In a region brought up on over half a century of rear-wheel-drive, V8 powered touring cars, the launch of the TCR (Touring Car Racing) series has introduced a totally different formula but one which also manages to deliver edge-of-the-seat action. The inaugural Australian season (TCR New Zealand is set to debut in 2020) saw a mix of young guns, more experienced drivers and the odd international, battling it out over seven rounds. While rising star, Will Brown, was the runaway championship winner, PPG-sponsored Tony D’Alberto put together a solid season to wrap up an impressive second place in his Honda Civic Type R, prepared by Wall Racing. Indeed, it was an interesting year for Tony. He says that switching between duties as an endurance driver for DJR Team Penske and the fledgling TCR series actually took him out of his comfort zone and helped expand his driving skills.
“I had only really driven rear-wheel-drive cars so the TCR cars being front-wheel-drive is the obvious point of difference for me. On top of that, you are sitting on the left-hand side and changing gears with paddle shifters. TCR cars are quite challenging to handle because braking, cornering and accelerating is all done through the front axle and the rear tyres basically just come along for the ride. This makes it very difficult to get temperature, and hence grip, into those rear tyres. That is why in those first couple of laps, when we are all jostling for position and you have no rear grip at all, you see drivers making errors and even going off the track. It makes it exciting from the outside but probably not so much from the driver’s seat!”
Although there is plenty of scope to finetune a TCR car, the fact everyone started the season from scratch, with limited opportunities to get to know the cars, meant a steep learning curve, according to Tony.
“Both the team and myself made some mistakes, especially early on, but we learnt a lot. For instance, some of the setup philosophies on how to get the most out of the cars are almost opposite to setting up a rear-wheel-drive car. One example where we were caught out is with the sway bars that are used to control the roll of the car when cornering. Softening the rear sway bar in a rear-wheel-drive car generally gives more grip, whereas in a front-wheel-drive car it actually gives less grip. What we needed to do was build our toolbox of adjustments that we can be confident will take the car in the right direction at a race meeting. That is not easy to do with only a couple of 20-minute practice sessions before going into qualifying.”
Thirteen different brands have been homologated to race in TCR. Each is based on a four or five door production car with a two-litre turbocharged engine (think Golf GTI, Hyundai i30 N, Alfa Romeo Giulietta, Renault Megane, etc). In order to deliver close racing, TCR uses a ‘Balance of Performance’ system which takes into account the relative performance of each vehicle brand and then makes regular adjustments to factors such as turbo boost and weight. Natural variations can also be seen on the race track, Tony explains.
“Different brands have different strengths and weaknesses. You might have a car which is a little bit quicker in a straight line but is not quite as good as another brand under brakes or through corners. For example, our Honda Civic Type R is probably one of the best for handling and braking but it’s not quite as quick in a straight line. It can get frustrating at times but it makes for great racing. There is no doubt I have been out of my comfort zone trying to learn a new car in a new category but, for me personally, it has helped me sharpen my race craft. Because TCR is sprint racing, it’s fierce and you have to get into it quickly so it’s a totally different mindset than endurance driving.”
Honda has an incredible racing pedigree, says Tony, and he and Wall Racing were rapt to be strong contenders this year.
“We were not always the quickest car but we were in the mix all the time. The Honda Civic Type R is obviously a very good product but it’s a real credit to Wall Racing that we didn’t have one mechanical failure all year. There are a lot of good drivers in TCR and to finish runner-up was a really good reward. There is no doubt TCR has provided a really exciting first season of racing and for 2020 it’s looking even better with seven rounds, as well as races at the Australian Grand Prix and Bathurst!”