Tom Oliphant linked to Alfa Romeo seat

Former BTCC racer Tom Oliphant is set to be the first international driver to sign up to compete in the 2023 TCR Australia series as he bids to relaunch his career Down Under.

Oliphant brought the curtain down on a four-year stint in the BTCC following the 2021 season, announcing that he was to take a sabbatical from racing in order to move to Australia and support fiancée Gen – daughter of Australian media mogul Bruce Gordon – in her career.

Although he returned to the UK to take part in a one-off outing with Team HARD at Thruxton last season, the 32-year-old was known to be exploring opportunities in Australia having been linked with potential drives in both TCR Australia and in Dunlop Super2.

According to Motorsport.com, Oliphant – a two-time BTCC winner and former Ginetta Supercup champion – is now set to join Ash Seward Motorsport for the season ahead at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

Any potential deal would provide Oliphant with the chance to not only compete for honours in the national series, but also to take part in the two TCR World Tour events that will run on Australian soil.

ASM has yet to announce its plans for the TCR series this season, having spent recent weeks focused on the Bathurst 12 Hours, where it ran a Mercedes AMG in the Pro-Am class.

The team ran ex-Supercars racer Michael Caruso last season, taking victory in the final race at Sandown after on-the-road winner Will Brown was handed a penalty for an incident during the event.

Oliphant himself has yet to comment on his plans, aside from a social media post teasing ‘something exciting coming very soon’.