Round 2 of the Shannons SpeedSeries will see 13 TCR cars spread across six makes and seven models take to the 2.41km Tasmanian circuit for three races.
It was only last month that TCR Australia was hailing its strongest grid since 2022, when 15 cars were entered for the Sandown season-opener.
According to Totani, that figure should be achieved again when Round 3 at Phillip Island rolls around in April and, in the meantime, there is still plenty to be excited about this weekend.
“The nature of Symmons Plains Raceway always delivers exciting racing and the passion for TCR from the Tasmanian motorsport fans has been unwavering,” she said.
“Having an extremely competitive field, any of our 13 drivers are capable of winning this weekend.
“With strong TV figures from Sandown, interest in TCR is steadily building and I wouldn’t be discouraged by grid numbers this weekend, but I’m confident of a return to at least 15 cars for Phillip Island.”
Headlining the entry list is Garry Rogers Motorsport’s Ben Bargwanna, who won two races and the round overall last time out at Sandown.
GRM will also field recent Super2 podium finisher Aaron Cameron, Jordan Cox – both race winners at Symmons Plains – and rookie Ryan Casha, making for a total of four Peugeot 308s on the grid.
HMO Customer Racing brings a pair of Hyundai i30 N Hatches for 2023 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series winner and 2024 Sandown pole-sitter Josh Buchan along with Tom Oliphant.
Fitness is a focus for two of Wall Racing’s three Honda drivers.
2022 series winner Tony D’Alberto lines up at Symmons Plains in his FL5-spec Civic Type R off the back of recent nasal surgery while Will Harris, who drives the older FK7 model, makes his return after stepping out mid-weekend at Sandown with a rib injury.
Brad Harris, in the other FL5, is looking to go two from two in the new-for-2024 TCR Challenge for semi-professional drivers.
Team Soutar Motorsport fields Zac Soutar and Glenn Nirwan in Audis, Clay Richards is back in the Carl Cox Motorsport/MPC Cupra Leon Competicion, and Dylan O’Keeffe is driving the Ashley Seward Motorsport Lynk & Co 03.
Absent this weekend will be Marcus La Delle’s 99motorsport and Iain McDougall’s Challenge Motorsport.
As Totani noted, the AWC Race Tasmania action will be shown live and free on 7plus and 7mate.
Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Symmons Plains entry list
| Num | Team/Sponsor | Driver | Car |
| 1 | HMO Customer Racing | Josh Buchan | Hyundai i30N Hatch |
| 2 | Honda Wall Racing | Tony D’Alberto | Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR |
| 4 | Carl Cox Motorsport Team MPC | Clay Richards | Cupra Leon Competition |
| 11 | Ashley Seward Motorsport | Dylan O’Keeffe | Lynk & Co 03 TCR |
| 15 | HMO Customer Racing | Tom Oliphant | Hyundai i30N Hatch |
| 18 | Team Valvoline GRM | Aaron Cameron | Peugeot 308 TCR |
| 29 | Tufflift Racing | Glenn Nirwan | Audi RS3 RCR |
| 33 | Schaeffler GRM | Jordan Cox | Peugeot 308 TCR |
| 71 | Hangcha Racing | Ben Bargwanna | Peugeot 308 TCR |
| 74 | Exclusive Switchboards / Wall Racing | Brad Harris | Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR |
| 76 | Exclusive Switchboards / Wall Racing | Will Harris | Honda Civic FK7 TCR |
| 79 | Team Valvoline GRM | Ryan Casha | Peugeot 308 TCR |
| 110 | Tufflift Racing | Zac Soutar | Audi RS3 LMS TCR |
Discussion about this post