Jordan Cox encores to win TCR Australia’s last race at Bathurst
Jordan Cox ended the TCR Australia season with a second consecutive victory at Bathurst; this was the fourth race win for the Alfa Romeo driver who had already won twice in the season’s opener at Symmons Plain.
Aaron Cameron, who had won the first race on Wednesday, finished second just like in Race 2 and so secured the runner up’s spot in the championship standings behind Chaz Mostert and ahead of Cox.
Jason Moffat was the most disappointed man in the field; he had led for most of the race but was stopped with two laps to go by a tyre issue that deprived him and the Renault Mégane RS from scoring a maiden victory in the series.
Cameron and Cox shared the front row of the grid that was based on the points scored in the first two races, with Moffat and Jason Bargwanna filling the second row. Bargwanna’s Peugeot began smoking during the formation lap but at the start it moved into third ahead of Moffat, while Cameron sprinted from the pole to lead from Cox.
During the first lap, Moffat passed Jason Bargwanna and Cox, advancing to second. In lap 2, Ben Bargwanna and Michael Caruso passed John Martin for P5 and P6 respectively.
At the end of lap 3, Moffat took the lead from Cameron who also lost the second place to Cox; further behind Caruso passed Ben Bargwanna for P5.
In lap 4, Nathan Morcom’s Hyundai i30 N that was running in seventh position stopped on the track after hitting the wall and the safety car was deployed; Martin took the opportunity to pit for new front tyres.
When racing resumed in lap 7, Moffat led from Cox, Caruso and Jason Bargwanna, while Luke King overtook Zac Soutar for seventh. In lap 9 Caruso moved up to fourth ahead of Jason Bargwanna; two laps later Ben Bargwanna too passed his father for P5, while Brad Shiels dropped from ninth to 11th as he was passed by Christopher Mies and Josh Buchan.
In lap 12, the front right tyre of the leading Renault Mégane delaminated and Moffat had to pit, losing one lap; Cox was the new leader with Cameron right behind him and Caruso in third. Ben Bargwanna was running fourth, but suddenly his pace faded, and he dropped back.
Cox kept Cameron at bay to claim his second win in two days by half-a-second, with Caruso completing the podium ahead of Jason Bargwanna who was then dropped to fifth behind King by a five-second penalty for jump start.
Bathurst – Race 3
1. Jordan Cox (Garry Rogers Motorsport, Alfa Romeo Giulietta), 15 laps
2. Aaron Cameron (Team Valvoline GRM, Peugeot 308), 0.5832
3. Michael Caruso (Valvoline Racing GRM, Alfa Romeo Giulietta), 1.4164
4. Luke King (Melbourne Performance Centre, Audi RS 3 LMS), 11.9009
5. Jason Bargwanna (GRM Customer Racing, Peugeot 308), 13.2122
Championship points
1. C. Mostert 486; 2. A. Cameron 453; 3. J. Cox 434
Picture: TCR Australia/Jack Martin
