Watch the Round 2 action LIVE, FREE & in HD on SBS, with Race 1 on Saturday 8 June from 2pm AEST and Races 2 & 3 on Sunday 9 June from 1pm.
Garth Tander's brand new Audi led the first race cars to ever cross the 'Gateway to Phillip Island' along with Tony D’Alberto (Honda Civic), Chris Pither (Renault), Dylan O’Keeffe (Alfa Romeo) and Chelsea Angelo (Holden Astra).
“That was a pretty cool experience,” said Wall Racing Hond driver Tony D’Alberto.
“I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve driven over that bridge. I first came to a race meeting at Phillip Island long before I was a race driver. My first trip, I would have still been in a baby seat!
“To have the opportunity to drive my Honda TCR car across the San Remo bridge was great. I can’t think of a better way to bring this new class of touring cars to Phillip Island. And these TCR cars are going to be a hoot to drive around here. It’s a fast track, and being turbo-charged front-wheel drive, our cars are going to be pretty wild to watch.”
Garry Rogers Motorsport Renault driver Chris Pither also sounded pretty stoked with the demonstration.
“I’ve been to Phillip Island many times, but today was the first time i’ve ever driven a race car over the bridge from San Remo to the island itself,” he said.
“It was a unique experience, it was good to see so many people out and supporting the second round of TCR Australia at Phillip Island this weekend.
“Cruising along the bridge at 60 kmh feels relatively slow in a full-blown race car, it was something I thought i’d never get the chance to do and it was so cool to have that opportunity today.
“I’m looking forward to getting back into the Ice Break Renault Megane RS TCR car this weekend, we had a few issues which hampered our performance at the first round, but we’re confident that we can build on what we learnt and come out firing here at Phillip Island.”
An Audi family affair for the Tanders
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Leanne Tander joins husband Garth in their carsales TCR Australia Series debut this weekend both behind the wheel of the two brand new Audi RS 3 racers that landed in Melbourne earlier this week.
Garth of course is an Australian motorsport legend, winning the Bathurst 1000 on three occasions (2000,2009 and 2011) and crowned Supercars champion in 2007.
“The new Audi that I’m driving at Phillip Island looks fantastic. The blue and orange really stands out,” he said.
“It is fantastic to have the continued support for Audi Sport for the event. I’ve enjoyed a growing association with them and it’s great for that to transfer into this new touring car category.
“Even though the car is brand-new, it will be ready to go, but it will simply be good for me to get a feel for it before we launch into practice today.”
Leanne is no slouch behind the wheel either, racing everything from karts to Formula Ford and V8 Supercars, including two starts at Bathurst 1000 and her career highlight Australian Formula Ford Championship victory in 2016.
“I’ve been hopeful of some sort of drive in the TCR Australia Series," she said. "It has been bubbling along for a while now, so I’m really glad that we’ve finally been able to pull it together.
Leanne Tander joins husband Garth behind the wheel of the new Audis for Round 2 of the TCR Australia Series at Phillip Island (TCR Australia) Source: TCR Australia
“I’m really excited about driving it at Phillip Island. I’ve done plenty of laps around there in a wide range of categories, but this is a different type of car to what I’m used to.
“I drove one of the Audi TCRs in Sydney last year, but I didn’t get a lot of laps to really feel what it was about, so I’m looking forward to having a go and seeing what it can do.
“It is fantastic to be sharing the track with three other female racers too. I’ve never raced at this high-level level in the sport with some many girls in the same race. It’s really a huge step forward and a big tick for TCR.
“To have four out of 18 drivers being female – that’s a pretty good ratio, given you generally only ever have one in the field.
“I respect Molly, Chelsea and Alexandra as a drivers. I thought they all did a great job in the first round in Sydney, and as the year progresses, I reckon we’ll see them get towards the front of the field.”
The Tanders round out the 18 car field that will contest Round 2 of the carsales TCR Australia Series, starting with practice at the famous Phillip Island circuit today.
Young gun secures Audi drive
Victorian Hamish Ribarits will join Melbourne Performance Centre in the #22 Audi RS3 LMS TCR for Round 2 of the TCR Australia Series (TCR Australia) Source: TCR Australia
The 19-year-old currently leads the Super3 Supercars Series after two rounds, racing a Ford FG Falcon for MW Motorsport and last year finished runner-up in the Australian Formula Ford Championship for Sonic Motor Racing Services.
Ribarits will be one of four cars fielded by the MPC squad this weekend.
“It is a really exciting for me – a completely new avenue of racing for me,” he said. “I’ve never driven a front wheel driver car before, so there’s a lot of learning to do, but it will be cool to drive the car on Friday and get into the racing on Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s going to be completely different to what I’m used to. From what I hear from other drivers, it’s difficult to get rear temperature into the tyres, but I’ll just look to learn and improve as the weekend goes on and gain experience in a completely different style of car.
”Having Garth Tander as a team-mate is going to be very beneficial for me. The amount of years that he has been racing, I’ll be able to pick up from him and use him as a benchmark.”
Watch the Round 2 action LIVE, FREE & in HD on SBS, with Race 1 on Saturday 8 June from 2pm AEST and Races 2 & 3 on Sunday 9 June from 1pm.
Can't wait until then, catch the highlights of Round 1. Race 1:
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Race 2:
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