Tufflift Racing has enjoyed a number of firsts at The Bend Motorsport Park over the weekend during what was Round 4 of this year’s Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series. In what was a very intense weekend full of drama and fierce battles, Zac Soutar managed to come away with 2 race wins, marking the first time he has won whilst driving Audi machinery under the “Tufflift Racing” banner.
Although Zac was able to secure 2 race wins, the weekend was far from trouble free. Friday practice was a wash out, with Zac only recording a small handful of laps in very wet conditions at the Tailem Bend circuit. This would mean that the first opportunity to get a feel for the car’s pace in dry conditions would come on Saturday morning during Qualifying.
Not to be deterred by the unknown quantity of the car underneath him, Zac was able to qualify in a solid 4th place. However, this was as good as Saturday would get. Upon pulling up to his grid box to start Race 1, Zac realized that his clutch had failed, causing him to stall on the grid. With the clutch not engaging, some quick thinking allowed Zac to restart the car using the starter motor, but only once the entire field had already made their way by. A solid recovery effort saw Zac drive back up to 9th place by the end of the race.
Fortunes would change on Sunday for Zac. Starting in second place as a result of the inverted Top 10 grid positions based on the results of Race 1, Zac was able to make the most of a repaired clutch to make a decent getaway from the line. A great battle ensued into Turn 1 with fellow rival Ben Bargwanna, in which Zac was able to hang around the outside and take the lead. From there the #110 Tufflift Racing Audi driver never looked back, and was able to stretch out a gap of 7.5 seconds to bring home a commanding victory, his first in over 2 years.
The celebrations wouldn’t stop there however. Starting in third for the final race of the weekend, Zac was able to make a fantastic launch to jump straight up into 2nd place. After some carnage behind and a safety car restart, the leader made a mistake going into the final corner, which allowed Zac to jump into the lead. This is where Zac would stay until the end of the race, albeit by only 4 tenths of a second, to score Tufflift Racing’s second win of the day.
A successful Sunday in South Australia sees Zac move back into the lead of the TCR Australia Series points standings. With three rounds to go however, the championship is still well and truly anyone’s game.
Glenn Nirwan enjoyed another positive weekend on Australian soil. In what was his first visit to The Bend Motorsport Park, Nirwan took the opportunity to clock plenty of laps during Friday’s wet practice sessions. Once the track dried out on Saturday and Sunday, Glenn showed great pace in dry conditions. This pace would go unrewarded in Race 1 however, as Glenn was taken out going down into Turn 1 on the first lap by a rival driver.
Race 2 was the highlight of the weekend for Glenn, with the Indonesian driver showing some great speed to get amongst some serious battles in the mid pack. Although a Top 10 result looked like it was within reach, Glenn had to settle for an 11th place finish. Race 3 was unfortunately one to forget for the #29 Tufflift Racing Audi, with some questionable driving by a rival driver seeing Glenn get caught up in someone else’s incident.
Not to be disheartened however, Glenn is encouraged by his continual pace improvement and, along with Zac, is looking forward to the next round of the series at Queensland Raceway over the weekend of July 13 and 14.
Quotes
Zac Soutar - Driver - Car #110 - Tufflift Racing
"It's been a fantastic weekend for the team. I'm just so relieved to finally be able to bring home some race wins for the whole Tufflift Racing crew.
My heart sank when I realized my clutch had failed at the start of Race 1. There was a moment there when all of the cars passed me off of the line that I figured our weekend and championship was over. I guess it's a testament to never giving up as we were able to recover to 9th place, which set us up for the double victory on Sunday.
A huge thank you goes out to my team and family. They never ever give up and were able to give me a rocket of a car, and I'm so pleased for everyone that we've been able to have a great weekend."
Glenn Nirwan - Driver - Car #29 - Tufflift Racing
"Coming to the race I didn't know what to expect, but after seeing the Q1 results we were quite confident. I tried to steer clear of trouble but unfortunately we had pretty bad luck during races.
We put up a good fight during Race 2 to finish 11th from starting 14th. During Race 3 we were fighting for Top 10 position when another driver's collusion affected my race and eventually ended my race prematurely.
We took a great lesson from the weekend, we had the pace we just didn't have the luck. We will be back stronger in Queensland Raceway, and that's a promise."
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