Hyundai drivers Josh Buchan and Bailey Sweeny are doing a rain dance to help extend their title lead ahead of this weekend’s fifth round of the 2023 TCR Australia Championship at Melbourne’s Sandown Raceway.
Buchan overtook Sweeny at the top of the championship ladder in the previous round at Queensland Raceway, and heads into a potentially soggy Sandown showdown just one point clear of his teammate.
Both drivers are hoping the predicted cold and wet weather is accurate as it will potentially negate the success penalties they carry from dominating the opening part of the championship, in which HMO Customer Racing has won five of the 12 races run so far this season.
The historic 3.1km Sandown Raceway is located in the south-west suburbs of Melbourne and is dictated by its two long straights, which rewards a car with excellent traction out of slow corners and good straight-line speed. These attributes are compromised in dry conditions when carrying additional weight.
So, Buchan and Sweeny are hoping to use their wet weather driving talent at Sandown to storm to the front in their respective i30 Sedan N TCR and i30 N TCR machinery and maintain their championship momentum.
Sandown will host the last event of the Shannons Speed Series before the teams face an armada of international competitors in the Australian leg of the TCR World Tour with the final two rounds at Sydney Motorsport Park and Mount Panorama.
HMO Customer Racing will have two 30-minute practice sessions at Sandown on Friday to fine tune the cars ahead of qualifying on Saturday before three races over the remainder of the weekend.
Fans can catch all the action from Sandown Raceway and the Motorsport Australia Shannons Speed Series live and on-demand via Stan Sport.
What the drivers said:
Car 30: i30 Sedan N TCR – Josh Buchan
“I’m hoping for a repeat of last year, with lots of rain and lots of chaos. It’s what we want, as – like Queensland Raceway – it’s not the kind of track that will play to our strengths in normal conditions. Having said that, the two sections of corners in between the drag strips are some of my favourite stretches of bitumen in Australia.
“I don’t know how realistic it will be to hold on to the championship lead – even after qualifying – this weekend, but I’ll do my best. There are still two big events to come after this with the TCR World Tour at Sydney Motorsport Park and the Bathurst International, and while it’s nice to lead it doesn’t mean much at this point. I’ve got my eyes forward on the rest of the year and making sure I’m there at the end, and not just right now.”
Car 130: i30 N TCR – Bailey Sweeny
“It looks like we’re in for another potential wet weekend at Sandown. We had some pretty horrendous weather there last year, so I’m not scared about that as we had good pace in both the wet and dry conditions.
“It would actually be good for us if it is raining as it will help lessen the impact we have carrying the maximum success penalty from qualifying at Queensland Raceway, even though we had a shocker of a weekend after that.
“My focus is regaining the championship lead again after holding it for the entire year, except for one race, and set us up with good momentum heading into the two TCR World Tour rounds to finish the year.”
2023 TCR Australia Championship Standings – after Rd 4, Queensland Raceway.
| Position | Name | Car | Points |
| 1. | Josh Buchan | Hyundai i30 Sedan N TCR | 457 |
| 2. | Bailey Sweeny | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 456 |
| 3. | Aaron Cameron | Peugeot 308 TCR | 425 |
| 4. | Jordan Cox | Peugeot 308 TCR | 400 |
| 5. | Tony D’Alberto | Honda Civic Type R | 387 |
| 6. | Lachlan Minneef | Audi RS3 LMS | 384 |
| 7. | Ben Bargwanna | Peugeot 308 TCR | 382 |
| 8. | Michael Clemente | Cupra Leon TCR | 372 |
| 9. | Kody Garland | Peugeot 308 TCR | 313 |
| 10. | Brad Harris | Honda Civic Type R | 273 |
Round 5: Sandown Raceway
| Track Facts | |
| Location | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Length | 3.104 km |
| TCR Pole Record | 1:12.2299 sec, Jay Hanson (Audi RS3 LMS) – 2022 |
| TCR Lap Record | 1:14.6863 sec, Will Brown (Hyundai i30 TCR) – 2019 |
TCR Schedule – Round 5: Queensland Raceway
| Friday September 8 | Saturday September 9 | Sunday September 10 |
| Practice 1: 11:35am | Qualifying: 11:40am | Race 2: 12:40pm |
| Practice 2: 2:45pm | Race 1: 3:35pm | Race 3: 4:15pm |