Jean-Karl Vernay will join the grid of the TCR Australia series for this weekend’s event at the Queensland Raceway, racing an Audi RS3 for Melbourne Performance Centre in a one-off outing.
Vernay is a regular in the FIA World Touring Car Cup, but has been called in by Melbourne Performance Centre to drive the car which Garth Tander drove to victory last time out in race one at The Bend Motorsport Park.
Tander will not take part in this weekend’s event. Frenchman Vernay will arrive in Brisbane on Thursday, ahead of Friday’s practice sessions.
“I’m really looking forward to coming to Australia and racing in the new TCR Series down under,” said the 2017 TCR International Series champion.
“I’ve seen some of the racing and the amount of cars that they have and it looks very competitive. For a TCR series that has only just started, it is a very good series so far.
“I have raced lots of Audi TCR cars around the world, so it should be no problem for me to get accustomed to the car.
“The circuit looks interesting – only six corners, but the guys at MPC have said that it is quite technical too, so I’m really excited to get to Australia and experience the racing.”