HMO Customer Racing has reclaimed its front-running form with two race victories – and the overall victory – for Bailey Sweeny in the fifth round of the 2023 TCR Australia Championship at Sandown International Raceway.
It is the third outright victory for Sweeny this year, and the fourth for HMO Customer Racing which has now won seven of the 12 races held so far this season.
Sweeny also scored his maiden pole position in the TCR Australia Championship at Sandown and returned to the top of the championship standings. The 20-year-old holds a 30-point advantage over teammate Josh Buchan as the series heads into the final two rounds at Sydney Motorsport Park and Mount Panorama where they will face an international challenge with 12 of the world’s best TCR drivers arriving in Australia as part of the new-for-2023 TCR World Tour.
In typical Melbourne fashion, the Sandown round began in wet and cold conditions for the opening practice session on Friday which both drivers treated conservatively with Sweeny setting the eighth fastest laptime while Buchan was 13th.
The conditions improved in the afternoon, allowing the team to focus on fine tuning the Hyundai i30 N and Hyundai i30 Sedan N TCR machines. Both drivers improved their positions, with Sweeny in fifth and Buchan in seventh.
In qualifying, Sweeny literally saved his best for the very last lap to snatch his first pole position in TCR Australia while Buchan mustered the sixth fastest time in the i30 Sedan N TCR.
Unfortunately, Sweeny didn’t hold the top spot for too long when the lights went green for the opening race as he was swamped off the start line and then boxed out in a mixed-field melee on the opening lap. He crossed the finish line in fifth place but was later relegated to ninth following a post-race five-second penalty, which in turn elevated Buchan to seventh.
Coincidentally, this gave Sweeny another front-row start in the second race where the top 10 grid positions are reversed. He didn’t waste the opportunity this time around and quickly stormed into the lead to win by a comfortable 2.5 second margin and score HMO Customer Racing’s first victory at Sandown Raceway. Buchan battled with the mid-field runners to greet the chequered flag in fifth place.
Starting from pole position again in the third race, Sweeny once again lost ground off the start line but charged his way to the front after just three laps and managed the rest of the race to cross the finish line first, with Buchan in seventh.
The sixth round of the 2023 TCR Australia Championship will be held under lights at Sydney Motorsport Park on November 3-4 as part of the TCR World Tour.
What the Drivers said
Car 30: i30 Sedan N TCR – Josh Buchan
“We knew coming into Sandown that the track wouldn’t play to the strengths of the Hyundai i30 Sedan N TCR, and we weren’t wrong – it was a pretty tough weekend on our side of the garage. We lack straight line speed, and Sandown’s long straights really highlighted that. We had good lap speed, but we couldn’t race when there were cars around us, and it made me a bit of a sitting duck.
“We worked hard all weekend and still scored good points in each of the three races. We’re still second in the championship and we’ve got two tracks to finish off the year that I’m really looking forward to and think will suit our car a lot better.”
Car 130: i30 N TCR – Bailey Sweeny
“I couldn’t be happier with two race wins, my first pole position and reclaiming the championship lead that I’ve held all year except for after the last round in Queensland. It’s great to have a bit of a buffer on the championship ladder heading into the final two rounds with the TCR World Tour, because I reckon there could be a bit of chaos with those guys on the grid at Sydney Motorsport Park and Bathurst. But I can’t wait to get stuck into it against them.”
Race Results: Round 5, Sandown Raceway, Victoria
| Josh Buchan | Bailey Sweeny | |
| Practice 1 | P13 (1:24.1734sec) | P8 (1:23.2276sec) |
| Practice 2 | P7 (1:16.2149sec) | P5 (1:15.9433sec) |
| Qualifying | P6 (1:14.6466sec) | P1 (1:14.1457sec) |
| Race 1 | P7 (1:15.6938sec) | P9 (1:15.1425sec |
| Race 2 | P5 (1:5.5556sec) | P1 (1:14.89065sec) |
| Race 3 | P7 (1:15.5163sec) | P1 (1:14.9583sec – FL) |
2023 TCR Australia Championship Standings (provisional)
| Position | Name | Car | Points |
| 1. | Bailey Sweeny | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 589 |
| 2. | Josh Buchan | Hyundai i30 Sedan N TCR | 559 |
| 3 | Aaron Cameron | Peugeot 308 TCR | 551 |
| 4. | Tony D’Alberto | Honda Civic Type R | 506 |
| 5. | Jordan Cox | Peugeot 308 TCR | 496 |
| 6. | Ben Bargwanna | Peugeot 308 R | 486 |
| 7. | Lachlan Minneef | Audi RS3 LMS | 465 |
| 8. | Michael Clemente | Cupra Leon TCR | 434 |
| 9. | Kody Garland | Peugeot 308 TCR | 389 |
| 10. | Tom Oliphant | Lynk&Co 3 TCR | 356 |