Reigning TCR Australia champion Josh Buchan returns for 2025 campaign

Reigning TCR Australia champion Josh Buchan will be back for the upcoming season and becomes the first confirmed 2025 entry, continuing to race for HMO Customer Racing.

“To be in the position to wear the #1 on the car again is a great honour, particularly when we’re joined by the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour at The Bend,” said Buchan.

The Hyundai driver beat Audi driver Zac Soutar by 18 points to the 2024 honours, claiming his second consecutive TCR Australia title.

“I’ve got two titles now and a third would be nice, but I’m really focused on making sure that when it comes to World Tour time we’ll be there,” said Buchan.

“I felt like we missed a win or two when it was out here two years ago and I’m pretty determined to try to right those terrible wrongs. Not only for me, but the team as it felt we were really onto something and I’d love to add a World Tour trophy to the cabinet for the guys at HMO in addition to my supporters at Hyundai.”

Buchan will race a new Hyundai Elantra N TCR (named i30 sedan in Australia) in the upcoming season which will feature just four race weekends.

“Although it’s a condensed calendar, I feel it will be an exciting year for the category,” said Buchan.

“I first tested with HMO Customer Racing at the end of 2020 in Will Brown’s title-winning i30 N TCR, but now I’ve done more racing for this team than anybody and we’ve got our own stories. We’ve had some pretty big wins and some big losses, so everyone is level headed at this point, which makes for a good culture either on or off the track.

“We go testing in the new car next week. I remember shaking the first i30 N Sedan down for the first time and it’s pretty surreal driving a new race car that hasn’t done a lot of running. There’s always the first kerb you smash, a scratch underneath – it’s quite odd getting a new car and being told to flog it.”