Race 3
The internationals fought back hard in the final race of the weekend at Sydney Motorsport park, with British driver Rob Huff taking a commanding victory.
Huff found the lead on the opening lap, with a valiant Will Brown fighting hard to reclaim the place despite a five-second penalty for a jump start.
In the end, Brown would cross the line in second but get promoted to third, giving Hungarian Norbert Michelisz the second step on the podium.
Race 2
Will Brown remarkably made it back-to-back category wins, this time starting from 10th on the grid to storm his way to yet another dominant victory.
It was all about another Aussie, Aaron Cameron at the start of the race after taking the lead but was then awarded a five-second penalty for a jump start.
Cameron would go on to cross the line in second place but was then demoted down to eighth, with British driver, Rob Huff claiming second ahead of Frédéric Vervisch.
Race 1
The first of three races for the weekend certainly didn’t disappoint, with Australian Will Brown making history with a superb race win in a chaotic affair.
Brown excelled in the changing of conditions, with a safety car and red flag intervention not enough to take away his victory, crossing the line a mammoth seven and a half seconds ahead of Mikel Azcona and Ma Qing Hua – who was promoted to a podium place at the expense of a five second penalty handed to Yann Ehrlacher post-race.
Aaron Cameron was the next best for TCR Australia in seventh, finishing behind Rob Huff and Frédéric Vervisch in fifth and sixth respectively.
Qualifying
Australia put the world on notice with Ben Bargwanna and Will Brown going one-two in a tricky two-part qualifying session.
Bargwanna exected the dry tyre strategy to perfection and was by far the fastest driver on track as a result, finishing the session seven-tenths ahead of brown in second.
Spain’s Mikel Azcona rounded out the top three fastest drivers and will head the second row alongside TCR Australia series leader, Bailey Sweeny.
Five Australians filled the top 10 places in a fantastic session.
Practice 2
Thed Björk made it two from two after yet another fantastic display in Practice 2, this time going fastest by one-tenth of a second ahead of Santiago Urrutia.
Rounding out the top three was Spain’s Mikel Azcona, while TCR Australia’s Tony D’Alberto found himself in the mix by going fourth fastest.
Will brown was the next best Aussie in seventh, with less than half a second between himself through to Zac Soutar in 17th.
Practice 1
Thed Björk led the way in the opening Practice session of the weekend, with Frenchman Yann Ehrlacher and warm-up leader Santiago Urrutia rounding out the top three.
The international competitors filled seven out of the top 10 runners, but it was Tom Oliphant who led the way in TCR Australia, closely followed by Will Brown and Tony D’Alberto.
The session saw limited running after Kody Garland found himself in the wall at turn one after a suspected mechanical failure, forcing a red flag.
Warm Up
The first opportunity for TCR World Tour to take to the track at Sydney Motorsport Park was in a session topped by TCR Australia title contender, Josh Buchan.
Buchan led the way in the 15-minute session ahead of the Lync & Co duo of Santiago Urrutia and Yann Ehrlacher, with Ma Qing Hua not far behind in fourth.
The Wall Racing pairing of Brad Harris and Tony D’Alberto were the next best for the local series.
Race 4
James Moffat secured the round victory in a highly-disrupted Race Sydney finale, crossing the line ahead of Cody Gillis in a one-lap dash.
Moffat capitalised on a mistake from polesitter Nash Morris to take the lead, with Gillis soon following before the race was brought to a halt due to a safety car intervention.
An incident at the restart then saw yet another safety car called out, resulting in a one-lap dash that saw Moffat hold on ahead of Gillis and Morris.
Race 3
Nash Morris doubled his win tally for the weekend after another great performance, finishing ahead of series leader James Moffat.
Starting from pole for the first time this weekend, Morris held the inside line at turns one and two to maintain the lead and create a gap – crossing the line three-tenths of a second clear after a safety car intervention mid-race.
Ben Grice would impress in third, while Tim Brook finished fourth after drama with Lochie Dalton and Cody Gillis saw the former awarded a drive-through penalty.
Race 2
Nash Morris prevailed in race two after an entertaining battle with race one winner, James Moffat – crossing the line half a second ahead of the series leader.
Much like race one, the duo was side-by-side in the early stages before Morris was able to get his nose in front, holding the lead to the chequered flag despite a late safety car intervention.
In similar circumstances, Cody Gillis claimed the final step on the podium after getting past Lochie Dalton at the race start, keeping the pace throughout to hold the position ahead of the title contender.
Race 1
James Moffat took victory in a lights-to-flag performance, extending his series lead over teammate Lochie Dalton.
Dalton would move up one place to finish in third, unable to make his way past Nash Morris after an entertainment mid-race scuffle.
Cody Gillis would hold on to finish in fourth place, while Edan Thornburrow rounded out the top five ahead of a determined Elliot Barbour.
Qualifying
James Moffat recovered from an early gearchange issue to take pole position in emphatic fashion ahead of Nash Morris.
An early unplanned pitstop to fix a mechanical issue didn’t hold the series leader back as it only took one flying lap to set his fastest time, four-tenths of a second ahead of the Supercheap Auto Racing entry.
Rounding out the top three was Elliott Cleary, who edged out Moffat’s teammate Lochie Dalton and his own counterpart, Cody Gillis who rounded out the top five starters for race one under the lights.
Practice
The category lived up to its competitive reputation in the weekends opening session, with James Moffat leading the way ahead of the returning Tim Brook.
The Racing Academy saw Elliott Cleary and Cody Gillis in third and fourth respectively, while Moffat’s teammate Lochie Dalton rounded out the top five.
The session saw 10 drivers finish within one second of Moffat’s fastest time, building anticipation ahead of Qualifying.
Race 4
Despite crossing the line in third, Alex Gardner was crowned Workhorse Radical Cup Australia champion after finishing ahead of his closest rival, Elliott Schutte.
It was an incredible performance from the outgoing champion, Chris Perini who picked up his first race win of the year ahead of round winner, Cooper Cutts in second.
Gardner would round out the podium places ahead of Peter Paddon, while Schutte finished in fifth after an aggressive approach to the final laps of his season.
Race 3
Another dominant performance from Alex Gardner saw the youngster take a five-second victory ahead of title rival, Elliot Schutte.
The series leader has one hand on the trophy ahead of the final race, which will go down to the final race of the season.
Sitting in third was race two winner, Cooper Cutts, while Josh Hunt gets an honourable mention after moving his way through the field from 21st to sixth.
Race 2
Cooper Cutts became the latest addition to the winners list after an impressive performance in race two, finishing ahead of reigning series winner, Chris Perini.
Cutts found himself in the lead early on the race and was barely headed by Perini, while series leader Alex Gardner worked his way back through the field to finish in third.
It was an unfortunate outing for Gardner’s title rival, Elliott Schutte, who had to settle for ninth.
Race 1
Alex Gardner converted pole position into a race win under the lights at Sydney Motorsport Park, holding off an impressive Elliott Schutte.
Schutte made a brilliant move in the early stages to find himself in second and was able to stay within a couple seconds of the series leader throughout, but ultimately ran out of time in his pursuit.
Rounding out the top three was the driver who started in second place, Cooper Cutts while Peter Paddon and reigning series winner, Chris Perini rounded out the top five.
Qualifying
Alex Gardner took a big leap towards a maiden title by claiming pole position in an epic qualifying session.
His closest title rival, Elliott Schutte looked the goods byt will have to settle for fourth, behind Cooper Cutts and Josh Hunt.
Chris Perini rounded out the top five drivers ahead of Peter Paddon – who despite starting sixth, was only five tenths of a second off the pace.
Practice
The one and only Practice session of the weekend saw title contender, Elliott Schutte go fastest in convincing fashion.
There were seven-tenths of a second separating Schutte and second place runner, Peter Paddon while Chris Perini rounded out the top three.
Series leader, Alex Gardner finished back in fifth, one and a half seconds back from his title rival.
Race 5
A six-way fight for the race win resulted in a fourth for the weekend for James Lodge, rounding out a fantastic weekend for the Excel category.
This time, it was Blake tracey recovering from an unfortunate race four to finish second in the final outing, with Toby Waghorn rounding out the podium places.
Will Longmore, Monique Sciberras and Cooper Barnes were also within the leading pack which saw a handful of lead-changes throughout.
Race 4
It was a third race win on the weekend for James Lodge after an all-time battle with Toby Waghorn in the final two laps of race four.
Much like race three, Lodge held the lead from the start but was soon pressured from Waghorn behind, with the duo crossing the line on the penultimate lap with no gap between them on the timesheets.
An epic final lap saw Lodge defend nicely, crossing the line just ahead of Waghorn while Cooper Barnes locked in third after a penalty was handed to Blake Tracey for track limits.
Race 3
James Lodge made it two out of three in another entertaining Excels affair, this time finishing ahead of race two winner, Blake Tracey.
There were up to four drivers vying for the lead early on, but it was Lodge who would ultimately hold the position after Tracey and Toby Waghorn went side-by-side.
Waghorn would end up crossing the line in third place, only two-tenths of a second back from Tracey.
Race 2
16-year-old Blake Tracey took victory in an all-time classic Excel’s race, outlasting Toby Waghorn and Will Longmore in an epic final lap battle.
The fight for the win between Tracey and race one winner, James Lodge proved entertaining in the final stages, with the latter making a mistake and going off track with only a matter of corners to go.
Both Waghorn and Longmore were also forced to work for their positions, joining the back of the fight for the lead before Waghorn was able to cross the line three-hundredths of a second ahead of Longmore.
Race 1
James Lodge converted his pole position into a race win in an eight lap affair on Friday afternoon.
Lodge was forced to recover from a slow start that saw Toby Waghorn take the early lead, before the polesitter was able to take back the advantage and cross the line ahead of the Victorian by two-tenths of a second.
The top three remained the same with Blake Tracey crossing the line in third, while an impressive Will Longmore sat at the rear of the leading pack to finish fourth.
Qualifying
The local Excel category jumped straight into qualifying action, and it was James Lodge who prevailed above the rest by taking pole position for Friday afternoons opening race.
Half a second was the difference from Lodge and second place Toby Waghorn, while young Blake Tracey rounded out the top three.
