Coulthard holds off Brown to win wild TCR Race 3

Fabian Coulthard has held off 2019 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series title winner Will Brown to win Race 3 of Round 2 at Phillip Island.

Coulthard converted first on the grid into a second straight triumph in the hot hatch category but that statistic belies the wild nature of the 16-lap contest which brought a conclusion to the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships meeting.

Just 0.1495s separated the #24 Stan Sport Honda Civic Type R at the finish line from the #999 Audi RS 3 LMS which Brown had hauled from ninth on the grid.

Brown’s Melbourne Performance Centre team-mate Jay Hanson was in the thick of the action from the outset, and ultimately finished a lap down in 18th despite starting from the front row in the new-generation #9 Audi.

When the lights went out, Jordan Cox (Peugeot) got away smartly from the second row to make it a three-wide run to the first corner, with Coulthard in the squeeze between him and Hanson.

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Contact on both front corners of the #24 Wall Racing Honda ensued, putting Hanson off the road and Cox nearly so, while Coulthard emerged in the race lead.

Ben Bargwanna (Peugeot) jumped from sixth on the grid to second position courtesy of a good launch and the seas parting ahead of him at Doohan Corner, with Dylan O’Keeffe (Peugeot) third from Tony D’Alberto (Honda), Zac Soutar (Honda), Michael Caruso (Alfa Romeo), Will Brown (Audi), Brad Shiels (Hyundai), and Aaron Cameron (Peugeot).

Hanson had fought his way from 13th back into the top 10 when he was off the road again at Southern Loop on Lap 4.

Replays suggested that contact with Cox as they ran up Gardner Straight just moments prior had caused a right-rear puncture which may have pitched Car #9 off the road at the next left-hander, and that incident is set to be investigated post-race.

A Safety Car was called on Lap 5 when Kody Garland spun off the road at high speed at Turn 12 after his Garry Rogers Motorsport Renault shed a wheel.

Coulthard thus lost most of what had grown to a one-second lead but still held sway over Bargwanna, O’Keeffe, D’Alberto, Brown, Caruso, Cox, Cameron, Soutar, and Bailey Sweeny (Hyundai), with Hanson back in the pits.

The restart came on Lap 9, with Brown wasting little time in passing D’Alberto through Southern Loop, and Cox forcing his way up to sixth at the Turn 4 Hairpin.

As it turned out, Brown was on a charge, overtaking O’Keeffe into Doohan Corner on Lap 10 and then Bargwanna at the same spot on Lap 12, after touching the grass as he ran up Gardner Straight.

Coulthard was a full second up the road at that point, but had his mirrors full of the #999 Audi in around a lap’s time.

Brown looked for a pass in several places but the Walkinshaw Andretti United co-driver was unmoved, and would double his tally of TCR race wins just hours after opening his account.

Bargwanna finished almost two seconds back in third, from O’Keeffe, D’Alberto, Cox, Caruso, Soutar, Sweeny, and Cameron.

Round 1 winner Josh Buchan got home in 14th from the rear of the 20-car grid in his Hyundai i30 N.

D’Alberto is the series leader, by a two-point margin over Cox, as the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia field gets ready for Round 3 at Mount Panorama.

That will take place as part of the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour event, on April 15-17, with live and ad-free coverage on Stan Sport.

Results: Race 3

Pos	Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Car	Laps	Race time
1	24	Stan Sport Wall Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Honda Civic Type R	16	30:07.1782
2	999	MPC Team LIQUI MOLY	William Brown	Audi RS 3	16	30:07.3277
3	71	Burson Auto Parts Racing	Ben Bargwanna	Peugeot 308 TCR	16	30:08.9454
4	8	Schaeffler GRM	Dylan O’Keeffe	Peugeot 308 TCR	16	30:09.3969
5	50	Honda Wall Racing	Tony D’Alberto	Honda Civic Type R	16	30:11.4355
6	33	Swyftx GRM	Jordan Cox	Peugeot 308 TCR	16	30:11.8577
7	10	Ashley Seward Motorsport	Michael Caruso	Alfa Romeo Giulietta	16	30:12.3453
8	110	Team Soutar Motorsport	Zac Soutar	Honda Civic Type R	16	30:16.2861
9	130	HMO Customer Racing	Bailey Sweeny	Hyundai i30N	16	30:16.6047
10	18	Team Valvoline GRM	Aaron Cameron	Peugeot 308 TCR	16	30:17.0377
11	11	HMO Customer Racing	Nathan Morcom	Hyundai i30N	16	30:18.6237
12	333	Royal Purple Racing	Brad Shiels	Hyundai i30N	16	30:20.4525
13	34	LMCT+ Racing GRM	James Moffat	Renault Megane RS	16	30:21.0722
14	30	HMO Customer Racing	Josh Buchan	Hyundai i30N	16	30:21.4970
15	14	Purple Sector	Lachlan Mineeff	Volkswagen Golf GTI	16	30:23.9673
16	22	Melbourne Performance Centre	Iain McDougall	Audi RS 3	16	30:24.0723
17	97	Forza Brakes Motorsport	Liam McAdam	Audi RS 3	16	30:25.2138
18	9	AWC MPC Racing	Jay Hanson	Audi RS 3	15	30:19.6682
19	89	Braydan Willmington M’Sport	Braydan Willmington	Alfa Romeo Giulietta	15	30:28.6778
DNF	41	Valvoline Racing GRM	Kody Garland	Renault Megane RS	3	5:10.3135

Series points

Pos	Driver	Pts
1	Tony D’Alberto	224
2	Jordan Cox	222
3	Zac Soutar	201
4	Fabian Coulthard	198
5	Jay Hanson	188
6	William Brown	185
7	Dylan O’Keeffe	174
8	Nathan Morcom	170
9	Michael Caruso	165
10	Ben Bargwanna	155
11	Josh Buchan	151
12	Brad Shiels	150
13	Aaron Cameron	142
14	Bailey Sweeny	131
15	Braydan Willmington	125
16	Lachlan Mineeff	122
17	Liam McAdam	103
18	James Moffat	103
19	Iain McDougall	65
20	Eddie Maguire	58
21	Kody Garland	36
22	Michael Clemente	32