Clemente edges Buchan in Winton TCR Practice 1

Michael Clemente has edged Josh Buchan, Bailey Sweeny, and Tony D’Alberto to top spot in Practice 1 for Round 3 of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series at Winton.

Less than a tenth of a second covered the aforementioned top four in the half-hour session, with Clemente claiming early bragging rights with a 1:26.7965s in his Cupra Leon Competicion.

The field had started to approach representative lap times on their third flyers when Clemente, who christened his Cupra with a race win last time out at Phillip Island, set a 1:29.6861s.

Lachlan Mineeff took over top spot next time through with a 1:28.1309s before Zac Soutar clocked a 1:27.4089s on his fifth flyer in another Audi RS 3 LMS then improved to a 1:27.3031s, two laps later.

D’Alberto, the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series winner, was second with a 1:27.6131s in his Honda Civic Type R when he pitted just before the halfway mark.

That became third-fastest when Clemente set a 1:27.2725s moments later, before Soutar reclaimed the ascendancy with a 1:27.2375s and a 1:27.0234s on consecutive laps.

Mineeff was second when he set a 1:27.2441s, until he was usurped by Buchan on a 1:27.0621s after the HMO driver came back out for a second run in his Hyundai i30 N Sedan.

Soutar raised the bar even further with a 1:26.9269s but his first run was finally brought to an end when a red flag was called in the 23rd minute, with timing suggesting Mineeff and/or Brad Harris (Honda) had stopped in Sector 1.

The session went green again with just under five minutes remaining, and there was a flurry of change at the top of the timing screen in the final two minutes.

Buchan reset the fastest lap to a 1:26.8358s but was almost immediately bettered by Clemente’s 1:26.8235s, meaning Sweeny’s (Hyundai i30 N) subsequent 1:26.8582s moved him into third.

With the chequered flag out, D’Alberto crept up two positions to fourth on a 1:26.8902s before Clemente consolidated first position with a 1:26.7965s.

The top 10 was therefore Clemente, Buchan, Sweeny, D’Alberto, Soutar, Aaron Cameron (Peugeot 308), Ben Bargwanna (Peugeot), Mineeff, Jordan Cox (Peugeot), and Kody Garland (Peugeot).

Debutant Clay Richards spent most of the session in pit lane due to power steering issues for his Audi.

Practice 2 takes place this afternoon.

The Shannons SpeedSeries is streaming live and ad-free tomorrow from 11:00 AEST on Stan Sport, and free for international viewers on Speedcafe.

Results: Practice 1