Casha on ‘super fulfilling’ win
Ryan Casha enjoyed a breakthrough moment in his career last weekend, scoring a special maiden TCR Australia win at Queensland Raceway.
Starting the reverse grid affair from pole after finishing 10th in a troubled opener, Casha controlled the race from pole and established a gap over Jordan Cox.
In the end he led home his more experienced teammate by 3s to secure a special win for the rookie fresh from winning the 2023 Toyota 86 Series title.
Casha said some overnight changes following an off on Saturday came to the fore.
“It was super fulfilling,” he told AUTO ACTION.
“Just to come back from the day before and get a good result for the team was cool.
“At the same time there was a lot of work that went into it.
“We made a couple of changes with setup and focused on a few things with driving and how I was tackling certain parts of the track, just trying to make use of the Peugeot’s strengths.
Ryan Casha on the top step of the podium with Jordan Cox and Josh Buchan either side. Image: Supplied
“We ended up pulling a bit of a gap and settling into a nice rhythm and the car just kept getting quicker.
“It was a big credit to the team at GRM to set the car up and put it in that window for me and hopefully there are many more.”
Whilst the success arrived in the reverse grid affair, it marks the high point of a successful start to life in TCR for Casha.
He raced out of the blocks on debut at Sandown, where he finished third in his second race and scored fifth in the finale.
Despite a tough time in Tasmania where he had a heavy crash coming onto the first straight, Casha has finished in the top three once in each of the following three rounds at Phillip Island, The Bend and now Ipswich.
As a result he sits a solid fifth in the championship, just 27 points away from second and ahead of the likes of Brad Harris, Dylan O’Keeffe, Tony D’Alberto and Aaron Cameron.
Casha admitted his rookie campaign is currently progressing well ahead of expectations.
“I think so (it was coming) you always want to win and try your best but you don’t go out there expecting to win when you qualify poorly in such a competitive field,” he said.
Ryan Casha pushing hard at Queensland Raceway. Image: Supplied
“It was not surprising but super rewarding.
“We had a couple of good runs at the previous tracks. Tasmania had a tough run in the first race getting away from the crash but we ended up around fifth, so for that to be our weakest round is a pretty cool thing to say.
“Now having four podiums in five rounds is great in a rookie year.
“We are definitely exceeding expectations and now we have to focus on more which will be the hard part.”
Switching from the rear-wheel-drive Toyota 86 to the front-wheel-drive Peugeot 308 TCR is a challenge Casha felt he has come to terms with.
“I feel like I have adapted really well,” he said.
“I did not expect to come out of the gate firing at Sandown like we did because the calibre of drivers is so high.
“There have been a lot of firsts for me being a paddle shift car, sitting on the left hand side, starting with a launch procedure, first time racing on slicks, so many new things.
“So for us to come out firing at Sandown and continue that form throughout the year shows that we can be genuine contenders.”
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