Buchan wins twice in Sydney and moves on top of the stadings
TCR Australia reigning champion Josh Buchan made a step forward in the defence of his title with a couple of race wins in the penultimate event of the series at Sydney Motorsport Park. The HMO Customer Racing Hyundai driver capitalised also on the misfortunes of the previous points leader Zac Soutar, who was eliminated in a crash at the start of Race 2 and moved on top of the standings with a margin of 36 points.
The other hero of the weekend was Jordan Cox who was at the wheel of one of the two new Peugeot 308 P51 cars designed and built by Garry Rogers Motorsport. After difficult qualifying and Race 1, Cox exploited the opportunity to start Race 3 from P3 on the reversed grid, overtook Ben Bargwanna’s other new Peugeot and led for the whole race, resisting the pressure from Dylan O’Keeffe’s Lynk & Co.
Race 1 – Buchan started from pole and resisted an attempt from Brad Harris who was second on the grid; behind them Tony D’Alberto from P4 moved ahead of O’Keefe, but the latter was able to retake the third position in lap 3. One lap later, Tom Oliphant too overtook D’Alberto. Up front, Buchan, after rejecting Harris’ attacks during the first couple of laps, built a small gap. O’Keefe bit into Harris’ advantage and closed on him, but time ran out and Harris retained the second place behind Buchan. The points leader Soutar cruised to the end in P6, while Cox and Bargwanna drove the new Peugeot cars to finish eighth and ninth.
Race 2 – Glenn Nirwan’s Audi and Bargwanna’s Peugeot shared the front row of the top ten reversed grid. Bargwanna led the field at the start, while Cox from P3 passed Nirwan for second. During the first lap, Soutar was pushed by Brad Harris, spun across the track and was collected by D’Alberto. The safety car was deployed to recover their cars, while Harris pitted for repairs and rejoined. When racing resumed, Bargwanna and Cox were chased by Will Harris and Aaron Cameron who had recovered to fourth after starting from P12; then Cameron overtook Harris for third. Halfway through the race, Bargwanna lost the lead as he was passed in succession by Cox, Cameron, Harris and Oliphant. There was a tough fight for second place, with Oliphant clashing with Cameron who went wide and dropped to sixth, while Oliphant retired a few laps later. Up front, Cox was now under pressure from Harris and O’Keeffe, with Buchan who had climbed to fourth. The quartet kept on fighting until the end, but Cox performed a great defensive drive and held on to the lead until the end beating O’Keeffe by inches, with Will Harris, Buchan and Cameron following. After the race, Harris was handed a 5-second penalty and dropped to fourth behind Buchan.
Race 3 – Buchan and O’Keeffe were ahead on the grid based on the total points scored in the first two races; D’Alberto was sidelined because of the damage to his car. O’Keeffe was slow at the start, while Buchan led the field from Brad Harris, Cox, Will Harris and Bargwanna. O’Keeffe began to recover and made contact with Will Harris who went off, pitted for repairs and rejoined. O’Keefe continued to climb and passed Cox for P3 in lap 4; two laps later Cox was demoted to fifth by his teammate Cameron. A close fight for second place followed, with Brad Harris under pressure from O’Keeffe and Cameron who both passed him in lap 8. O’Keeffe, then closed in on the leader, but Buchan kept him at bay until the end, while Cameron completed the podium.
The season will come to an end at Bathurst Mount Panorama on November 8/10.
Sydney – Race 1
- Josh Buchan (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai Elantra N), 16 laps
- Brad Harris (Wall Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 2.0294
- Dylan O’Keeffe (Ashley Seward Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03), 2.7127
Sydney – Race 2
- Jordan Cox (Garry Rogers Motorsport, Peugeot 308 P51), 14 laps
- Dylan O’Keeffe (Ashley Seward Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03), 0.3592
- Josh Buchan (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai Elantra N), 16 laps
Sydney – Race 3
- Josh Buchan (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai Elantra N), 16 laps
- Dylan O’Keeffe (Ashley Seward Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03), 0.4030
- Aaron Cameron (Garry Rogers Motorsport, Peugeot 308), 2.2510
Championship points
- J. Buchan, 640 pts; 2. Z. Soutar, 604; 3. B. Harris, 579
Picture: TCR Australia
