GWR to field Hyundai for Almond in TCR Aus opener

The TCR Australia grid has grown to 16 cars for this weekend’s inaugural round following confirmation Garth Walden Racing Australia will field an entry for Michael Almond.

Almond is set to pilot the #29 i30 TCR machine which is one of two Hyundais purchased by the Sydney-based squad.

The South Australian driver is an experienced campaigner having competed in six seasons of Porsche Carrera Cup Australia alongside outings in Touring Cars Masters and the now defunct V8 Utes. 

Almond will be the third Hyundai represented on the grid joining the HMO Customer Racing cars of Nathan Morcom and Will Brown.   

The arrangement at this stage is only for this weekend’s season opener at Sydney Motorsport.

“It’s just for one event at the moment, but we’ll see how we goes. If everyone gets excited and get more support, we’ll have a look and see if we can finish the season,” said Almond.

“The cars have the paddle shift gearbox and a really nice Michelin tyre. Both of these things I’ll be used to from my Porsche racing. I’ve haven’t done much front-wheel drive racing, but the recipe is there to have some fun so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Team owner Garth Walden has welcomed Almond to the squad while confirming that his outfit will only enter one of its cars this weekend. 

“It’s going to be great to be part of history – the first round of TCR in Australia. I’m getting plenty of calls and messages about it, so I reckon they’ll be a big crowd there,” said Walden.

“It’s fantastic to have Michael Almond as the driver. He has been part of our team as a driver coach for a number of years and it’s good to have him in the race seat.

“He has raced in many categories and I’m confident that he’ll adapt to the front wheel drive TCR car quickly.

“It’s a shame that we’ll have our other Hyundai in the garage for this event, but we expect to get it out for Round 2 at Phillip Island.”

All seven rounds of the TCR Australia Series will be broadcast live on SBS and via the series’ live streaming service.       

Entry list: Round 1, Sydney Motorsport Park