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Peugeot 308 P51 Gets off to a Winning Start in TCR Australia
October 23, 2024
The Garry Rogers Motorsport designed and built Peugeot 308 P51 TCR hit the track for its competitive debut this past weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park and immediately took to the top step in Supercheap Auto TCR Australia.
With two models of Peugeot running – Jordan Cox and Ben Bargwanna in the new P51 and the Valvoline duo of Aaron Cameron and Ryan Casha in the 308 – it was a busy weekend of learning for the GRM squad.
A wet start to the weekend cut back on the amount of valuable pre-race running for the new cars, though Cox and Bargwanna both cut their teeth in the slippery conditions in what was the first wet outing for the P51 TCR.
Come qualifying on Saturday morning it was Cameron who qualified highest of the Peugeots in seventh, narrowly missing out on a Q2 appearance. Race one proved a learning exercise for the team but set up a strong Sunday performance.
By virtue of an eighth and ninth place finish in the opening race, Cox and Bargwanna started the inverted top-10 race from third and second on the grid. Cameron and Casha were both left to fight from the back of the field following engine gremlins on Saturday.
Bargwanna had an excellent launch and led the early running from Cox in second and Cameron in third – who had the start of the season, blitzing his way from 12th to fourth by turn two. Cox soon made the winning move in his Schaeffler Peugeot, from which he never ceded the lead as he raced to a landmark victory in the brand-new chassis.
Cameron finished that race in fifth, after being shovelled off the road early on, ahead of Bargwanna in sixth and Casha in eighth.
The most experienced driver in TCR Australia history made full use of his knowledge bank once again in Race 3, with Cameron again coming from the back row of the grid to claim a hard-earned third place finish.
Casha and Bargwanna picked up sixth and seventh, while Cox fell just a few laps short of the finish with a mechanical fault after running inside the top five.
GRM now sit fourth, fifth and sixth in the standings with one round to go in 2024. Bargwanna is 85 points off the series lead in fourth, Cox is 92 back in fifth with Casha in sixth.
The Supercheap Auto Bathurst International will wrap up the season of TCR Australia from November 8-10, with the Trans Am squad back in action as well.