Dylan O’Keeffe and Tom Oliphant shared the victories in Sunday’s TCR Australia races at Symmons Plains Raceway, with Oliphant prevailing in an exciting finale to the day’s racing.
However, the final race was overshadowed by controversy regarding the decision by officials not to award points for race one on Saturday, and the implications that had on the grid for the finale.
Race two
The second race, the first for the TCR Australia drivers on Sunday morning, saw O’Keeffe start from the reverse-grid pole position, thanks to having finished Saturday’s opening race in tenth.
The Ashley Seward Motorsport driver made a good start to lead into the first corners, withstanding early pressure from Will Harris.
GRM’s Aaron Cameron passed Harris on the run up to the Turn 3 hairpin on the opening lap, and on the second tour made a move into the hairpin, but was off-line on the exit and O’Keeffe was able to hold on to the lead.
Cameron looked to keep the pressure up on lap three, but his race was cut short when Harris behind locked his brakes into Turn 3, put a wheel onto the dirt and crashed hard into the back of the Peugeot.
Both drivers were able to limp back to the pits, avoiding the need for a safety car, but were out of the race.
The incident promoted the Peugeot of Jordan Cox into second and the Hyundai of Oliphant into third. Oliphant then made a strong move on Cox into the turn 3 hairpin on lap eight, taking second.
But the Brit couldn’t quite take the fight to O’Keeffe at the front, who was pulling clear, and the Lynk & Co driver scored his first win in the series since 2019.
Oliphant was just over a second adrift in second, with Cox completing the podium.
Ben Bargwanna had jumped Oliphant at the start, but the Hyundai driver re-claimed the place on the following lap, and Bargwanna held station thereafter to claim fourth.
Zac Soutar brought his Audi home in fifth, with reigning champion Josh Buchan crossing the finish in his Hyundai in sixth.
Race three
O’Keeffe started the final race of the weekend from pole position, with Oliphant alongside on the front row of the grid.
That decision came after officials decided not to award points for the shortened race one on Saturday, due to the lack of racing.
As a result, D’Alberto, who would otherwise have had enough points for pole, was told he would start seventh on the grid.
The reigning champion protested at this decision by refusing to take part in the race, having claimed that he had settled for tenth in race two after believing the points would have been good enough for pole on Sunday, and describing the move by officials to not award the points late in the day as ‘unprofessional’.
At the start of the race, whilst O’Keeffe led from the getaway, Cox slotted into second on the run up to the Turn 3 hairpin, with Oliphant in third and Soutar trying to get in the mix in his Audi.
The action heated up on lap three, as both Cox and Oliphant got past O’Keeffe on the exit of the hairpin, and Oliphant then nudged the rear of Cox as he sought to take the lead.
Oliphant then found himself on the outside line trying to challenge Cox in the first corners of the fourth lap, before getting sideways at high speed on the run up to Turn 3 as he and Soutar repeatedly rubbed bodywork.
The Brit held firm, but by the end of the lap he had slipped down to fifth as Clay Richards also muscled by in his CUPRA.
Just behind, Bargwanna got sideways in his Peugeot heading into Turn 1, narrowly avoiding Oliphant, but dropping from sixth down to 11th.
On lap five, O’Keeffe briefly retook the lead, and the move saw the top five bunching into a single group.
At the Turn 3 hairpin on lap six Soutar seized the lead, as Oliphant moved past Richards for fourth. Tucked in behind Soutar, Oliphant moved past Cox and then took O’Keeffe for second into the final corners of the lap.
Bargwanna was speared off the track at Turn 1 on the next lap, dropping to the rear of the field, as the squabbling at the front continue apace.
O’Keeffe and Cox then dropped away from the leading trio of Soutar, Oliphant and Richards, and on lap eight Cox found himself getting a hit from Cameron, who had clipped the kerb at Turn 1 too hard.
The race then calmed down somewhat, and on lap 11, Oliphant dived past Soutar for the lead at Turn 3.
Soutar then went too deep into Turn 3 on lap 14, and Richards seized the chance to take second.
Oliphant went on to claim his second win in the series by over two seconds from Richards, with O’Keeffe completing the podium after Soutar dropped back in the final laps, having received slight contact when Richards took second.
Soutar nonetheless came home in fourth, ahead of Ryan Casha, who was in a repaired Peugeot following his Saturday crash, in fifth.
But the biggest talking point will perhaps be the decision by officials not to award points for race one, and how the decision affected the grid for the final race, prompting D’Alberto to withdraw.
Race two result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP | GD |
| 1 | 11 |  |
Dylan O’KEEFFE | Autoglym / Ashley Seward Motorsport | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 29 | 27:46.2004 | 57.021 | 1 | |
| 2 | 15 |  |
Tom OLIPHANT | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 29 | 1.113 | 56.932 | 3 | |
| 3 | 33 | |
Jordan COX | Schaeffler GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 29 | 2.752 | 56.988 | 5 | |
| 4 | 71 | |
Ben BARGWANNA | Hangcha Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 29 | 3.406 | 57.005 | 6 | |
| 5 | 110 | |
Zac SOUTAR | Tufflift Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 29 | 4.161 | 56.992 | 8 | |
| 6 | 1 | |
Josh BUCHAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 29 | 4.798 | 57.022 | 9 | |
| 7 | 4 | |
Clay RICHARDS | Carl Cox Motorsport Team MPC | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 29 | 5.700 | 56.972 | 7 | |
| 8 | 2 | |
Tony D’ALBERTO | Honda Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 29 | 6.133 | 57.074 | 10 | |
| 9 | 74 | |
Brad HARRIS | Exclusive Switchboards | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 29 | 7.257 | 56.973 | 12 | |
| 10 | 79 | |
Ryan CASHA | Team Valvoline GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 29 | 29.602 | 57.089 | 13 | |
| 11 | 29 |  |
Glenn NIRWAN | Tufflift Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 29 | 32.756 | 57.472 | 11 | |
| 12 | 18 | |
Aaron CAMERON | Team Valvoline GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 22 | + 7 LAPS | 57.010 | 4 | |
| R | 76 | |
Will HARRIS | Exclusive Switchboards | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 2 | DNF | 57.940 | 2 |
Race three result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP | GD |
| 1 | 15 | |
Tom OLIPHANT | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 29 | 27:48.4202 | 56.912 | 2 | |
| 2 | 4 | |
Clay RICHARDS | Carl Cox Motorsport Team MPC | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 29 | 2.207 | 56.976 | 8 | |
| 3 | 11 | |
Dylan O’KEEFFE | Autoglym / Ashley Seward Motorsport | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 29 | 8.233 | 56.767 | 1 | |
| 4 | 110 | |
Zac SOUTAR | Tufflift Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 29 | 9.382 | 57.036 | 3 | |
| 5 | 79 | |
Ryan CASHA | Team Valvoline GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 29 | 9.705 | 57.028 | 13 | |
| 6 | 18 | |
Aaron CAMERON | Team Valvoline GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 29 | 10.023 | 57.028 | 11 | |
| 7 | 33 | |
Jordan COX | Schaeffler GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 29 | 10.354 | 57.107 | 4 | |
| 8 | 74 | |
Brad HARRIS | Exclusive Switchboards | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 29 | 12.945 | 57.186 | 9 | |
| 9 | 71 | |
Ben BARGWANNA | Hangcha Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 29 | 14.081 | 56.943 | 6 | |
| 10 | 29 | |
Glenn NIRWAN | Tufflift Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 29 | 34.097 | 57.784 | 12 | |
| 11 | 1 | |
Josh BUCHAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 28 | + 1 LAP | 56.893 | 5 | |
| R | 2 | |
Tony D’ALBERTO | Honda Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 7 | |
| NS | 79 | |
Ryan CASHA | Team Valvoline GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 10 |