News
Tasmania Awaits After Stellar Start to 2024
March 13, 2024
AWC Race Tasmania is next on the calendar for the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series and the Trico Trans Am Series, running this weekend from March 15-17 at Symmons Plains Raceway.
The crew will be working hard to pick up where we left off at Sandown, where GRM cars swept all six races across both TCR and Trans Am for the first time in one weekend.
TCR Australia
Ben Bargwanna leads the way in TCR Australia, after his first career round win and a pair of race victories at the opening round of the season. Jordan Cox sits third in the points after taking out race two of the weekend.
Valvoline’s Ryan Casha is fifth just one round into his TCR career, following a remarkable debut which included a race two podium. Aaron Cameron was running third in race one when his power steering let go, setting his weekend back and leading him to 10th in the points.
The Peugeot 308 has been fast at Symmons Plains in the past, with Cameron taking victory at the 2.411km circuit last year and Cox on the podium twice. The Schaeffler driver has the best history of the bunch in Tasmania, taking three wins between 2021 and 2022.
Casha will be making his competitive debut at the Tasmanian circuit, but will be able to rely on some of the knowledge he picked up after sampling Cameron’s Peugeot at the GRM Combine.
Trans Am
Five drivers, all capable of winning, in our Trans Am line-up but it was James Moffat that raced to a sweep of the three races at Sandown. Ominously, Moffat swept the races at Symmons Plains in 2023 as well…
James Golding will be looking to go one better than he did at the opening round, after a pair of runner-up finishes. The Supercars regular also took pole on debut and given his S5000 podiums in Tasmania last year, he’ll fancy his chances of going two-for-two.
Tom Davies also made his debut at Sandown, impressing as he improved across the weekend to position himself 10th in the standings. The learning curve won’t be as steep for Davies this time around, given his first taste of Trans Am machinery came at the Symmons Plains circuit as part of the GRM Combine back in 2023.
For Edan Thornburrow, the Valvoline backed driver will be eager to make up for his continued run of back luck that followed him to Sandown. Fortunately, Thornburrow showed excellent pace in Tasmania last year as he charged to a top five in his first weekend with GRM.
Tim Slade showed everyone why he’s one of the category’s top drivers, as he fought from the back of the field to finish fourth in two of the three races at Sandown. Slade also has Trans Am experience at Symmons Plains, where he made his debut in 2023.
The Trans Am crew will take in four races for this weekend, all 25 laps in length, opening up even more opportunity for action throughout AWC Race Tasmania.
Tune in for all of the fun from 9:30am on Saturday and Sunday via 7plus. There will also be a free-to-air window on 7mate from 2:00pm-4:00pm on both days.
Weekend Schedule (AEDT):
Friday
Trans Am – Practice 1 – 10:30am
TCR Australia – Practice 1 – 10:55am
Trans Am – Practice 2 – 1:20pm
TCR Australia – Practice 2 – 1:45pm
Saturday
Trans Am – Qualifying – 9:35am
Trans Am – Race 1 – 11:30am
TCR Australia – Qualifying – 12:05pm
Trans Am – Race 2 – 2:05pm
TCR Australia – Race 1 – 3:15pm
Sunday
Trans Am – Race 3 – 11:20am
TCR Australia – Race 2 – 12:25pm
Trans Am – Race 4 – 2:05pm
TCR Australia – Race 3 – 3:15pm