony D’Alberto     Honda Civic Type R             114

4. Jordan Cox           Peugeot 308 TCR                 106

5. Nathan Morcom Hyundai i30 N TCR             101

6. Will Brown            Audi RS3 LMS TCR               93

7. Jay Hanson           Audi RS3 LMS TCR               88

8. Michael Caruso    Alfa Romeo Giulietta           84

9. Brad Shiels            Hyundai i30 N TCR              80

10. Aaron Cameron  Peugeot 308 TCR                 74

14. Bailey Sweeny   Hyundai i30 N TCR             59

Phillip Island Fast Facts

Location: Cowes, Phillip Island, Victoria

Length:  4.445km

TCR Lap Record: 1:37.2350 – Dylan O’Keefe, 2019

TCR Pole Record: 1:35.6708 – Chaz Mostert, 2021

Schedule

Friday March 18                  Saturday March 19             Sunday March 20

Practice 1: 11:45am               Qualifying: 11:20am              Race 2: 1:05pm

Practice 2: 2:35pm                Race 1: 4:10pm                     Race3: 4:10pm-4:40pm

Nathan Morcom – Phillip Island Results 2021

Practice 1: P2 – 1:37.5899sec

Practice 2: P4 – 1:37.9535sec

Qualifying: P7 – 1:36.4936sec

Race 1: P19 – 1:51.3829sec

Race 2: P10 – 1:38.2918sec

Race 3: P3 – 1:38.2129sec

Josh Buchan – Phillip Island Results 2021

Practice 1: P13 – 1:38.2796sec

Practice 2: P9 – 1:38.4769sec

Qualifying: P9 – 1:36.9459sec

Race 1: P7 – 1:51.2595sec

Race 2: DNF – 1:39.3930sec

Race 3: P9 – 1:38.4034sec

Bailey Sweeny – Phillip Island Results 2021

Practice 1: NA

Practice 2: NA

Qualifying: NA

Race 1: NA

Race 2: NA

Race 3: NA

Watch all the action from the Super Series live and on-demand via Stan Sport.

HMO Customer Racing’s Josh Buchan continued his front-running form with a top five finish in Round 2 of the Tarmac Rallysprint series at Sydney Dragway on Thursday evening.

Fresh from the opening round of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship at Symmons Plains last weekend, the championship leader competed in the popular event, hosted by the North Shore Sporting Car Club, as part of an entry with Hyundai Australia and N Australia alongside rally driver Brendan Reeves and journalists from some of Australia’s leading automotive publications.

Buchan, with his partner Lauren Thirkell as co-driver, steered his own Hyundai i30 N DCT hatchback and completed four passes of the challenging 3.5km stage, which uses the carpark and access roads at the Dragway and was made even trickier by a torrential summer downpour. 

At the end of the event, Buchan finished with the fifth fastest time as the quickest front-wheel drive vehicle, mere seconds behind by heavily-modified rally cars with significantly more power, all-wheel drive and semi-slick tyres and ahead of Reeves in the all-new Hyundai i30 Sedan N, who finished ninth.

“What a great, fun event and a fantastic way for anyone to enjoy their car,” Buchan said.

“It doesn’t matter if you have a full-on rally car or a standard production car like my daily driver Hyundai i30 N DCT – you can be as casual or as competitive as you like.

“I had previously competed in the Rallysprint only once before, but the course was completely different last night and Mother Nature certainly threw a curve ball at us with the massive thunderstorm.

“But the i30 N proved that it is a genuine giant killer and we knocked off some pretty serious competition. I didn’t even change the tyre pressures, and we didn’t have to chuck it on a trailer to drive home at the end of the night

“We even beat Brendo at his own game. So, I’ll take that as another win for TCR.”

Buchan and Reeves will resume their Hyundai race v rally grudge match with N Australia for the next round of the Tarmac Rallysprint series at Sydney Dragway on March 10.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Symmons Plains Raceway, Tasmania: HMO Customer Racing’s Josh Buchan leads the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Championship after the opening round of the Super Series, the AWC Race Tasmania at Symmons Plains.

Buchan holds a four-point lead in the title race after a consistent weekend at the front of a super competitive field, finishing second, fifth and fourth in the three hotly-contested and drama-filled races at the tight Tasmanian circuit.

Buchan started the final race on pole position and led from lights to flag with unbeatable pace, setting the lap record in both of Sunday’s sprints. But he was robbed of a certain victory following a penalty during a safety car period.

Nathan Morcom also had a breakthrough weekend, scoring his first pole position in the Supercheap Auto TCR Series and finishing the opening race on the podium in third behind his team mate. Contact in the second race dropped Morcom to 13^th, but a charging drive in the final race saw him claw back to a sixth-place finish.

HMO Customer Racing’s new recruit, 19-year-old Bailey Sweeny proved that he will be a star of the future with a Top 10 qualifying result and scoring a podium finish with second place in race two. Unfortunately, Sweeny was boxed out to finish 15th in the opening sprint and failed to finish the final race after a strong showing inside the top 10.

The next round of the Speed Series with the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship is at Phillip Island in Victoria on March 18-20.

Josh Buchan Symmons Plains Results

Practice 1: P14 – 56.4288sec

Practice 2: P9 – 55.7042sec

Qualfying: P4 – 55.4549sec

Race 1: P2 – 55.9435sec

Race 2: P5 – 55.9195sec (Fastest Lap)

Nathan Morcom Symmons Plains Results

Practice 1: P6 – 56.0874sec

Practice 2: P7 – 55.6226sec

Qualfying: P1 – 55.2931sec

Race 1: P3 –55.9784sec

Race 2: P13 – 56.9748sec

Race 3: P6 – 56.6372sec

Bailey Sweeny Symmons Plains Results

Practice 1: P8 – 56.3029sec

Practice 2: P10 – 55.8600sec

Qualfying: P8 – 55.6402sec

Race 1: P15 – 56.0651sec

Race 2: P2 – 56.2343sec

Race 3: DNF – 56.4448sec

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

HMO Customer Racing is aiming to regain the TCR Australia title with a three-pronged attack, beginning at this weekend’s opening round of the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship at Symmons Plains near Launceston.

The Sydney-based team heads to the tight and technical 2.41km Tasmanian circuit full of confidence after a productive off-season in which its fleet of Hyundai i30 N TCR racers were fully refreshed, now featuring a striking new-look livery, and a positive pre-season shakedown test at Wakefield Park recently.

Nathan Morcom leads the team for a third consecutive season and hopes to be a consistent front runner in his bid for the title while Josh Buchan is looking to build on the race-winning performances during his breakthrough rookie season last year to mount a forceful championship challenge from the outset.

HMO Customer Racing will expand to a three-car team for the entire 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia championship with 18-year-old rising star, Bailey Sweeny, who is a member of the Erebus Racing Academy, joining the outfit to give it a formidable blend of youth and experience.

Nathan Morcom

“I’m really excited to get racing again and I’m confident that I, and the team, have never been better prepared for the start of a season. The cars look fast in their new livery, and we’re starting bigger and better than ever with three fully-refreshed Hyundai i30 N TCRs.”

“We had our ups and down last year, and we’ve taken what we learnt from the positive results and look to put those lessons into practice this season with consistent podium results to keep us in the hunt for the championship throughout the entire year and get these cars back to where they deserve – up the front.”

Josh Buchan

“The goals for 2022 are pretty simple; get out there and if anyone is in front of me then pass them. And hopefully that will be good enough to claim the series, or at least a couple of race wins along the way.”

“The value of scoring points is very, very obvious; going into the last round of the 2021 series we had a mathematical chance of taking the title but it fell apart. My aim is to be consistently up at the pointy end of the grid and take some gold.”

Bailey Sweeny

“This is undoubtedly the biggest weekend of my racing career so far; a new car, new competitors and a new track that I’ve never physically raced on before. But I’m really excited for the challenge and have been watching plenty of on-board videos and using my simulator to familiarise myself as much as possible.”

“The test day at Wakefield Park was really positive and I managed to get a lot of laps in. The Hyundai i30 N TCR is nothing like what I’ve driven in the past but it feels like a fantastic race car. I’ve got a steep learning curve ahead of me and I know that I’ve got a great team, and team mates alongside, to help me climb it.”

Words by TCR Australia – 25th March 2021

Duvashen Padayachee is looking forward to his maiden event for HMO Customer Racing at Mount Panorama for Round 3 of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series.

Padayachee, 30, will drive the Hyundai i30 N TCR that Nathan Morcom raced in 2019 – the first time that car has raced since Morcom won the final race of thee 2019 season at The Bend Motorsport Park.

His debut TCR race will be run under the #130, alongside the team’s other two cars for Morcom (#11) and Josh Buchan (#30).

The TCR round will be the debut for the turbo-charged touring cars at Mount Panorama, supporting the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour.

The race is a one-off for Padayachee at the moment, but after enjoying a recent test day at Wakefield Park, he says that he is looking forward to his touring car debut.

“I had an evaluation day at Wakefield Park which was quite nice. I really enjoyed the car,” he said.

“It’s a proper race car, and that enticed me to do the first round. It’s just a one-off at the moment, but I’ll see how it all plays out.

“Bathurst is awesome. I love the track, It’s the best track here in Australia. These cars will suit the track, the racing will be really good as well.”

Padayachee has spent the past few seasons competing in Porsche Carrera Cup competition, but ever keen for a new challenge, he selected TCR as his next step because of its diverse, competitive nature.

“I have never looked at Supercars or Super2 as a category that I can compete in due to work commitments, so the reason why I wanted to do TCR is that it’s one of the most competitive and professional class that Australia has outside of Supercars/Super2,” he said.

“You always want to race against the best. There’s current Supercars drivers in there, Supercars co-drivers and young up-and-comers. It’s got a great mix of driving talent and professional teams, so that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to be involved.

“You can go door-to-door, overtaking is easier than other classes, and the BOP (balance of performance) ensures that it is close between the brands. I think that will make the racing even better, particularly at a circuit like Bathurst.”

The look of Padayachee’s car will be revealed shortly, and is set to match the of HMO Customer Racing’s increasing stable of cars.

And thanks to the family’s connections to Hyundai, the choice of car and team made sense.

“Our family business is the largest Hyundai forklift dealer in Australia, so we work with Hyundai and Hyundai Material Handling a lot,” he said.

“Having a Hyundai TCR car, with a great organisation like HMO, means that everything is aligned and makes sense.

“Nathan and the HMO team do an awesome job. The cars are presented well, and being the champion team from 2019 with Will (Brown), you know that their cars are going to be capable of running at the front end. For me, there’s no better team to align with at the first round and hopefully a few more.”

Team manager Scott Fulcher says that he has been impressed with Padayachee’s initial introduction into the team and feels that he will be competitive from the outset.

“He did very well in testing. At Wakefield Park, Nathan set him a base line time, and they were very close in times through the day,” said Fulcher.

“He has experience in other categories and is certainly no slouch. He should certainly do well, despite his lack of front wheel drive miles.”