News
BTCC race winner Tom Oliphant joins the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series
British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) race winner and former BMW factory driver Tom Oliphant will join the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series.
Oliphant, who hails from Cheshire, United Kingdom, will contest the 2023 and 2024 TCR Australia seasons with Autoglym ASM (Ashley Seward Motorsport).
Oliphant will make his TCR Australia debut at the season-opening AWC Race Tasmania event driving the Autoglym Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce.
Oliphant, 32, brings a wealth of experience to the TCR ranks following a four-year stint in the BTCC. In what is one of the world’s most competitive touring car championships, Oliphant won two races and finished on the podium on 10 occasions.
After winning the Ginetta GT4 Supercup in 2015, Oliphant competed in the British GT Championship and Porsche Carrera Cup GB before transitioning to the BTCC with Cicely Motorsport in 2018.
The following year, he was recruited by West Surrey Racing (WSR) – one of the most successful teams in the history of British motorsport run by expatriate New Zealander, Dick Bennetts – and spent three seasons as a factory BMW driver for WSR.
In that time, Oliphant finished a career-best sixth in the 2020 BTCC standings and won at Brands Hatch in both 2020 and 2021. Alongside four-time BTC champion Colin Turkington, Oliphant contributed to BMW winning three consecutive BTCC manufacturers’ titles.
Oliphant moved to Australia in 2022 and lives in Wollongong, NSW with fiancée and Australian native, Genevieve. During last year, Oliphant returned to the BTCC for a one-off appearance at Thruxton driving a Cupra for Team Hard.
Oliphant’s tilt at the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series will be the first full-time campaign by an international driver in the series’ history.
In addition to – and fittingly, British – car care brand Autoglym, Oliphant will carry support from WIN Television and NSW radio stations, i98FM and C91.3FM.
The opening round of the Shannons SpeedSeries at Symmons Plains for AWC Race Tasmania is on February 24-26.
CLICK HERE for tickets to AWC Race Tasmania on February 24-26.
Stan Sport will provide live, uninterrupted and on-demand coverage of all Shannons SpeedSeries rounds, while action from Saturday at every round will be broadcast live and free on the Nine Network between 2pm-5pm AEDT.
QUOTES
Tom Oliphant
Driver, Autoglym ASM
“I’m absolutely over the moon to announce I’m down under and I’ll be racing in the TCR Australia Series,” said Oliphant.
“It’s been a dream of mine to race in Australia and I’ll finally get to live it out in 2023. TCR Australia is obviously a very, very competitive category with drivers such as Will Brown making a career in the class and it will be great to be competing against them. I see it as a real challenge and I’m looking forward to every moment.
“I’m very proud to be joining Ashley Seward Motorsport. The team do an incredible job and I was impressed when I met with them in Melbourne recently. The Alfa Romeo is a proven race winner and I’m proud to also be representing Autoglym in Australia. It’s such a big brand with great heritage.
“I’m excited to race at Symmons Plains as my first round. It looks a really interesting track and I’ve watched a lot of video, so I can’t wait to get started.”
Ashley Seward
Team Principal, Autoglym ASM
“It’s great to welcome Tom to our team, alongside Autoglym in our Alfa Romeo TCR,” said Seward.
“Tom has proven to be a leading contender in touring cars overseas, as well as other racing categories, and to have him choose TCR Australia is a real feather in our cap.
“There’s no doubt that the competition will be very competitive this year. There are some very strong driver and car combinations, and we feel that we have the right ingredients to make a strong tilt for the title.
“I also would like to thank Michael Caruso for his efforts last year. He was terrific to have as part of our team and I hope we can work together again in the future.”
David Turney
Head of Marketing, Autoglym Australia
“We’re thrilled to partner with ASM for another year of what promises to be great Touring Car Racing,” said Turney.
“And naturally, we’re excited to welcome Tom onto the team for 2023. He has fantastic racing creds in a variety of machines, and we can’t wait to witness his skills on the track.
“Of course, we want to tip our hat to Michael Caruso, for steering the Autoglym Alfa through last season.”