TCR CUPRA ARRIVES IN AUSTRALIA

TCR Cupra arrives in Australia – Photo: Supplied

Garage1’s TCR Cupra has arrived in Australia and is ready for its debut in the TCR Australia series.

As reported by Auto Action in August, the Melbourne based team’s purchase of the Cupra adds a tenth different manufacturer to local TCR competition with Peugeot also set to join the ranks at the final round of the inaugural season at The Bend.

“We decided to go to TCR a few months ago. It’s good racing and we feel it’s the category to be in,” said Marty Brant, Owner of Garage1.

“We chose the Cupra because it’s different and we see a good future in it. It’s very competitive overseas, and the benefit of the Cupra is that we can use Melbourne Performance Centre as our base for parts and help if we need it.

“We’d like to expand to at least two cars in the future. We see that as the best model for us. More would be even better.

“We’d like to be at The Bend for the final round,. It’ snot a priority, but we are working on a couple of deals to make that happen. We’ll just have to see what happens.

“John and I are both Kiwis, and we’d both love to go back home and race in TCR New Zealand. It’s not a priority, but if the opportunity is there, we’d certainly look at it.

“This class really takes me back to the Group A days where you can take any of these cars and race anywhere in the world.”

Cupra is the performance subsidiary of Spanish car brand SEAT, whose cars were the original basis for all TCR cars back in 2014.

The brand also falls under the Volkswagen Audi Group (VAG) banner which is supported locally by Melbourne Performance Centre, who also run the Audi RS 3 LMS and VW Golf GTI TCR in Australia.

“As far as we can see, TCR is the future for Australian motorsport,” said John Evans, Owner of Garage1.

“It is an interesting and exciting class, full of variety. They are proper little race cars. There’s enough there for an engineer or mechanic to spark the interest, and they are very race and reward the driver too. It’s a real good challenge.

“The Cupra is a really nice car, and the one that we have has been well looked after. We feel that it is going to be a very competitive package and we are looking forward to getting it on track soon.” 

The Garage1 team is yet to confirm if they will compete at the final round of the series at The Bend, with their primary focus on the 2020 TCR Australia season, however, have indicated they would be open to running if the right deals can be put in place.

The final round of the 2019 TCR Australia Series will be held at The Bend Motorsport Park on November 15-17.

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