Mostert sings praises of Michelin TCR wet tyres

Chaz Mostert has spoken highly of Supercheap Auto TCR Australia’s wet weather tyre after a massive victory in Race 1 at a rainy Phillip Island.

Mostert dominated the Round 2 opener, converting pole position into a lead which he would not lose as he romped to a 32-second win.

The Audi driver was surprised to be able to clear that far out in just 14 laps, but noted that he did not have to deal with the spray given there were none ahead of him.

“It was pretty challenging out there – a lot of little rivers and creeks across the road – but I was really quite surprised [with] the grip the car gave me,” recalled Mostert.

“We kind of complain a little bit on the slicks that the rear gets quite loose but obviously the wet weather tyre is pretty impressive.

“It’s probably one of the best wet weather cars I’ve ever driven, so, a lot of fun.

“[I] just kept trying to build on my laps and just try and keep the consistency up.

“I didn’t expect to pull away from them that much; first couple of laps I obviously got the couple of seconds at the start and I thought it was going to equalise.

“I just felt really good and I just had obviously the clear track, no spray, which was great to keep working on where I needed to put the car.”

TCR Australia runs on Michelin tyres and, when asked what made the French brand’s wets so good, Mostert put it down to the softness which allows drivers to generate heat easily.

“It’s good because it’s soft; pretty simple,” he explained.

“In these conditions, you want as much rubber on the track as possible, as much grip as you’ve got.

“Before putting them on the car, you can feel they’re nice and soft and when they go on there, straight away you can build temperature into them, which is sometimes a bit tricky in some other categories.”

Mostert was also rapid in the earlier Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS race, hauling the Tony Bates Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo from 14th at the end of the pit stop cycle to a finish of third.

He will next be on track at the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships event for TCR Race 2, which he will start from first position by virtue of today’s win, tomorrow from 11:10 local time/AEDT.