Hyundai wins 2023 TCR Australia Championship with twin wins at Bathurst
- Hyundai driver Josh Buchan crowned 2023 TCR Australia champion in dramatic Bathurst finale
- HMO Customer Racing wins the TCR Australia teams’ title for the third time
- Bailey Sweeny finished third in the championship scoring the most race wins this season
Hyundai driver Josh Buchan clinched the 2023 TCR Australia Championship in a dramatic final round at Mount Panorama on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Sydneysider battled against the best touring car drivers in the world as Bathurst played host to the second Australian TCR World Tour round, overtaking his teammate Bailey Sweeny who was hampered by mechanical gremlins all weekend.
Buchan finished the season with 807 points with HMO Customer Racing scoring its third TCR Australia Teams’ Championship.
The HMO Customer Racing teammates were evenly matched during practice, with Buchan and Sweeny finishing fourth and fifth in the opening session. The duo reversed the order in the second hit-out, with Sweeny crossing the line with the 10th fastest time while Buchan was less than 0.1sec slower in 11th.
The drama began to unfold in qualifying as Sweeny’s Hyundai i30 N TCR was hobbled by a turbo charger problem that significantly affected his top speed on the critical long straights of Mount Panorama. Although he set the fastest sector across the twists and turns across the top of the mountain, he missed out on promotion to the top 10 shootout for the first time this season, finishing in 16th position.
Buchan, meanwhile, progressed into the final session of qualifying as one of only two TCR Australia competitors to match the TCR World Tour rivals, setting the eighth fastest time in his Hyundai i30 Sedan N TCR.
He maintained that position in a relatively trouble-free first 11-lap race, which handed him a second row start for the reverse-grid second race and closed the championship gap to Sweeny, who recovered a few positions to cross the line in 12th.
Buchan lost ground during the opening laps of the second race after he was boxed out by the aggressive international competitors and lacked pace on used tyres, falling back to 11th - but third among the TCR Australia drivers - at the chequered flag.
Sweeny, meanwhile, further succumbed to turbocharger issues, and made numerous unscheduled visits to the pitlane to rectify the issue. While he crossed the finished line in 21st position, he wasn’t officially classified.
With a point to prove in the final race, Sweeny bolted from 17th on the grid to charge through to eighth place – and second of the TCR Australia competitors – only to be disqualified after the race for a technical infringement owing to the turbo charger issues, relegating him to third in the championship standings.
Buchan, meanwhile, nursed his advantage and stayed out of trouble to finish 12th (fourth in TCR Australia) in the final race to seal his first Australian motor racing championship.
Car 30: i30 Sedan N TCR - Josh Buchan
“What a crazy weekend, and a tough way to wrap up the championship. We started off with good pace in practice, made it into the Top 10 shootout for qualifying and then had a good result in the first race that really set us up for the rest of the weekend.
I didn’t have much in the last two races and really was just holding on. I was on the radio for the whole time during the last race just asking where I was and what I needed to do to bring it home. Thankfully, it was enough… and here we are, champions for 2023!
“It’s a massive relief. I haven’t won a national championship before, and I’m lost for words at the moment. But super relieved it’s done.”
Car 130: i30 N TCR - Bailey Sweeny
“It’s been a bittersweet weekend at Bathurst, and a weekend of what could have been. We started off strong in practice on Friday and should have had a top five car, which would have been enough to clinch the title. But we were on the back foot from Race 1 with mechanical issues that we kept chasing.
“It was good to show the pace we should have had in the final race, as we were one of the fastest cars on track and it was great fun racing from 17th through to eighth.
“To come so close is hard to take and to say I’m disappointed is a bit of understatement. But congratulations to Josh and the team, and I’m proud of the results we’ve had this year on my side of the garage with race wins, pole positions and leading the championship for almost the entire year.”
Race Results: Round 6, Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW
|
Josh Buchan |
Bailey Sweeny |
Practice 1 |
P4 (2:17.0646sec) |
P5 (2:17.1395sec) |
Practice 2 |
P11 (2:16.0020sec) |
P10 (2:15.9286sec) |
Qualifying |
P8 (2:15.1008sec) |
P16 (2:15.9187sec) |
Race 1 |
P8 (2:16.6804sec) |
P12 (2:16.7331sec) |
Race 2 |
P11 (2:17.3900sec) |
DNF (2:26:9432sec) |
Race 3 |
P12 (2:18.1057sec) |
DSQ (2:16.2725sec) |
2023 TCR Australia Championship Standings
Position |
Name |
Car |
Points |
1. |
Josh Buchan |
Hyundai i30 Sedan N TCR |
807 |
2. |
Tony D’Alberto |
Honda Civic Type R |
759 |
3. |
Bailey Sweeny |
Hyundai i30 N TCR |
748 |
4 |
Aaron Cameron |
Peugeot 308 TCR |
743 |
5. |
Lachlan Minneef |
Audi RS3 LMS |
659 |
6. |
Jordan Cox |
Peugeot 308 TCR |
656 |
7. |
Ben Bargwanna |
Peugeot 308 R |
602 |
8. |
Tom Oliphant |
Lynk&Co 3 TCR |
564 |
9. |
Michael Clemente |
Cupra Leon TCR |
504 |
10. |
Zac Soutar |
Audi RS3 LMS |
477 |
Hyundai i30 Sedan N TCR
The Hyundai i30 Sedan N TCR (known as the Elantra N TCR in Europe and North America) is the latest generation touring car developed by Hyundai Motorsport’s Customer Racing division.
Revealed for the first time at the Beijing Motor Show in 2020 as a replacement for the successful i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR models, it quickly established itself as a championship winner when Sebastien Loeb Racing won the 2021 TCR Europe title with Spanish driver Mikel Azcona.
Last year, Hyundai Motorsport clinched its third drivers’ title and second teams’ championship in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) with Azcona and BRC Hyundai Squadra Corsa, as well as a clean sweep of the TCR category in the North American IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Bryan Herta Autosport claiming the drivers’, teams’ and manufacturers’ titles and a double title victory for Niels Langeveld and Target Competition in the ultra-competitive TCR Italy regional championship.
The Hyundai Elantra N currently sits second and third on the 2023 TCR World Tour with former champions Norbert MIchelisz and Michel Azcona first and second in the drivers’ championship standings and BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse second in the team’s rankings.
Based on the road-going i30 Sedan N, the TCR variant maintains strong links between the Hyundai Motorsport vehicles that racing fans see on track and the standard production cars they drive and in showrooms.
In line with TCR regulations, the i30 Sedan N TCR is front-wheel drive and powered by a 2.0-litre turbo charged four-cylinder engine built specifically by Hyundai Motorsport and directly related to the motor in the road-going i30 Sedan N.
Hyundai i30 Sedan N TCR Specifications |
|
Length |
4,710 mm |
Width |
1,950 mm |
Wheelbase |
2,750 mm |
Weight |
1,265 kg (including driver) |
Engine |
1,998 cc turbocharged four-cylinder, DOHC, 16 valves |
Power |
257 kW at 7,000 rpm |
Torque |
450 Nm at 3,500 rpm |
Transmission |
Six-speed sequential with paddle shift, front-wheel drive |
Suspension (Front) |
Fully adjustable MacPherson strut with coil springs & anti-roll bar |
Suspension (Rear) |
Fully adjustable four-arm multi-link with coil springs & anti-roll bar |
Steering |
Electrically assisted rack and pinion |
Brakes (Front) |
Six-piston callipers and 380 mm ventilated disc |
Brakes (Rear) |
Two-piston callipers with 278 mm disc |
Wheels |
18” x 10” Braid alloys specifically designed for Hyundai Motorsport |
Tyres |
Kumho TCR slicks |
Fuel Tank |
100 litres with dry-brake system |
About the 2023 TCR Australia Championship
The 2023 TCR Australia Championship consists of seven rounds, each with three races.
Two practice sessions are held before the opening qualifying session with the top 10 fastest drivers progressing to a 15-minute shootout that determines the final starting positions for the opening race.
In the second race, the drivers that finish race one in the top 10 positions are reversed. And, in the final race - which pays double points - the starting positions are determined by the driver’s aggregated point score.
As for the points scoring system, the fastest five drivers in qualifying score bonus points, and, in the three races, the first and third races are worth equal points while the reverse Top 10 second race is worth 80 per cent (see table below). The driver with the fastest lap in each of the three races also picks-up an extra point.
Points Scoring System
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
Qualifying |
10 |
7 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Race 1 & 3 |
50 |
46 |
42 |
38 |
36 |
31 |
29 |
27 |
25 |
23 |
Race 2 |
40 |
36 |
32 |
28 |
26 |
24 |
22 |
20 |
18 |
16 |
Uniquely, this season will include two rounds of the new TCR World Tour in Australia, including Sydney Motorsport Park and the season finale Bathurst International at Mount Panorama in November .
The TCR World Tour, which replaces the previous WTCR World Touring Car Cup, will be contested over nine rounds from the 200 TCR-sanctioned events to be held across the globe in 2023 with 16 of the world’s best touring car drivers racing against the local competitors.
Every driver in all TCR sanctioned championships will score points on the TCR World Rankings with the top 30 then invited to compete in the TCR World Final at the end of the season.
The 2023 TCR Australia Championship will be broadcast live on Stan Sport in Australia.
2023 TCR Australia Championship Schedule |
|
Round 1 |
February 24-26, Symmons Plains, Tasmania |
Round 2 |
May 12-14, Phillip Island, Victoria |
Round 3 |
June 9-11, Winton Raceway, Victoria |
Round 4 |
August 11-13, Queensland Raceway, Queensland |
Round 5 |
September 8-10, Sandown Raceway, Victoria |
Round 6 |
November 3-5, Sydney Motorsport Park, New South Wales |
Round 7 |
November 10-12, Mount Panorama, New South Wales |