Experienced national motorsport competitor Michael Almond will race GWR Australia’s Hyundai i30 in this weekend’s inaugural round of the TCR Australia Series at Sydney Motorsport Park, running as part of the Shannons Australian Motor Racing Nationals.
It will be one of GWR’s busiest race meetings of the year, the Sydney-based outfit running a total of eight cars across four different categories.
GWR has a wealth of experience running a wide range of vehicles in national-level competition, and team owner Garth Walden said the expansion into TCR is an exciting new project.
“It’s going to be great to be part of history – the first round of TCR in Australia,” Walden said.
“It’s fantastic to have Michael Almond as the driver. He has been part of our team as a driver coach for a number of years and it’s good to have him in the race seat.
“He has raced in many categories and I’m confident that he’ll adapt to the front wheel drive TCR car quickly.”
Almond is best known for his Carrera Cup exploits, and has also raced in V8 Utes and Touring Car Masters. He is looking forward to the challenge of racing a front-wheel-drive car for the first time.
“I’ve done some training in a FWD car, but never actually raced one,” Almond said.
“People who have tested them have told me one of the challenges is generating rear tyre temperature, so that’s something I will be working on.
“The cars always seem close together in TCR races and I think there will be a lot of passing, because different cars will have strengths and weaknesses in different parts of the track.
“I enjoy working with Garth and I’ve always been friendly with him; this will be a massive weekend for the team, and I’ll sort of be on double-duty as well because I’m doing some driver coaching with Rob Woods in Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge.”
Three 30-minute TCR races will be held over the weekend, with Sunday’s two races to be shown live on SBS.
TCR Round 1 schedule
Friday, 17 May
1:40pm – Practice 1 (30 min)
4:35pm – Practice 2 (30 min)
Saturday, 18 May
10:55am – Qualifying (30 min)
2:10pm – Race 1 (30 min)
Sunday, 19 May
1:10pm – Race 2 (30 min)
2:15pm – Race 3 (30 min)
