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Tim Slade to make Supercheap Auto TCR Australia debut
Tim Slade will make his Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series debut at Bathurst this weekend as a last-minute replacement for Fabian Coulthard in the Stan Sport Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR.
Following his success at Phillip Island where he scored two race wins, Coulthard has been forced to stand down and will not compete at Mount Panorama after testing positive to COVID-19.
Slade will deputise adding to his commitments in the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour where he will compete alongside Brad Carr in the Car Mods BMW M3. Last year, the pair finished fourth after a late-race tyre problem dropped the team out of podium contention.
Slade has prior experience in one of the front-wheel-drive turbocharged touring cars having tested an Ashley Seward Motorsport Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR in 2020 at Winton, however this will be the first time racing in the class.
Like Coulthard, Slade has raced at Bathurst before with team-mate Tony D’Alberto (Bathurst 1000 in 2014).
Slade adds to what is a highly competitive Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series field for the third round at Bathurst, with more than 20 entries representing seven marques set to do battle on the Mountain.
Currently, D’Alberto leads the series by two points from Swyftx GRM Peugeot’s Jordan Cox.
Tickets for the Hi-Tec Bathurst 6 Hour are available at the gate. CLICK HERE to pre-purchase.
All of the racing action this Easter long weekend can be seen live and on-demand via Stan Sport on Saturday and Sunday.
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Tim Slade
Stan Sport Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR
“I cut a few laps on Ash Seward’s Alfa at Winton in 2020, and I was looking at the potential of doing some races, but COVID put paid to that,” said Slade.
“Now I’ve got the opportunity and I’m really looking forward to it – especially at Mount Panorama.
“Bathurst is a lot different to Winton, and I am not sure how different the Honda is to the Alfa. So, I’ve got no real expectations for the weekend. I’ll just do the job that Wallie (David Wall) and his team ask of me, get comfortable in the car as soon as I can and see how it goes.
“It’s a shame that Fabs isn’t available for it, but great that I get the chance in the Stan Sport entry. They are the host broadcaster, so I’ll be doing my best to represent them at the best level I can.
”There are only two half hour practice sessions. You can kind of afford to have a muck up at Winton, but at Bathurst, you can’t do that. It might be a bit of a slow learning process, but I’m sure I’ll get up to speed fast enough.
“I’m a fan of the TCR category, and a fan of racing in general. If something were to come up and do both Supercars and TCR on separate weekends, I’m up for it.
“Like any top tier category, I’ve kept an eye on it. Having been down at Tassie for S5000 earlier this year and at Phillip Island helping my mate Brad Schumacher (in GT World Challenge), TCR has only got stronger. It’s been good to see a few different people up the front winning races.
“One comforting aspect is that I’ll have a teammate like Tony D’Alberto in the same car and same team alongside me. We have known each other since we raced karts, we’ve done Bathurst enduros together and most recently drove in the same team at Dick Johnson Racing in 2020. He is a good guy and someone who will go out of his way to help. He knows the bigger picture, so it will be good to have him to work alongside.”