Josh Buchan leads TCR Australia despite a penalty

HMO Customer Racing’s Josh Buchan emerged as the first leader of TCR Australia after the season opener at Symmons Plains. Buchan and his Hyundai i30 N finished second in Race 1 and fifth in Race 2 (won by Jay Hanson and Jordan Cox respectively) after being the first to take the chequered flag in Race 3. However, Buchan was given a five-second penalty for weaving behind the safety-car and dropped to fourth, meaning that Zac Soutar inherited his maiden victory.

Despite the penalty Buchan leads the standings, two points clear of Soutar and four of Tony D’Alberto.

In Race 1, Hanson gave his new Audi RS 3 LMS TCR a dream debut to take a dominating victory. Starting from second on the grid, he moved into the lead from polesitter Nathan Morcom and kept the first position for the whole 26 laps. Behind him, Buchan passed his teammate Morcom to secure second, while James Moffat who had qualified sixth, advanced to finish fourth ahead of last year’s vice-champion Aaron Cameron.

The second race saw Cameron sharing the front row of the top-ten reversed grid with Cox, they clashed at Turn 1, which resulted in Cameron’s retirement. Cox maintained the lead resisting the pressure from Bailey Sweeny and D’Alberto who completed the podium. Behind them, Will Brown overtook Moffat for fourth; then Moffat collided with Hanson, they both retired and Moffat was ruled out of Race 3. Brown made a last attempt to pass D’Alberto for P3 but went wide onto the grass.

At the start of the final race, Buchan led from pole position, while Soutar hit Brown into T1 and sent him off. Another incident happened in lap 3, when Brad Shiels punted Dylan O’Keffe into the wall, which resulted in the race to be red-flagged. It restarted behind the safety car for eight laps. Buchan took the chequered flag with a 3-second margin over Soutar, with D’Alberto and Cox in third and fourth. However, a five-second penalty dropped Buchan to fourth and handed Soutar his maiden win.

The championship will resume at Phillip Island on March 18/20.

Symmons Plains – Race 1
1. Jay Hanson (Melbourne Performance Centre, Audi RS 3 LMS TCR), 26 laps
2. Josh Buchan (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 5.2050
3. Nathan Morcom (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 7.3775

Symmons Plains – Race 2
1. Jordan Cox (Swiftx GRM, Peugeot 308), 19 laps
2. Bailey Sweeny (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 0.4451
3. Tony D’Alberto (Honda Wall Racing, Honda Civic Type R Fk7), 1.4175

Symmons Plains – Race 3
1. Zac Soutar (Team Soutar Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R Fk7), 16 laps
2. Tony D’Alberto (Honda Wall Racing, Honda Civic Type R Fk7), 0.9320
3. Jordan Cox (Swiftx GRM, Peugeot 308), 1.5478
 

Championship points
1. J. Buchan 118 pts; 2. Z. Soutar 116; 3. T. D’Alberto 114 

Picture: TCR Australia