News
Supercheap Auto TCR Australia to conduct tyre test prior to opening round
The Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series will make the switch to Kumho Tyres this season, with teams receiving an opportunity to test prior to official track action begins at AWC Race Tasmania next week.
All cars competing at the opening round of the series will get a four-hour testing bonus on the Thursday prior to the event, giving the TCR teams and drivers the opportunity to sample the new Kumho rubber for the first time.
Announced last month, the new partnership with Kumho is a multi-year deal and will welcome a bespoke tyre designed for TCR racing to the series.
Most importantly, the tie-in with Kumho ensures a common link between not only the TCR World Tour and Supercheap Auto TCR Australia, but many top TCR classes globally including TCR Europe, TCR South America, TCR Brazil, TCR Eastern Europe and TCR Denmark.
The TCR World Tour will contest two rounds of its global series in Australia, welcoming the globe’s best touring car drivers to this country for the first time in 25 years as the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International has been confirmed for one round.
Supercheap Auto TCR Australia will make its Kumho debut at AWC Race Tasmania on February 24-26.
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Stan Sport will provide live, uninterrupted and on-demand coverage of all Shannons SpeedSeries rounds. AWC Race Tasmania will also feature free-to-air broadcasting on the Nine Network’s digital channels on Saturday afternoon from 2-5pm (February 25)
QUOTES
Tony D’Alberto
Honda Wall Racing, Honda Civic Type R TCR
“It’s going to be interesting,” said D’Alberto.
“We had a new tyre last year as well, which changes the balance of the car so we’re pretty keen to get our hands on a new set of the Kumhos to see how the Honda reacts and the changes we need to make.
“I think it’s a great initiative to go to the same tyre that we’re going to run against the internationals later in the year.
“The team has spoken to JAS Motorsport over in Europe to get a little bit of insight, but there’s always different opinions on those things. From all reports, it’s a very good tyre we shouldn’t see any issues with them.
“It’s just really trying to get a feel for the balance and see how we need to shift that to get the most out of the Type R TCR.”
Aaron Cameron,
Valvoline Team GRM, Peugeot 308 TCR
“I think it’s really exciting having a new tyre for the category,” Cameron stated.
“I think it’s great and levels the playing field again as with GRM running four cars, it’s a big leg up for us as we can just collect that data so fast on these tyre tests compared to other teams running one or two cars. It’s a big advantage for us and we’ve got some smart people, who should be able to make the most of it.
“It’ll be interesting to see what happens with this tyre in terms of whether we run four greens on qualifying or just put two greens on the front. It just resets what we did with the previous tyre as the Kumho could be a lot different.
“The tyre test is a great start for us to learn the tyre before we get into the action at Symmons Plains.”