HMO Customer Racing drivers Josh Buchan and Bailey Sweeny have swapped positions at the top of the 2023 TCR Australia Championship after a challenging fourth round of the series at Queensland Raceway.
On a weekend of missed opportunities for the Hyundai team, Buchan inherited the championship lead – by a solitary point – after Sweeny was forced to fight back from an electrical issue that led to him being disqualified from the first of three races held on the technical 3.13km circuit.
The weekend started with plenty of potential, with Sweeny and Buchan setting the fifth and sixth fastest times in the opening practice session. Sweeny, the 20-year-old winner of last year’s Rookie of the Year award, showcased his pace in the second practice session with the second fastest time, while Buchan’s mechanics fine-tuned the handling of his Hyundai i30 Sedan N TCR but he could only manage 10th place on well-used tyres.
Sweeny backed-up his speed in qualifying with the second fastest time – just 0.17sec behind the polesitter – while Buchan narrowly missed out on a second-row starting position, ending the session with the seventh-fastest time.
The HMO Customer Racing garage was sent into a frenzy moments before the opening race when Sweeny’s car failed to start with an unexpected electrical issue. The team scrambled to get the Hyundai i30 N TCR out of the garage in time for a pit lane start, but the car stalled moments before the start and was forced back into the garage. He managed to get out on track two laps behind the leaders and soldiered through the remainder of the race while managing the issue.
However, he was later disqualified from the results with the race stewards declaring the vehicle was not re-started in accordance to the regulations.
Buchan, meanwhile, was involved in a titanic mid-field tussle all the way throughout the 21-lap opening race, and eventually made up two positions to cross the finish line in fifth position.
He couldn’t capitalise on the improved starting position in the second race with the top-10 placegetters in reverse order after he was boxed out in a wheel-banging brawl on the opening lap and lost one place to finish sixth.
Similarly, Sweeny couldn’t take full advantage of his outright speed now that his car was fully repaired, having been forced to start from the rear of the grid. But he managed to charge his way through the backmarkers and climbed from 13th to finish ninth.
Both drivers were hampered during the final race by unnecessary driving incidents. Sweeny, again starting from the back of the grid, was held-up by the slowest drivers during the opening laps, and then, once past them, he was nudged off the track following an ambitious overtaking move under brakes in the final turn.
He quickly reclaimed his position in front of them and set about charging his way through the mid-field runners to cross the finish line in sixth. He was later classified in fifth following a post-race penalty for defending champion Tony D’Alberto.
Buchan, meanwhile, was forced to react and avoid a desperate first-lap attack from rival Jordan Cox, who collided with his i30 Sedan N TCR and damaged the front suspension. The 28-year-old managed to continue and soldiered through with his mis-handling machine to finish seventh.
The fifth round of the 2023 TCR Australia Championship will be held at Sandown Raceway in Victoria on September 8-10.
Car 30: i30 Sedan N TCR – Josh Buchan
“Queensland Raceway hasn’t been kind to us again, but I leave here with the lead of the series – somehow! It was a weird weekend on my side of the garage, as we never really had a fast car other than in qualifying and I made a slight error there which cost us a second row starting position that could have led to a much better outcome in the races. That’s on me, and I should have done a better job.
“In terms of the racing, this track does not suit our car one bit. To get away with more points than my teammate Bailey, and lead the series, means I can’t complain at all. I could have had a better result in the third race but got speared into.
“All in all, there is a silver lining to a tough weekend and I’m happy to roll onto Sandown in the championship lead.”
Car 130: i30 N TCR – Bailey Sweeny
“This weekend really threw everything at us, and it was a real character-building event on my side of the garage as nothing seemed to go right for us. The pace was there in the car, which we showed in qualifying and then fighting back through the field in the final race. I am confident we had the second quickest car all weekend, but the results don’t show that.
“We’re still in the battle, but we should have extended the lead we had in the championship coming into this round.”
Race Results: Round 4, Queensland Raceway, Victoria
| Josh Buchan | Bailey Sweeny | |
| Practice 1 | P11 (1:15.6502sec) | P4 (1:14.8496sec) |
| Practice 2 | P10 (1:15.2359sec) | P2 (1:14.5483sec) |
| Qualifying | P7 (1:14.2364sec) | P2 (1:13.8942sec) |
| Race 1 | P5 (1:15.1291sec) | DSQ |
| Race 2 | P6 (1:15.8994sec) | P9 (1:6.1195sec) |
| Race 3 | P6 (1:16.1270sec) | P5 (1:150168sec) |
2023 TCR Australia Championship Standings (provisional)
| 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 R | 382 |
| 8. | Michael Clemente | Cupra Leon TCR | 372 |
| 9. | Kody Garland | Peugeot 308 TCR | 313 |
| 10. | Brad Harris | Honda Civic Type R | 273 |
