Queensland Raceway, QLD: HMO Customer Racing has completed the fifth round of the 2022 TCR Australia at Queensland Raceway with all three drivers in the top 10 championship standings for the first time.
The team overcame topsy-turvy practice sessions to show impressive form in qualifying with Bailey Sweeny and Nathan Morcom progressing through to the top 10 shootout and setting the fourth and sixth fastest times respectively. The weight penalty for Josh Buchan’s success in the previous round at Sydney Motorsport Park hampered his outright pace on the long straights, missing out on a Top 10 berth by a fraction of a second and qualifying in 12th position.
Sweeny led the team home in a dramatic 21-lap opening race, fending off numerous attacks to hold fourth place with Buchan charging through to cross the finish line in 10th, which would have elevated to him to pole position for the reverse-grid second sprint. However, a post-race 30 second penalty for a first-lap skirmish demoted him to 14th in the final results.
It was a disastrous race for Morcom who was an innocent victim when a rival lost control under brakes into the final corner and slammed into the side of Morcom’s Hyundai i30 N TCR, causing considerable damage and a forced retirement.
Buchan led home the trio of HMO Customer Racing drivers in a processional second race, gaining places to cruise home in ninth, just ahead of Morcom with Sweeny getting boxed out in the opening laps to cross the finish line in 11th.
All three drivers moved forward in the double points-paying third race, with Sweeny jostling through to fifth, three positions ahead of Buchan while Morcom muscled his way from near the back to cross the finish line in 10th.
Sweeny’s string of solid results has elevated him into the top 10 in the championship standings in ninth. Buchan remains in title contention in fifth while Morcom dropped to 10th.
The penultimate round of the 2022 Supercheap TCR Australia Championship will be held at Sandown Raceway in Victoria on September 16-18.
What the drivers say:
Car 130 – Bailey Sweeny
“It’s been a solid weekend for my first ever visit to Queensland Raceway; I really like the track and we had some good, tough racing. In terms of the championship, we scored some good points and there were a few highlights for me with good pace in the car. We learnt a lot more this weekend with set-up and it feels like we’ve made some big gains there. I’m already looking forward to going to Sandown, which I have raced at before, and build on the momentum.”
Bailey Sweeny
Practice 1: P6 – 1:14.3804sec
Practice 2: P14 – 1:15.0246sec
Qualifying: P4 – 1:12.7866sec
Race 1: P4 – 1:14.2537sec
Race 2: P11 – 1:142863sec
Race 3: P5 – 1:14.7441sec
Car 30– Josh Buchan
“We were on the backfoot from the start of the weekend with an issue that prevented us from any running in the opening practice session, and we only really went out in second practice to confirm the team had rectified the problems. That meant we couldn’t get through our program and we had to run on-the-fly into the races. The team did a great job with the car and I felt we had really good pace. Unfortunately, we lost the pole in race two which would have improved our weekend, so we just chipped away in the final two races. We will consolidate, take the success ballast out of the car for the next race and give it a nudge at Sandown.”
Josh Buchan
Practice 1: P18 – 1:16.6045sec
Practice 2: P15 – 1:15.5525secsec
Qualifying: P12 – 1:.13.4353sec
Race 1: P14– 1:14.9454sec
Race 2: P9 – 1:14.4147sec
Race 3: P8 – 1:14.5816sec
Car 11 – Nathan Morcom
“We surprised ourselves with great speed in qualifying and was optimistic we could be among the front runners. That all came to a grinding halt with the accident in race one, which was a real shame. But I can’t thank the boys enough for the Herculean effort they put in to rebuild the car overnight. It was a massive job. It was hard to fight back from there, but I clawed as much ground as I could.”
Nathan Morcom
Practice 1: P10 – 1:14.4958sec
Practice 2: P12 – 1:14.8446sec
Qualifying: P6 – 1:13.0655sec
Race 1: DNF – 1:14.6716sec
Race 2: P10 – 14.5927sec
Race 3: P10 – 1:14.7441sec
2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship Standings
1. Tony D’Alberto Honda Civic Type R 544
2. Jordan Cox Peugeot 308 TCR 486
3. Jay Hanson Audi RS3 LMS TCR 484
4. Zac Soutar Honda Civic Type R 469
5. Josh Buchan Hyundai i30 N TCR 459
6. Will Brown Audi RS3 LMS TCR 455
7. Dylan O’Keefe Peugeot 308 TCR 444
8. Aaron Cameron Peugeot 308 TCR 415
9. Bailey Sweeny Hyundai i30 N TCR 407
10. Nathan Morcom Hyundai i30 N TCR 399