Buchan wins TCR Race 1, DNFs for Brown and D’Alberto

Josh Buchan has taken an all-the-way win in Race 1 of Round 2 of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series at Phillip Island as Will Brown’s technical problems continued.

Brown’s fellow Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series winner Tony D’Alberto looked like banking a podium finish until he had a tyre failure with less than two laps to go, leaving Lachlan Mineeff (Audi RS 3 LMS) to run away with second place and gifting third spot to Aaron Cameron (Peugeot 308).

Buchan had qualified his HMO Customer Racing Hyundai i30 N Sedan on pole position and would lead all 16 laps, at one point by more than four seconds before taking the chequered flag 2.1612s ahead of Mineeff.

Series leader Bailey Sweeny finished fourth in the second of the HMO Hyundais, his being the hatchback version of the i30 N, with Ben Bargwanna (Peugeot) rounding out the top five, while neither D’Alberto (Honda Civic Type R) nor Brown (Audi) made the finish.

Buchan got the jump from the inside of the front row and was up by a full second at the end of the standing lap, from D’Alberto, Zac Soutar (Audi), and Bargwanna.

Brown had taken up fifth position when Mineeff slid wide of the line at Southern Loop on Lap 1, but his recurring nightmare would continue.

After electrical problems in practice and a steering drama in Qualifying, a right-rear suspension failure for Brown’s latest-generation Audi forced him to limp into the pits on Lap 2 and his afternoon was done.

Cameron inherited fifth position before being passed by Mineeff on Lap 3, and Sweeny went under Kody Garland (Peugeot) for seventh at Miller Corner (Turn 4) on Lap 4.

Mineeff’s progress continued with a move on Bargwanna for fourth on Lap 7, by which time Buchan’s lead over D’Alberto had grown to three seconds.

D’Alberto’s margin over Soutar had been virtually nothing for the first several laps but then the latter mysteriously slowed on Lap 8 and pitted, meaning Mineeff was up to third.

Cameron got underneath Bargwanna for fourth on Lap 9 at Siberia and Sweeny followed up the inside, although he took all the way until MG to complete the pass for fifth.

Mineeff caught and then passed D’Alberto for second place on Lap 14 at MG but, moments later, the 2022 series winner was limping with a flat tyre.

D’Alberto appeared to try to persevere in order to salvage some points from the afternoon but pitted with a lap to go and was still in the lane when the leader took the chequered flag, meaning Car #1 would not be classified a finisher.

Behind the top five in the classification was Michael Clemente (Cupra Leon Competicion), Garland, Jordan Cox (Peugeot), Bradley Harris (Honda), and Tom Oliphant.

The latter had stopped at the paddock gate beyond the Miller Corner run-off area during the race but, after Ashley Seward Motorsport attended to the new Lynk & Co 03, the Briton was back out to claim 10th position and hence first on the grid for tomorrow’s Race 2.

The rest of the field was DNFs, namely D’Alberto, Soutar, and Brown.

Race 2, another 16-lapper, starts tomorrow at 11:30 local time/AEST.

Australian viewers can watch the Shannons SpeedSeries live and ad-free on Stan Sport, while international viewers can see the action for free on Speedcafe.

Results: Race 1 Updated