D’Alberto wins twice as Casha scores first victory in Queensland

Tony D’Alberto had a strong weekend as the TCR Australia series was back in action at Queensland Raceway, converting two pole positions into as many race victories in his Honda Civic, while newcomer Ryan Casha took his maiden win in the reversed grid second race.

Zac Soutar continues to lead the standings on 414 points, with Buchan 27 points behind; Jordan Cox has moved up into third place, though with a gap of 52 points.

Race 1 – Tom Oliphant had been fastest in qualifying, but as he had a five-place penalty for an engine change, he dropped to sixth, promoting Tony D’Alberto to pole ahead of Soutar. D’Alberto led at the start, while from the outside of row two, Aaron Cameron stormed to move up to second ahead of Soutar and Brad Harris. Oliphant was able to recover two spots to move up to fourth, passing Harris and also capitalising on the misfortune of Dylan O’Keeffe, whose Lynk & Co failed to get away at the start.

The key mover of the race was Cox, who started at the back after an engine change, and was up to eighth from 13th after just one lap, but from there he settled into a rhythm and made no further progress.

Race 2 – Casha was on pole position, courtesy of his tenth-place finish in Race 1. The GRM Peugeot driver left Will Harris behind and pulled away from the pack. Harris lost second place to Cox on lap 3, and continued to fall down the order, finishing the race in eighth position. D’Alberto recovered from tenth to finish fourth, picking up key points which ensured he would start the final race of the day from the pole, while there was trouble on lap 4 at T3, as the trio of Ben Bargwanna, Cameron, and Oliphant came together. Cameron and Bargwanna both dropped to the back with damage, while Oliphant was handed a drive-through penalty which relegated him to 11th.

Race 3 – At the start, pole sitter D’Alberto was briefly under threat from the fast-starting Hyundai of reigning champion Josh Buchan, but Buchan was soon re-passed by the Audi of current points leader Soutar at T3. D’Alberto would hold on to win ahead of Soutar and Buchan, while a fired-up Oliphant finished the final race of the day in fourth place, just ahead of Cameron’s Peugeot.

The championship will resume at Sydney Motorsport Park on October 18/20.

Queensland Raceway – Race 1

1. Tony D’Alberto (Wall Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 21 laps
2. Aaron Cameron (Team Valvoline GRM, Peugeot 308), 0.8126
3. Zac Soutar (Tufflift Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 4.8571

Queensland Raceway – Race 2

1. Ryan Casha (Team Valvoline GRM, Peugeot 308), 21 laps
2. Jordan Cox (Schaeffler GRM, Peugeot 308), 2.3516
3. Josh Buchan (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai Elantra N), 2.7146

Queensland Raceway – Race 3

1. Tony D’Alberto (Wall Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 21 laps
2. Zac Soutar (Tufflift Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 0.8341
3. Josh Buchan (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai Elantra N), 1.2845

Championship points

1. Z. Soutar, 531 pts; 2. J. Buchan, 504; 3. J. Cox, 479

Picture: TCR Australia