Buchan bucking the trend

The trend of different TCR Australia champions has been broken by a faultless Josh Buchan, who raised his game to a new level in 2024.

After coming from behind to score breakthrough national title last year at Bathurst, Buchan returned to the same circuit 12 months later as the hunted and delivered again.

This time the HMO Customer Racing driver overcame a challenge from Zac Soutar with a composed performance in the finale.

It competed an ultra-consistent season where the #1 Hyundai appeared on the podium 14 times, five more than the next best.

Having already joined the likes of Will Brown, Chaz Mostert and Tony D’Alberto, Buchan did what none of those Supercars drivers had done and became the first driver to win multiple TCR Australia titles.

Josh Buchan leads TCR title rival Zac Soutar. Image: Supplied

He revealed the chance to prove to himself he could go all the way again was a great source of motivation.

“I wanted to defend the crown even more so than wanting to win the first one,” Buchan told Auto Action.

“Not to prove to anyone or anything that I deserved it, but more to prove to myself I had that in me.

“I did not want to be one of those people that wins something and then chill out, I wanted to back it up.

“I was fortunate to drive in GT4 and have success in that and get picked up by Rodin. I had some great opportunities and feel like my driving was the best it has ever been this year.

“The reasons were very different in terms of how they played out, so it is extremely satisfying to win it in different matters.

“Grid sizes were a talking point, but the quality of the field has always been exceptionally high amongst the front runners and that makes it more rewarding.”

Josh Buchan with engineer Rob Benson. Image: Supplied

After rising to the occasion in a momentum-shifting penultimate round at Sydney and snatching the championship lead, Buchan arrived at the mountain with a 36-point advantage.

Although nearest rival Zac Soutar halved the deficit, Buchan did enough to go back to back with P3 and a pair of P6 finishes.

It was a big contrast to last year where Buchan came from behind in a wild finale, which he admitted was a much more comfortable position.

“It was very different,” he said.

“I probably preferred going in chasing something because there is not as much pressure.

“My biggest concern was having a heavy car due to the BOP from Sydney so I had to push pretty hard to extract the lap time in qualifying and the first race to stick with the lead pack and get the podium that springboard my weekend.”

The title is the latest high point for the special relationship between Buchan, HMO and Hyundai.

Bucham joined the team as Brown’s replacement with only Formula Ford and Formula 3 under his belt.

Josh Buchan on his way to title glory in the chase. Image: Insyde Media/TCR

But he has grown into a title-winning force and gave a special send off to internationally acclaimed engineer Rob Benson.

As Buchan celebrates more success, he is very grateful for the role HMO and TCR have played in his career and he will be back on the grid chasing a hat-trick in 2025.

“I remember when the whole chat was coming about in terms of TCR at the back end of 2020 I did not even want to talk about it to my family because it would make me feel ill,” he recalled.

“I knew it could be something special if it happens, but such a missed opportunity if it did not.

“I knew it would be a big deal and it has given me the opportunity to be a full-time professional racing driver, which is something I never really thought would happen.

“Especially from my background where I did not have a choice in where I raced, it was just by luck and opportunity if I ended up in something.

Josh Buchan calmly took back to back TCR titles. Image: Supplied

“It has been massive for me. The category and all the sponsors behind it have been very good to me.

“I came into the team after Will won the title and there were pressures that came with that.

“I was fast, but it took a bit of time for the team to realise they could do something with me as well.

“The last two years we have had great success and it is a pretty tight group of people at HMO now which makes it more special to deliver for people so interested and invested off the track.”

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