New Zealand TCM cars to race at Bathurst, Adelaide

A fleet of vehicles from Touring Car Masters New Zealand will race at this year’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst International and Vailo Adelaide 500.

According to the announcement from the Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters Series, up to a dozen cars will be sent across the Tasman to race in the final two rounds of the Australian season.

It is not the first time that such an initiative has occurred, with cars from across the ditch racing at Mount Panorama as recently as 2019.

However, November’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst International will be a first with cars from the TCM New Zealand competition which was established in 2020.

Several teams are already committed to the trip, including Greg Cuttance in a Dick Johnson Racing tribute entry, Tony Galbraith (Charger), Hugh Gairdner (Pontiac Trans Am), Nick Ross (Dodge Challenger), and Dennis Lovegrove (Trans-Am).

Andrew Anderson is set to drive the Pinepac XE Falcon which Jett Johnson raced in recent months at Hampton Downs while Andrew’s son, Nathan, will be behind the wheel of his grandfather Bruce’s 1969 Ford Mustang.

The Trans-Tasman rounds have been a long time coming, with the COVID-19 pandemic getting in the way on multiple occasions.

Australian TCM’s Category Administrator, Graham Sattler, said, “We’ve worked for a long time to get our Kiwi cousins back to Australia and it’s great that we’ve been able to make it happen.

“They’re a great group of people and have worked really hard to grow TCM New Zealand in the last few years, even during the pandemic.

“Everyone is excited to have them join our field this November for what are going to be two of the largest Touring Car Masters events in the last five years.

“There’s huge excitement from both sides of the Tasman to make this a success and we can’t wait to welcome them to Australia this year.”

Sattler’s counterpart at TCM NZ, Sharon Cuttance, remarked, “Everyone here is really pumped, especially as we have just come to the conclusion of our 2022/23 season and how we have grown from 2020, from nothing.

“There’s a group of people very eager to get to Australia and to go to Bathurst, some for the first time but some for their second or third trip.

“It’s even more special then going down to Adelaide for the Vailo Adelaide 500, which is one of the largest motorsport events in this part of the world.

“Many of our competitors have never raced on a street circuit so it’s going to be an exciting adventure for a lot of people.”

Steven Johnson leads the Australian TCM series ahead of Round 3 at the Winton Shannons SpeedSeries event on June 9-11.

The Supercheap Auto Bathurst International takes place on November 10-12 and the Adelaide 500 a fortnight later.

The SpeedSeries is streamed live, ad-free, and on-demand on Stan Sport.