Luke King will return to the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia field from this weekend’s third round of the season at Bathurst.
The New South Wales Central Coast driver was a front-runner last year in an Audi, but missed the opening two rounds of 2022 due to a budget shortfall.
He will saddle up for the rest of the season in the DashSport Hyundai i30 N TCR, previously raced by namesake Michael King.
The latter bought the car for the 2020 season but, due to a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and personal reasons, has contested just the one round himself, at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Luke King will come in cold this weekend at Mount Panorama, but his most recent Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series start was also at Bathurst, last November-December, when he ended up fourth in the standings.
“I wish we had done some testing prior to Bathurst being that I’m coming in with a new car, but I’m super excited,” he said.
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“To be honest I didn’t expect it. It’s a shame that I missed the first couple of rounds, but we’re back now and we’ve got plenty of work ahead of us for the rest of the season.
“I think Hyundai has always been a very competitive package. Obviously, Will Brown won the inaugural title in a Hyundai back in 2019. Last year, the brand took race wins and even at the start of this year it was quick.
“For us it was about getting the right deal that worked for our sponsors, our budget and everything that’s involved on that side.
“The story with Michael was I spoke to HMO Customer Racing to run its fourth chassis and Nathan Morcom [driver and operations manager] suggested King as his car is almost new.
“I gave Michael a call and he was really open to it, plus really excited because he had been following us for the last few years.
“He was really pumped to do the deal and have the sponsors coming on that we’ve got.
“Everyone who is involved is excited. It’s going to be an exciting year for me.
“Although it’s disappointing not to be fighting for the series title, it’s a position I’m not used to, but I’m locked in for the five rounds remaining and for every one of those we’re going to be pushing as hard as we possibly can for a win.”
Michael King added, “We are really excited to be involved with Luke going into Bathurst and beyond for the remainder of the 2022 Supercheap TCR Australia Series.
“The way it’s all evolved from the initial conversation to today has been really good, and we have worked well together in a short amount of time.
“Luke’s debut season beside Chaz [Mostert, team-mate at Melbourne Performance Centre] was a standout and I believe we have the team to help him take the next step this season.”
Round 3 of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series supports the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour, where practice for both starts this Friday.
Stan Sport will have live and ad-free coverage of the event on Saturday and Sunday.
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