Moffat tops opening TCR practice

James Moffat has gone fastest in Practice 1 for Round 4 of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Moffat, one of the early pace-setters, sat fifth before he clocked a 1:35.3691s in his Garry Rogers Motorsport Renault Megane in the last of 30 minutes.

The effort meant he beat Lee Holdsworth to top spot by 0.1681s after the Ashley Seward Motorsport driver had rolled out a 1:35.5372s in his Alfa Romeo in the 26th minute.

Holdsworth had been duelling with John Martin (Honda) at the time and the Wall Racing driver wound up fourth with a personal best of 1:35.6949s, behind Dylan O’Keeffe, in another GRM Renault, on a 1:35.6795s.

Fifth went to Tony D’Alberto (Honda), from Michael Caruso (Alfa Romeo), Jason Bargwanna (Peugeot), Jordan Cox (Alfa Romeo), and Ben Bargwanna (Peugeot).

Series leader Chaz Mostert was quickest after the initial flyers but ended up 10th all told in his Audi, with a best time of 1:36.6533s.

His nearest rival in the standings, Aaron Cameron (Peugeot), was also one position behind on the Practice 1 timesheet with a 1:36.7809s.

There was an interruption just beyond the halfway mark when Josh Buchan (Hyundai) stopped in the second sector, although the session restarted after around four minutes under red flag.

Practice 2 at the Sydney Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships event starts at 14:45 local time/AEST.

Results: Practice 1