Kody Garland came within a lap of claiming the round win at round two of the Aussie Racing Cars at Queensland Raceway.
Held alongside the Australian Superbikes event, the weekend featured four races across Saturday and Sunday following a sole practice session and qualifying on the Friday. Garland immediately picked up from where he left off at round one, as he earned third on the grid in qualifying.
In race one, Garland was able to climb into the lead before an energised battle which saw him fight to a third-place finish. Race two was similarly hard fought with the Motor Traders’ Association of New South Wales driver coming home in fourth place.
Race three was the traditional reverse top 10 race, with Garland lining up in sixth place. A fast race car enabled Garland to cut through the field better than anyone else in a quick rise to second place. An opportunity to take the race win was cut short as the race fell afoul of time certainty, cutting four laps off the end of the scheduled distance.
The weekend wrapped up with a wild race on Sunday afternoon. Garland started on pole position as the points leader after three races, and quickly broke out to a comfortable lead in the early running. The drafting nature of the track allowed the pack to close back in as the MTA NSW driver fell back to fourth. Despite the battling, Garland was on track for the round win as he climbed back to second at the start of the last lap. Disappointingly, contact at turn three and again at turn six saw Garland shoved into the gravel trap and back to ninth place.
“On reflection we had a great round as potentially the fastest car on pure pace, but I’m pretty disappointed with how it ended through no fault of our own,” said Garland.
“It’s really tricky at a place like Queensland Raceway to maintain your lead, especially in these cars, due to the drafting nature of the track. Even though we kept getting pulled back into the pack, I felt really comfortable on the brakes, and we looked really strong in the close quarters action.
“The whole purpose of the weekend was to get seat time and dial the racing reflexes back in, go through the processes and prepare myself for round two of TCR Australia. I definitely feel that we achieved that and I’m feeling pretty good about getting back in the Peugeot in two weeks’ time,” concluded Garland.
Round two of Supercheap Auto TCR Australia takes place at Phillip Island from May 12-14.