NEW TCR MARQUES GAINING INTEREST FOR AUSTRALIA

The final round of the TCR Australia Series at The Bend Motorsport Park played host to two new marques to the category in Peugeot and Cupra, but further brands could join the fray according to Australian Racing Group Director Matt Braid.

By HEATH McALPINE

As revealed by Auto Action, Peugeot’s interest in the category is expected to grow next year through Garry Rogers Motorsport’s commitment to purchasing two of the marque’s 308 TCR models with more on the team’s radar.

Garage1 also plans to expand its fleet of Cupras with a further two on the way to join the Leon that reigning Toyota 86 Race Series winner Tim Brook is debuting this weekend.

Both have suffered troubled debuts this weekend, the Peugeot had wiring loom problems and fuel system issues for the Cupra, however it has contributed to the TCR Australia field at The Bend being the most diverse in the world coming in at 10 different manufacturers represented.

Only Kia, Lada and the Volvo-derived Lynk & Co fail to appear the grid.

But recently two new manufacturers have announced plans to enter the growing global touring car class in the form of the Chinese-owned MG and Japanese giant Mazda.

The MG6 XPower TCR debuted in the Chinese TCR Series earlier this year and was just recently homologated in which it competed in the touring car category of the FIA World Motorsport Games by China’s Zhen Dong Zhang and Great Britain’s Rory Butcher. The MG had a best result of fourth in the hands of BTCC driver Butcher in the final event, demonstrating rapid improvement throughout the weekend.

The Mazda3 TCR is still being developed in America by Long Road Racing and Mazda Design America for a planned debut in next year’s Daytona 24 Hour race. Auto Action understands there has been strong interest by Australian teams to run the Mazda locally, but difficulties in ordering due to high demand in the US has set those plans back.

Braid admitted to Auto Action that the Mazda had proven popular already with prospective Australian teams

“Mazda, there’s a lot of interest in,” Braid said.

“It’s one of the most prominent brands in this country, therefore the racing product associated is going to be popular and there are multiple parties that we know that have expressed, who have expressed interest in getting the Mazdas out here.”

MG recently undertook a race program through James Brock in production cars when it relaunched back in Australia in 2018 and Braid is confident that the marque will feature on the grid next season.

“Certainly, we haven’t had direct conversations, but I know that the MG brand in Australia has been keen to do motor sport, but hasn’t had the right assets or property to do it,” Braid explained.

“But the TCR car being homologated certainly allows those discussions to take place and we’re looking forward to that.

“I’m pretty sure we’ll see both of those brands next year.”

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