Kody Garland is feeling confident ahead of the opening round of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia season, as he races a Peugeot 308 TCR for the first time.
The move from the Renault Megane to the Peugeot has seen Garland adapt his driving style to suit the smaller wheelbase of his new MTA NSW/Valvoline backed car, which also induces some more lively handling on cold tyres.
“I enjoyed a solid day out at Winton, getting comfortable with the car,” said Garland.
“The steering ratio was a pretty big thing to get used to, it’s a much smaller wheelbase than what I’d previously driven with the Renault so I had to adjust my driving style a bit to account for that.
“The other factor with that smaller wheelbase is it makes the car a bit more twitchy on the cold tyres which means I’ll have to work a little harder in the initial stages of a run.”
Another tyre factor to consider at the opening round of the year is the new Kumho compound that has been introduced for 2023. No teams are permitted to test on the new tyre, until a 4-hour test on Thursday at the event.
“There’s not a lot we can do at this stage, we won’t know how the tyre will behave until we actually get to do some running on it. It will definitely mean that the weekend really starts in anger during that test instead of practice one on Friday. Getting on top of the new tyre quickly will be critical to setting up a good result.”
Symmons Plains will be the shortest track on the 2023 calendar, registering just 2.411KM across seven corners. In 2022 this saw the top 10 in qualifying spread by less than a second, with pole position a 0m:55s.293.
“I’m excited to hit the track, Symmons Plains is an action packed place and it’s always very tight on the timing sheet.
“Because there’s so little to get right, every little mistake is exaggerated and can cost you a handful of positions. Qualifying will be one of the more important sessions of the year, overtaking is possible but it’s not always the easiest place to make it happen.
“The MTA NSW/Valvoline Peugeot should make a lot of its ground through the opening complex of turns and through the hairpin, so we’ll be working hard to build gaps in these areas. We should be competitive though, and I’m eager to get the season started on a positive note,” concluded Garland.
Round one of the 2023 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia season gets underway as part of AWC Race Tasmania from February 24-26 at Symmons Plains Raceway.
Qualifying and all three races will be broadcast live on Stan Sport, with Saturday’s action live and free on the Nine Network.
Weekend Schedule
Friday
Practice 1 – 12:10pm (20 mins)
Practice 2- 3:00pm (30 mins)
Saturday
Qualifying 1 – 12:50pm (15 mins)
Qualifying 2 – 1:10pm (10 mins)
Race 1 – 4:10pm (26 laps)
Sunday
Race 2 – 1:30pm (26 laps)
Race 3 – 4:10pm (26 laps)