TCR winner’s unusual collision with Dick Johnson

An unusual incident involving motorsport royalty Dick Johnson hampered Bailey Sweeny during Supercheap Auto TCR Australia qualifying earlier today.

By the end of the day, Sweeny would become the sixth different race winner in the 2022 TCR Australia season, taking the chequered flag more than 11 seconds ahead of James Moffat in Race 2.

But he’d had his work cut out for him for the opening encounter after a damaged front splitter restricted him to ninth in qualifying.

The cause? Making contact with a car being driven by three-time Bathurst 1000 winner Johnson.

“We were just pushing the cars out ready for qualifying and this car ran into the front of us, and Dick Johnson hops out of it,” said Sweeny.

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“We looked at the splitter and it looked fine.

“We went out in Q1 and everything was good, but then during the first lap of Q2 it broke, so that was the end of our session to end up ninth.

“He said not much, asked if it was broken, then drove off.”

Sweeny would finish Race 1 in ninth after losing two places on the final lap while lining up a pass on Tim Slade, but made the most of his front-row start for the reverse top 10 grid race.

“It’s mega… I’m lost for words,” the Erebus Academy member said immediately after his Race 2 win.

The third and final TCR race of the weekend will get underway at 10:10 AEST.