Tony D’Alberto claims TCR Australia title as Will Brown wins Bathurst finale

Will Brown claimed the final victory of the 2022 TCR Australia series title, but it was not enough as Tony D’Alberto secured the title by finishing 11th.

The final day of the season started wet with fog and heavy rainfall, forcing the second race to be abandoned after several laps behind the safety car.

The weather conditions improved for the final race which saw Garry Rogers Motorsport driver Dylan O’Keeffe claiming the lead, only to make a mistake and hit the tyres at Griffins Bend – handing the lead to team-mate Aaron Cameron.

Title contender Brown made a strong start and had made his way up to third past Race 1 winner Bailey Sweeny early on.

Nathan Morcom of HMO Hyundai was second and challenged O’Keeffe for the lead, resulting in contact between the two.

Brown took advantage of this to pass Morcom for second and soon after O’Keeffe for the lead at The Chase.

The safety car was called into action on lap 13 due to the stranded Peugeot 308TCR of Ben Bargwanna.

The race restarted on lap 15, with Hyundai driver Bailey Sweeny clinching the lead from Brown, only for the Audi driver to retake the lead on the very last lap.

Brown won the race 1.5 seconds ahead of Sweeny while Hyundai Elantra N TCR driver Josh Buchan claimed the final podium place.

Cameron finished fourth ahead of Lachlan Mineeff while Nathan Morcom rounded off the top six.

Wall Racing Honda driver D’Alberto meanwhile fought hard to keep in the top 12 in order to secure the title, taking advantage of other drivers retiring in front of him to finish eleventh and claim enough points to become the 2022 champion.

D’Alberto clinched the title on 676 points, 9 points more than Brown and 44 more than Jordan Cox who finished 14th.