The Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series will feature two night races in a fresh format for the first Kumho TCR World Tour round in the country this November.
Tickets go on sale next week for the Sydney Motorsport Park event, which will be the seventh of nine rounds of the inaugural Kumho TCR World Tour, ahead of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International, which will host Round 8 the following weekend, November 12-13.
Part of the Shannons SpeedSeries, the Sydney event will see a Friday-Saturday format in place of the typical daytime schedule to encourage greater crowd figures and broadcast audience opportunities, the series taking full advantage of the 132 permanent lighting fixtures at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The TCR World Tour event on November 3-4 will run under lights for both Friday and Saturday night competition, with Race 1 on Friday evening after daytime practice and qualifying.
Race 2 will take place in daylight on Saturday before the final Race 3 runs under lights that evening to conclude the event.
It’s not the first time TCR Australia has run at Sydney under lights, having run in May last season at the circuit. However, on that occasion, practice sessions stretched into the Friday evening before qualifying and a night race on Saturday, the event concluding with a Sunday afternoon finale.
“We’ve worked closely with the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club [ARDC] to settle on the best possible format for this event and make it as fan-friendly as possible,” said Liam Curkpatrick, COO of ARG.
“The ARSC and WSC, promoters of the TCR World Tour, have been great to work with as we try to make the biggest impact possible for the first TCR World Tour round on Aussie soil.
“Having all the action condensed across two days works perfectly and the ability to use Sydney Motorsport Park’s fantastic lighting means we can run in prime-time both nights, which works brilliantly for spectators and for TV audiences here and around the world.”
Stan Sport will provide live coverage of both Friday and Saturday night’s running, in addition to the Nine Network’s limited coverage, with the full on-track schedule to be announced next week.
The event’s conclusion on the Saturday evening also allows teams additional travel and preparation time for the following weekend’s event at Mount Panorama, Bathurst.
The next round of the 2023 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series takes place at Queensland Raceway on August 11-13, while the Sydney Motorsport Park LEDs will be put to good use for Supercars’ visit to the circuit this weekend for the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight.
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