GRM’s Jordan Cox claimed victory in the partially-reversed second TCR Australia race of the weekend at Symmons Plains Raceway, as Bailey Sweeny claimed a maiden podium in second just half a second behind.
Cox started the race from pole position thanks to the top ten positions from qualifying being reversed, giving the Peugeot driver the best chance of victory after he had to start Saturday’s race one from the pitlane following a spin on the out lap.
Aaron Cameron started alongside Cox in another of the GRM-run Peugeots, and when the lights went out he challenged briefly for the lead, but at the end of the opening lap he had to pit after popping a turbo hose in the first lap challenge.
That promoted Sweeny in the leading HMO Customer Racing Hyundai into second, and he was close to challenging Cox for the lead at the start of lap seven when further back race one winner Jay Hanson made contact with the Renault of James Moffat.
Moffat had just lost fourth to Will Brown when Hanson tried to follow through with an opportunistic move at the final corner, but contact between the pair pitched Moffat backwards into the barriers, whilst Hanson was also out with a broken right-front wheel from the contact.
A lengthy safety car intervention followed, with racing not resuming again until lap 15 of 19.
That meant Sweeny only had five laps to challenge Cox again for the lead, and ultimately he couldn’t quite get close enough, as Cox claimed his fifth overall win in the series.
Sweeny was second in only his second TCR race start, as Wall Racing’s Tony D’Alberto completed the podium – his first visit to the rostrum since Phillip Island in March last year.
2019 champion Brown brought his Melbourne Performance Centre Audi home in fourth, having got by Josh Buchan’s Hyundai before the safety car period and then fought hard with D’Alberto for the final podium position late in the race.
Indeed Brown even had to take to the grass on the exit of the final corner after a late challenge for the podium on the run to the chequered flag.
Buchan claimed fifth, ahead of the privately-entered Honda of Zac Soutar in sixth – who again equalled his best-ever result in the series.
Dylan O’Keeffe was seventh in his GRM Peugeot, ahead of Brad Shiels’ private Hyundai in eighth.
The top ten was completed by Michael Caruso in the Ashley Seward Motorsport-run Alfa Romeo and Ben Bargwanna in his GRM Peugeot.
Race results
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP | GD |
| 1 | 33 |  |
Jordan COX | Swyftx GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 19 | 25:30.1178 | 56.280 | 1 | |
| 2 | 130 | |
Bailey SWEENY | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 19 | 0.445 | 56.234 | 3 | |
| 3 | 50 | |
Tony D’ALBERTO | Honda Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 19 | 1.417 | 56.112 | 4 | |
| 4 | 999 | |
Will BROWN | MPC Team Liqui Moly | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 19 | 1.611 | 56.196 | 8 | |
| 5 | 30 | |
Josh BUCHAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 19 | 1.733 | 55.920 | 7 | |
| 6 | 110 | |
Zac SOUTAR | Team Soutar Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 19 | 2.183 | 56.010 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | |
Dylan O’KEEFFE | Schaeffler GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 19 | 2.648 | 56.104 | 11 | |
| 8 | 333 | |
Brad SHIELS | Royal Purple Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 19 | 2.845 | 56.251 | 12 | |
| 9 | 10 | |
Michael CARUSO | Ashley Seward Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 19 | 3.079 | 56.175 | 19 | |
| 10 | 71 | |
Ben BARGWANNA | Burson Auto Parts Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 19 | 5.354 | 56.315 | 15 | |
| 11 | 89 | |
Braydan WILLMINGTON | Braydan Willmington Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 19 | 8.522 | 57.100 | 17 | |
| 12 | 44 | |
Eddie MAGUIRE | Melbourne Performance Centre | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 19 | 9.776 | 57.117 | 18 | |
| 13 | 11 | |
Nathan MORCOM | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 19 | 11.399 | 56.975 | 10 | |
| 14 | 24 |  |
Fabian COULTHARD | Stan Sport Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 19 | 15.298 | 56.417 | 13 | |
| 15 | 97 | |
Liam MCADAM | Forza Brakes Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 18 | + 1 LAP | 56.273 | 14 | |
| R | 18 | |
Aaron CAMERON | Team Valvoline GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 14 | DNF | 56.907 | 2 | |
| R | 14 | |
Lachlan MINEEFF | Purple Sector | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 5 | DNF | 57.085 | 16 | |
| R | 9 | |
Jay HANSON | AWC MPC Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 5 | DNF | 56.409 | 9 | |
| R | 34 | |
James MOFFAT | LCMT+ Racing GRM | Renault Mégane RS TCR | 4 | DNF | 56.752 | 5 | |
| NS | 41 | |
Kody GARLAND | Valvoline Racing GRM | Renault Mégane RS TCR | – | DNS | N/A | – |