Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Victoria: HMO Customer Racing endured a challenging weekend at Phillip Island for the second round of the Speed Series in the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship.
Teenage sensation Bailey Sweeny was the best placed of the team’s drivers, finishing all three races – in 11th, 16th and ninth – while Nathan Morcom and Josh Buchan were forced to charge from the back of the field in Sunday’s final two 16-lap sprints after they both suffered damage in Saturday’s opening race.
All three drivers showcased the potential of the Hyundai i30 N TCR with good race pace and some aggressive overtaking manoeuvres to claw back positions following disappointing qualifying performances.
But the success ballast they carried from the opening round at Symmons Plains, in which all three drivers finished on the podium and Buchan left as the championship leader, hampered the straightline speed – and consequently hindered their ability to challenge the front runners – at the fast and flowing seaside circuit.
In the end, Buchan – who failed to finish the opening race and came home in 11th and 14th in the remaining sprints – surrendered his position at the top of the standings and drops to 11th on 151 points.
Morcom is the highest placed of the three HMO Customer Racing drivers in eight position on 170 points after finishing 19th, ninth and 11th in the three Phillip Island events.
Sweeny, meanwhile, holds 14th position on 131 points.
Nathan Morcom – Phillip Island Results 2022
Practice 1: P8 – 1:37.0829sec
Practice 2: P11 – 1:37.8023sec
Qualifying: P12 – 1:37.3200sec
Race 1: P19 – 1:39.0613sec
Race 2: P9 – 1:38.3541sec
Race 3: P11 – 1:38.5236sec
“It was a weekend of damage limitation after we had a power steering issue in the opening race. We were looking good up until that point, running in eighth place, which would have set us up for a good run in the other two races. Instead, we had to fight back.
“The car felt good and we had great race pace but the Balance of Performance penalties we were carrying made it hard for us to do anything more today.”
Josh Buchan – Phillip Island Results 2022
Practice 1: P10 – 1:37.3079
Practice 2: P4 – 1:36.8366sec
Qualifying: P17 – 1:37.5915sec
Race 1: DNF
Race 2: P19 – 1:38.6342sec
Race 3: P14 – 1:38.4197sec
“We certainly missed a massive opportunity to extend the championship lead after we mucked-up the qualifying strategy and started in 17th position, which put us on the back foot for the rest of the weekend.
“The car was fast enough to be deep into the top five, but once we were back there it was always going to be tough to get to the front again.
“We’ll learn from this weekend, move on and try again at Bathurst next month.”
Bailey Sweeny – Phillip Island Results 2022
Practice 1: P14 – 1:37.6918sec
Practice 2: P14 – 1:38.0433sec
Qualifying: P13 – 1:37.3425sec
Race 1: P11 – 1:38.8171sec
Race 2: P16 – 1:38.3843sec
Race 3: P9 – 1:38.3599sec
The next round of the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship will be held at Mount Panorama, Bathurst, on April 15-17
| 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 14. | Tony D’Alberto Jordan Cox Zac Soutar Fabian Coulthard Jay Hanson Will Brown Dylan O’Keefe Nathan Morcom Michael Caruso Ben Bargwanna Josh Buchan Bailey Sweeny | 224 222 201 198 188 185 174 170 165 155 151 131 |