Photo: TCR Australia

TCR Australia to host invitational Bathurst event in 2020

The Australian Racing Group (ARG) has announced a 500km TCR series race will headline a massive weekend of motorsport around Mount Panorama next year as international teams and drivers have been invited to take part in the inaugural race.

After it was announced recently that the ARG, which runs the TCR Australia racing series, will host a fifth Bathurst event, the organisation today confirmed they will host a non-championship race at the iconic Australian circuit, hoping for a full grid of 55 cars and looking to draw from TCR competitors worldwide.

The Bathurst International will see the TCR race take centre stage as the 500km headline act on the bill with the newly-formed S5000 series as well as LMP3, Touring Car Masters and TA2 racing taking place on the same weekend.

ARG director Matt Braid has said that the event will bring a new international vibe to Bathurst, complementing the other four major events which take place at the Mount Panorama circuit.

“The Australian Racing Group is pleased to announce our Bathurst International event at Mount Panorama,” Braid said.

“This event was presented as a true opportunity to bring a new International focus to Bathurst. Up to now there has been limited opportunities for international drivers to compete at Australia’s best race track in cars they are used to racing in their home series’.

“With the variety of categories on offer at the event, and a date that comes after most global series have concluded means the Bathurst International will see international drivers, teams and their cars compete head to head with Australia best drivers across multiple races over the event weekend.”

TCR Australia’s inaugural champion, HMO Customer Racing driver Will Brown, says he expects the hot hatchbacks to suit the track and the battle between locals and international drivers will prove to be the focus of the event.

“Bathurst is an iconic race track, so to have the opportunity to compete against some of the world’s best touring car drivers and teams is something that I’m really excited about,” Brown said.

“The TCR cars will suit the Bathurst circuit, especially across the top of the mountain. It will be a wild ride, and I reckon that that their speed will surprise a a lot of people.

“In TCR Australia, we’ve had the chance to see a few international drivers come and compete, and we’ve seen how fast and how good they are. Most of the locals will have the advantage of knowing the track, but I suspect that our advantage will be gone after the first couple of practice sessions.

“We’ll all need to be on our best game.”

It is likely that the event will take place on December 4-6 2020, though the ARG will look to change the date as the event will clash with the Supercars finale in Newcastle.