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More than half of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series will race with new Balance of Performance settings at this weekend’s Sydney Motorsport Park round.
The WSC Group, the global owner of the category, has issued its first set of BoP changes for the year, halfway through the Australian season.
They happen to follow the controversy which erupted at the last round of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series, at Mount Panorama, when Hyundai team HMO Customer Racing declared there “no point coming back” for the Bathurst International without BoP changes.
Ironically, no adjustments have been issued for the Hyundai i30 N, but five other models which race Down Under are affected.
Most of those changes should enhance performance but the Audi RS 3 LMS, one of which Chaz Mostert has won five of the last six races with, has been slapped with detrimental adjustments to both weight and ride height.
The Audi’s ballast figure is now +10kg, a swing of 20kg from the previous scale of -10kg, and ground clearance is up to 70mm, from 60mm.
The Peugeot 308 drops weight, as does the Honda Civic Type R (both FK2 and FK7 models), Renault Megane RS, and Volkswagen Golf GTI DSG.
Furthermore, the Volkswagen Golf GTI SEQ’s ground clearance has fallen to 60mm, from 70mm.
See below for full list of changes
A Hyundai is listed on the technical bulletin, but that is the Elantra N TCR which has been added to the BoP list, as has the 2021 model RS 3 LMS.
Of the 22 cars on this weekend’s entry list, only the five Hyundais (HMO’s Nathan Morcom, Josh Buchan, and Duvashen Padayachee; AH Racing’s Michael King; and Tilton Racing’s Brad Shiels) and four Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloces (Garry Rogers Motorsport’s Jordan Cox and Michael Caruso; Ashley Seward Motorsport’s Jay Hanson and Lee Holdsworth) are unaffected.
While the technical bulletin only comes in time for the second half of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia season, it does take effect before the June start to the WTCR – World Touring Car Cup.
It is the latter’s calendar which may go some way to explaining why the latest bulletin is the first for the year, as WSC’s process takes into account data from TCR series globally, and there has been a relative dearth of racing due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Round 4 in Australia’s 2021 campaign is the headline act at the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships’ Sydney round, which commences this Friday.
Latest TCR BoP changes
| Model | Weight scale (prev) | Ground clearance (prev) | ||
| Audi RS 3 LMS SEQ (2016) | +10kg | (-10kg) | 70mm | (60mm) |
| CUPRA TCR SEQ | +0kg | (-10kg) | 70mm | (60mm) |
| Honda Civic Type R FK2 TCR | -20kg | (+0kg) | ||
| Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | +30kg | (+40kg) | ||
| Opel Astra TCR | +0kg | (+10kg) | ||
| Peugeot 308 TCR | -30kg | (-10kg) | ||
| Renault Mégane RS TCR | -20kg | (-10kg) | ||
| Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR DSG | -10kg | (+0kg) | ||
| Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR SEQ | 60mm | (70mm) | ||
