HMO Customer Racing will again field a three-strong fleet in the upcoming Supercheap Auto TCR Australia event at Sydney Motorsport Park.

The Hyundai squad expanded to three cars in welcoming Carrera Cup regular Duvashen Padayachee into its fold for Round 3 at Bathurst earlier this month.

He joined the team’s regular i30 N TCR drivers Nathan Morcom and Josh Buchan, although it was a difficult outing on the whole as team manager Scott Fulcher shared his disdain regarding balance of performance.

Nonetheless, Padayachee is back for Round 4 across April 30 to May 2, and is optimistic of what can be achieved in Sydney’s west.

“We had an interesting weekend at Bathurst and developed a good race pace against the other Hyundai i30 N TCR guys,” said Padayachee.

“Our sponsors were very happy with our overall performance, the exposure they received and the obvious links to Hyundai. Having a local round at a track I know pretty well really sealed the deal.

“I am looking forward to getting back in the car again and we’ll see how we go.

“I think, performance-wise, we should be more competitive at SMSP than the results showed at Bathurst.

“The Hyundai i30 N TCR excelled through the corners and under brakes at Bathurst, which should be in our favour when we hit the track at Sydney Motorsport Park.

“The resurfacing of the circuit could also be a factor and we’ll do a track walk in the morning to see how it looks. I am expecting there will be faster times than the last time TCR visited SMSP in 2019.”

Morcom is HMO’s lead driver in the 2021 standings in eighth; at the top, Chaz Mostert leads by 63 points from nearest rival Aaron Cameron.