In qualifying for the combined Supercheap Auto TCR Australia sixth round and seventh of the Kumho TCR World Tour at Sydney Motorsport Park, it was the Aussies that came out one-two.
Ben Bargwanna in the Peugeot 308 made the best of a track that was drying, to take pole position as the session ended. He edged out Will Brown (Audi RS3 LMS) while Spain’s Mikel Azcona (Hyundai Elantra) was best of the Internationals and third fastest.
Next was Bailey Sweeny (Hyundai i30N) ahead of Great Britian’s Rob Huff (Audi), Ma Qing Hua (Lynk & Co) from China, Josh Buchan (i30N), Hungry’s Norbert Michelisz (Elantra), Frenchman Jimmy Clairet (Peugeot) and Zac Soutar (Audi).
Practice was held in the warm and dry conditions and before light rain and showers descended as qualifying got underway. Anyone that did an early time would remain in the top ten for Qualifying 2 while the rest could do little as the conditions became wetter.
Some big names that failed to make the second part of qualifying including Sweden’s Thed Bjork who was fastest in both the earlier practice sessions. His teammate Uruguay’s Santiago Urrutia who had been second overall after practice, also missed out.
Reigning TCR Australia champion Tony D’Alberto (Wall Racing Honda Civic) will start Race 1 from 14th, just in front of the Internationals. Other front running local series regulars that missed out included Aaron Cameron (Peugeot) and Tom Oliphant (Lynk & Co) in 17th and 18th respectively.
At the back of the grid will be Brad Harris (Honda), Jordan Cox (Peugeot), Will Harris (Honda) and Lachlan Mineeff (Audi). The field is down to 23 after Kody Garland (Peugeot) crashed earlier in the day.
Race 1 over 17 laps is scheduled to start at 8:40pm AEDT and is live on Stan Sport.
