LaDelle to drive 99motorsport TCR

Marcus LaDelle will not only own the new 99motorsport squad, but will also drive the team’s first Audi in the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia championship.

The Central Coast team is stepping up to the championship in 2024 with a plan to run two Audis in the seven-round season.

Despite being on the search for two drivers, former Super2 driver LaDelle has admitted the chance to represent his team as an owner-driver in its first race at Sandown proved too good to resist.

“While I originally had the humble approach of putting a driver in the car, I can’t resist the challenge of steering this very fast Euro, and I love the Sandown circuit,” said LaDelle.

“I haven’t driven a Front Wheel Drive Race car since a Honda Integra in the old GTP days in 2001.

“I can’t wait to get in the car in a few weeks, then pack it and send it to Sandown. It’s going to be a massive learning curve, even with my experience.”

The team will enjoy engineering assistance from Melbourne Performance Centre which recently sold an Audi to 99motorsport.

The chassis itself is the RS3 that Chaz Mostert drove to the 2021 TCR Australia title, while Will Brown also drove it to second place the following season.

Despite the announcement of LaDelle driving himself not being the ideal option, he confirmed 99motorsport is still committed to racing two cars in 2024 and will begin “imminently”.

While it wasn’t our initial plan for me to drive the car, with the time of year etc, it seems smart to commit to this and work on the driver for the second car,” he said.

“Our ultimate plan is to enter two Audis RS3’s in the series and we are holding a Rookie Evaluation Day on January 24 at SMSP to assess up to four great candidates for the second car.”

In terms of setting targets, LaDelle already has his sights set on a top 10 finish.

“Goals are hard at this stage, but I believe with the car’s pedigree and MPC’s support, a top 10 is achievable and reasonable,” he concluded.

99motorsport will make its TCR Australia debut at Sandown on February 9-11.

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 On the latest podcast, Bruce, PG and Andrew talk about their three motor racing highlights of 2023, and to balance it out… The three lowlights as well, not lowlifes Bruce!