Fresh off the back of a double podium result at Sydney Motorsport Park on the weekend, there has been no rest for TGRA86 All 4 Mechanical Erebus Academy young gun, Bailey Sweeny.
Sweeny has tested one of the latest championship winning Hyundai TCR cars from HMO Customer Racing, at Wakefield Park in NSW.
After matching times of current TCR drivers, Bailey said after the test,
‘The car was so good to drive and it was by far the fastest race car I've driven.
They are alot different to the Toyota 86 - with paddle shifts and being front wheel drive - but I felt pretty comfortable straight away and I was able to do some good times in only my second session in the car.
We'll see what happens but it was an awesome experience and any time I can drive a fast race car it’s another day of learning’
The HMO Customer Racing Hyundai TCR cars are seen competing
STORY VIA TCR AUSTRALIA
Reigning Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series winning team HMO Customer Racing held a driver evaluation day at Wakefield Park yesterday.
HMO Customer Racing’s regular Supercheap Auto TCR Australia drivers Nathan Morcom and Josh Buchan were on hand to guide Bailey Sweeny, Tom Shaw and Zane Morse.
For Shaw it was his second taste of the HMO Customer Racing’s Hyundai i30N TCR after completing a similar day earlier this year, while for Toyota 86 competitor Sweeny and Super2 privateer Morse it was their first time driving the title winning package.
“We just had a couple of drivers complete an evaluation day just to get a sample of a TCR car, some had never driven a front-wheel-drive before,” explained Morcom.
“They did well. We had three i30N TCRS on track at multiple times, so it was good to show them the lines and demonstrate what a TCR car is made of.
“Tom knows what they are about, but the other two boys didn’t and were blown away with how advanced a TCR race car is.
“They are definitely not a production car.”
For Morcom and Buchan, the evaluation day doubled as a shakedown ahead of the final round at Bathurst.
“It was enjoyable and we definitely missed it,” Morcom said.
“It was more a shakedown to get back into the swing of things, but we did change some stuff just to test out before we get up to Bathurst.”
Work has not stopped at HMO Customer Racing during the season’s hiatus and the day provided the opportunity to discover if gains had been made on the track.
“Some bits improved, but there were some parts we did change and didn’t (improve) so it was just a matter of learning the set-up tweaks we were doing,” Morcom explained.
HMO Customer Racing is hoping to continue its third entry driven by Duvashen Padayachee at both Bathurst and Sydney Motorsport Park, while if the seat is filled a fourth i30N TCR will also become available.