Eddie Maguire makes TCR Australia debut at Symmons Plains

Eddie Maguire will make his racing debut during the TCR Australia season opener at Symmons Plains this weekend.

Maguire comes from a background of rallying, most recently having won the Targa Tasmania behind the wheel of a turbo charged Dodge Viper.

“We’ve done a lot of gravel and tarmac rallying with quite a bit of success, but after winning Targa Tasmania last year we just wanted to look for some different things to do in motorsport,” said Maguire.

“I haven’t got any circuit racing experience at all, but I’ve had a few conversations with Lee and Troy at Melbourne Performance Centre, I’ve probably known them for 15 years.”

Maguire is going to drive a Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR for Melbourne Performance Centre at Symmons Plains and is considering a continued season.

“I’ve said to them over the years if there are any other opportunities and I received a phone call from Lee last week to say MPC had a spare car to have a go in at Tassie. I thought, ‘if there was anywhere I was going to start it would be around a familiar track’,” said Maguire.

“I’ve never driven a front-wheel-drive race car, prior to the Viper I’ve always driven Mitsubishi Lancer Evos on gravel and tarmac. I’m hoping I can get my head around it in practice and we’ll see how we go.

“If by the end of the weekend I’m putting down some good laps and maybe even claw our way up the field then that would be great, but I don’t have any huge expectations. I’m just there for the experience.

“I’ve been keeping my eye on the TCR Australia Series for a while now and I think it’s a great concept. Certainly, if we have a good weekend, we enjoy it and go alright, we’d look at doing other rounds.”