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Old 7 Dec 2021, 23:47 (Ref:4087605)   #251
chavez
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chavez should be qualifying in the top 3 on the gridchavez should be qualifying in the top 3 on the gridchavez should be qualifying in the top 3 on the grid
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I find it odd that several names and vehicles did not appear in what should have been TCR Australia's marquee event.

No Mr D'Alberto, let anyone driving his thing.

ASM seem to have bailed out, with Mr Holdsworth opting not to race, and Mr Hansen taking the other Alfa to MPC until his current-spec Audi RS3 lands.

Mr Clemente was also absent.

MPC's Golf was handed off to Purple Sector for a no-name to plod around, well off the pace.

Next year will be interesting.

Will the King i30 reappear, and do a full season? Mr Brown's title-winning chassis has found a new home.

What of the Astras? Will the individual who bought them, reassemble them, and find an appropriate budget to run them? Lubner in Germany are still persisting with them, however no news of a current-model Astra being developed for TCR.

GRM still has an unused Alfa and Peugeot, and the re-shelled Megane Evo.

Romeo Ferraris has ceased development of the Guilietta, and seemingly Vukovic have done the same with the Megane. PeugeotSport isn't pushing the TCR barrow much these days.

Hyundai has moved on to the Elantra now, with the i30 and Veloster now considered old tech. Will the Morcoms stump up for a couple?

Many of the cars are in dire need of a birthday, and several teams could really look to what's going on overseas in TCR land. Multiple turbo failures over a weekend are rare, and the Michelins fall apart when you overwork them on a warm-ish day.
Enjoyable racing nonetheless.
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Old 8 Dec 2021, 02:05 (Ref:4087615)   #252
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Yeah, it has its moments.
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Old 8 Dec 2021, 09:25 (Ref:4087645)   #253
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Not running since May, and returning to do mainly midweek running probably caused a few entrants to perhaps just not bother. Hard to blame them given the schedule.

Talking to a team from another support category, there was a LOT of unrest in the support paddock last week, to the point it seems like anything like that “6-day Bathurst” is unlikely to be tried again, the “race torque” alluded to this on their website too.

D’Alberto’s car not running was curious as it is a nominal “works car” with some Honda backing. After a largely uncompetitive year, will the Wall’s continue next year?
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Old 8 Dec 2021, 10:44 (Ref:4087654)   #254
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D’Alberto’s car not running was curious as it is a nominal “works car” with some Honda backing. After a largely uncompetitive year, will the Wall’s continue next year?
Especially given even if Tony D wasn't driving, Mr Wall himself could have had a go but drove a v8 instead.

The cynic in me might ask how many cars ARG still own or fund on the grid? May explain some of the strange comings and goings.

Definitely begging for more stability, and the total lack of racing around COVID would have helped nobody's plans.

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Old 8 Dec 2021, 11:41 (Ref:4087667)   #255
Umai Naa
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I'd have throught ARG would have taken an 'all-in' approach, given it's Bathurst.

Gather up all the race-ready cars, incentivise the fence-sitters, maybe air-freight one or two more factory-employed ring-ins, make a proper show of it.

However, I think now that ARG have their mits on Supercars, TCR will fall under the control of a smaller entity (are you still interested, Mr Salmon?). Will be entirely up to the competitor base then. Next year will be telling.
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Old 9 Dec 2021, 00:44 (Ref:4087814)   #256
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I don't see the points of concern. The stuff that is worried about now will be forgotten by the first round next year.

Under the circumstances, last week was just a matter of getting through it. Dare I say that it wouldn't have been a priority at this stage for competitors, who might rather be knuckling down for next year.

All they have to do next year is get another season underway and then in the books.

Holdsworth, D'Alberto, etc. not competing? Who really cares?

What other concerns are there that a not really?
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Old 9 Dec 2021, 00:47 (Ref:4087815)   #257
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Not running since May, and returning to do mainly midweek running probably caused a few entrants to perhaps just not bother. Hard to blame them given the schedule.

Talking to a team from another support category, there was a LOT of unrest in the support paddock last week, to the point it seems like anything like that “6-day Bathurst” is unlikely to be tried again, the “race torque” alluded to this on their website too.

D’Alberto’s car not running was curious as it is a nominal “works car” with some Honda backing. After a largely uncompetitive year, will the Wall’s continue next year?
Six Days at a race meeting, one day was enough for me and two was avoided at all costs but sometimes necessary and I would be suicidal after 6 days but that is just me. It is a curious fact, fellow competitors do not watch much racing for some reason and in between the races for your vehicle it is boredom city.
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Old 9 Dec 2021, 11:23 (Ref:4087902)   #258
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I'd have throught ARG would have taken an 'all-in' approach, given it's Bathurst.

Gather up all the race-ready cars, incentivise the fence-sitters, maybe air-freight one or two more factory-employed ring-ins, make a proper show of it.

However, I think now that ARG have their mits on Supercars, TCR will fall under the control of a smaller entity (are you still interested, Mr Salmon?). Will be entirely up to the competitor base then. Next year will be telling.
To be honest, similar thoughts had crossed my mind regarding what ARG would do with TCR now they’ve got a slice of Supercars. Same goes for TA2 actually also. And the Bathurst “International” now that they’ve got the 1000. I assume they’ll hang onto to 6hr as it’s different enough from the 12hr they’ve got a share of now too.

GRM have invested heavily in TCR, I doubt that part of ARG would be keen to see the formula passed onto someone else.
Rod Salmon would, I assume, only be interested in running with AMRS under AASA, but Motorsport Australia holds the actual contract for the TCR regulations don’t they (who appointed ARG to run it?)
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Old 9 Dec 2021, 12:48 (Ref:4087915)   #259
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ARG used TCR to build some credibility. Got on side with Motorsport Australia.

Then set about acquiring half of Supercars' regular undercard.

Then got in with FTA TV, and now with Supercars ownership, Fox too.

MA's rights ownership of TCR is with TCR owners WSC. MA then contracts out the running and promotion of it to ARG. These contracts will lapse at some point.

GRM's investment isn't really a big deal. The cars and parts can be sold anywhere in the world. I'm sure the fleet is well-funded, I can't imagine GRM typically spending more than they need to on running them. They certainly wouldn't be dipping into their own pockets at this point.
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Old 9 Dec 2021, 23:06 (Ref:4088036)   #260
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Like many other organisations, "that" virus and dealing with it will have impacted ARG's plan for TCR.

Clearly the initial plan was to throw oodles of financial support at it, buy cars, fund drivers etc so that it kicked off with more cars/teams/drivers than would be the case if it was grown organically. Typically, for most new series, there are many interested competitors who "sit on the fence" waiting to see how the series goes before commiting high levels of finance and time to it (understandable) and in any case, some track record makes sponsor discussions more effective.

ARG overcame that initial inertia by financially propping it up (similarly with S5000) and the word was out within the industry that after the 1st season, that support would be wound right back. Now however, after the impact of that virus, we're kind of back to square 1 (not quite but not far from it either) and the series is effectively starting again.

Whether or not the financial support will re-emerge remains to be seen but I suspect that it won't so in reality the future of TCR in Oz is yet to be clear.
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Old 10 Dec 2021, 04:31 (Ref:4088061)   #261
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Clearly the initial plan was to throw oodles of financial support at it, buy cars, fund drivers etc so that it kicked off with more cars/teams/drivers than would be the case if it was grown organically. Typically, for most new series, there are many interested competitors who "sit on the fence" waiting to see how the series goes before commiting high levels of finance and time to it (understandable) and in any case, some track record makes sponsor discussions more effective.
There was no doubt they threw the kitchen sink at it and if 2020 had been normal they probably would have transitioned to a more normal arrangement, but obviously it wasn't, didn't, and Brian Boyd left with his money.

The first season really did look impressive and it is a shame, now they have a lower base and a couple of strong teams, but unfortunately in the intervening period eTCR has risen up, car manufacturers are announcing the end date of IC engines, and a sizable number of shops are no longer developing their cars.

So to coin a phrase, TCR will start to look like a "second hand car yard" and this diminishes the value of the vehicles and the overall series itself.

It is starting to feel a little bit like Supertouring after 1995, a couple of strong, front running teams (who own part of the series), and the rest a motley crew of plucky independents.

We have to see what a full, uninterrupted season looks like.

We should at least have current Audi, Honda and (sort of) Hyundai, plus the rest, and there are plenty of cars in sheds.
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Old 10 Dec 2021, 06:15 (Ref:4088069)   #262
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Confirmed Tony D did sit out Bathurst to focus on his 1000 tilt.

Really doesn't flatter, or tell Honda where they are on the totem pole.

Really makes me wonder Why David Wall didn't run the car. If they wanted Honda to come back next year you'd like to think they wouldn't have parked the car for a co-drive at the first race in more than 6 months, especially given as they had just applied upgrades to hopefully make the car faster in high speed circuits.

https://www.speedcafe.com/2021/12/10...R8enOTPsaoZlEo
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Old 10 Dec 2021, 10:31 (Ref:4088093)   #263
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I'd have throught ARG would have taken an 'all-in' approach, given it's Bathurst.

Gather up all the race-ready cars, incentivise the fence-sitters, maybe air-freight one or two more factory-employed ring-ins, make a proper show of it.

However, I think now that ARG have their mits on Supercars, TCR will fall under the control of a smaller entity (are you still interested, Mr Salmon?). Will be entirely up to the competitor base then. Next year will be telling.
Bathurst was a Supercars event & ARG are a shareholder not the decision maker. They sit at the table.

There is no doubt ARG would have preferred a better showing for TCR but it was never going to be the main game.

The racing was good imho, Cox was a breath of fresh air in a way that only reverse grid racing can deliver.

Hopefully 2022 can see a better run before we hit winter covid style.
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Old 10 Dec 2021, 11:00 (Ref:4088109)   #264
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There is no doubt ARG would have preferred a better showing for TCR but it was never going to be the main game.
It was ARG's date, but they were incapable of the organisational effort to put an event on, so they deferred to Supercars.

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Old 10 Dec 2021, 13:25 (Ref:4088135)   #265
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Haha
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Old 17 Dec 2021, 04:01 (Ref:4090208)   #266
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Haha
At some point the ownership would have changed (?) the relationship between ARG & Supercars with the formation of RACE.

I'd expect that will change across 2022 - for better I hope, not worse. By better I mean motor racing fans #1, not board room ego's.

Last edited by cavvy; 17 Dec 2021 at 04:02. Reason: clarity
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