Jordan Cox delivered the all-new Peugeot 308 P51 TCR its first win in TCR competition in the second TCR Australia race at Sydney Motorsport Park, as points leader Zac Soutar crashed out.
The reverse grid race saw Glenn Nirwan line up on pole position with Ben Bargwanna alongside, after the top ten from Saturday’s opening race were inverted.
At the start, Nirwan bogged down in his Audi, which allowed Bargwanna into an uncontested lead, with Cox slipping into second through the opening corner from third on the grid.
The drama kicked off a few corners later exiting Turn 3, as Soutar and Brad Harris made contact, which turned the former’s Audi into the path of Wall Racing’s Tony D’Alberto.
Soutar and D’Alberto made contact, and both ended the race on the grass, spelling a huge blow for the erstwhile series leader Soutar.
The safety car was called upon for three laps to remove the stricken Audi and Honda, and when racing resumed on lap five Cox was quickly through on team-mate Bargwanna to take the lead.
Aaron Cameron had earlier made a sensational start from last on the grid, where he had to start due to an overnight engine change in his first-generation Peugeot 308.
Cameron was up to fourth by the second corner after blasting around the outside of several cars at Turn 1 on the opening lap, and he moved into third on the safety car restart.
The GRM Peugeot driver then picked off Bargwanna for second going on to lap six, but it would be short-lived.
Going into Turn 2, Tom Oliphant made contact with the GRM Peugeot, dropping Cameron to sixth and ending Oliphant’s race with a broken CV joint. The Brit limped back to the pits, where he later admitted responsibility for the incident, which also saw him handed a ten-point championship penalty.
That left Wall Racing’s Will Harris in second, with the shenanigans also allowing Ashley Seward Motorsport’s Dylan O’Keeffe up to third.
Harris held off O’Keeffe until lap nine, when the Lynk & Co dispatched the Honda for second and set off after Cox.
However, O’Keeffe couldn’t find a way past Cox and the new Peugeot scored its maiden win, just 0.359 seconds ahead of the Lynk & Co.
“It means a lot, I can’t be prouder of the GRM crew,” said Cox. “It’s an 18-month project, and there’s not many teams that get to build a car from a clean slate and showcase it, let alone win a trophy.”
Reigning champion Josh Buchan had meanwhile hauled his way up to third, picking off Harris for the final podium position four laps from the finish, handing the HOM Customer Racing driver the series lead.
Harris was fourth in the Honda Civic FK7, with Cameron taking the chequered flag in fifth ahead of Bargwanna in the second of the new Peugeots in sixth.
Brad Harris was seventh after the Wall Racing driver tangled with Nirwan on the restart lap, ahead of Ryan Casha in eighth and Nirwan as the last of the classified finishers in ninth.
Race two result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 33 |  |
Jordan COX | Schaeffler GRM | Peugeot 308 P51 TCR | 14 | 30:52.1861 | 1:38.277 | 3 | |
| 2 | 11 | |
Dylan O’KEEFFE | Autoglym / Ashley Seward Motorsport | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 14 | 0.359 | 1:37.701 | 8 | |
| 3 | 1 | |
Josh BUCHAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 14 | 0.833 | 1:37.836 | 10 | |
| 4 | 76 | |
Will HARRIS | Exclusive Switchboards | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 14 | 1.717 | 1:38.189 | 4 | |
| 5 | 18 | |
Aaron CAMERON | Team Valvoline GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 14 | 2.807 | 1:38.271 | 12 | |
| 6 | 71 | |
Ben BARGWANNA | Hangcha Racing | Peugeot 308 P51 TCR | 14 | 4.166 | 1:38.184 | 2 | |
| 7 | 74 | |
Brad HARRIS | Exclusive Switchboards | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 14 | 6.128 | 1:37.893 | 9 | |
| 8 | 79 | |
Ryan CASHA | Team Valvoline GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 14 | 9.357 | 1:38.257 | 11 | |
| 9 | 29 |  |
Glenn NIRWAN | Tufflift Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 14 | 20.898 | 1:39.076 | 1 | |
| R | 15 |  |
Tom OLIPHANT | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | DNF | 1:39.033 | 7 | |
| R | 2 | |
Tony D’ALBERTO | Honda Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 6 | |
| R | 110 | |
Zac SOUTAR | Tufflift Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 0 | DNF | N/A | 5 |