Sydney night race added to TCR World Tour

As first reported by Motorport.com, SMP has long been the favourite to open the two-round Australian leg of the WTCR replacement.

Initially there were plans for the additional World Tour event to be a standalone, outside of the SpeedSeries schedule that TCR Australia regularly competes on.

However the SMP World Tour event will now be incorporated into the SpeedSeries schedule, with the planned round a the Eastern Creek venue in June scrapped to make way for this new November 3-5 date.

That means the two Aussie World Tour events will be on consecutive weekends, with the Bathurst International taking place on November 10-12.

The SMP event will also feature a World Tour first with racing to take place under lights on the Saturday night.

“It’s terrific to confirm that both Sydney Motorsport Park and the iconic Mount Panorama will host back-to-back rounds of the Shannons SpeedSeries and Supercheap Auto TCR Australia/Kumho TCR World Tour in November,” said Motorsport Australia CEO Eugene Arocca.

“The opportunity to see more international level motorsport on two of our most iconic circuits is certainly an exciting prospect.

“This is certainly a boost for TCR in Australia and will also be an economic boost for New South Wales, both in the western Sydney and Bathurst regions with many competitors, officials and fans expected to attend each event.

"The Supercheap Auto Bathurst International will be a brilliant way to conclude the Shannons SpeedSeries for 2023.

“We look forward to delivering these events in collaboration with the team at [Australian Racing Group].”

Confirmation of SMP means both the TCR World Tour and the TCR Australia schedules are now locked in.

The World Tour will kick off at Portimao in Portugal at the end of this month followed by rounds at Spa-Francorchamps, Vallelunga and the Hungaroring.

There is then a South American swing, with rounds in Uruguay and Argentina, followed by the two Aussie rounds.

The final round will then be part of the Macau Grand Prix.

The TCR Australia season, meanwhile, will continue at Phillip Island next month with the second round, ahead of trips to Winton (June 9-11), Queensland Raceway (August 11-13), Sandown (September 8-10) and then the two World Tour events.