{"id":550694,"date":"2026-03-19T14:17:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T14:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/550694\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T14:17:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T14:17:24","slug":"champion-driver-josh-buchan-delivers-tcr-australia-post-mortem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/550694\/","title":{"rendered":"Champion driver Josh Buchan delivers TCR Australia post-mortem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\u2018A
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJosh Buchan during the TCR World Tour at the Macau Grand Prix in 2025.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, organisers confirmed the TCR Australia Series would not be held in 2026 due to a lack of entries.<\/a><\/p>\n

The opening round at The Bend was scheduled for March 20-22, but only two drivers had been announced.<\/p>\n

With interest at an all-time low and several cars on the market, the category\u2019s future is in serious doubt.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a brutal fall from grace for the series that began with a hiss and a roar in 2019, featuring a grid that included high-profile Supercars drivers.<\/p>\n

Among them were Supercars champion Russell Ingall and Bathurst 1000 winner Jason Bright.<\/p>\n

Other name drivers included Andre Heimgartner, Tony D\u2019Alberto, and James Moffat up against emerging talents like Will Brown, Jordan Cox, and Aaron Cameron.<\/p>\n

Buchan joined the series in 2021 \u2013 the same year that Chaz Mostert beat Cameron and Cox to the title.<\/p>\n

Fresh out of the local Formula 3 series, Buchan was given an opportunity to race a Hyundai through Barry Morcom\u2019s HMO Customer Racing.<\/p>\n

Buchan won the TCR titles in 2023 and 2024 and credits it for vaulting him into international opportunities with Hyundai and into GT3 racing.<\/p>\n

\"Josh<\/p>\n

Josh Buchan with his new-look Hundai i30 N sedan.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Speedcafe, Buchan identified Australia\u2019s tendency to gravitate towards V8 racing, the period when the series was behind the Stan Sport paywall, and exclusively running the 2026 series out of South Australia as contributing factors to the TCR\u2019s demise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think it\u2019s a great shame that a category where it\u2019s a single driver, professional level category does not exist,\u201d said Buchan.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther than Supercars \u2013 which is so unattainable for so many people, and even when you\u2019re there you\u2019ve got to be in one or two teams to do a good job \u2013 TCR gave an opportunity for people to drive on their own and stand out.<\/p>\n

\u201cBOP (Balance of Performance)made it so that everyone has an opportunity to win a race, to create a story, and to create a little bit of hype around themselves, which a lot of people did.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously you\u2019ve got Trans Am and GR Cup and whatnot, but there was always something special about jumping into a world touring car.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the TCR Australia Series made its debut in 2019 as part of the Australian Racing Group\u2019s suite of categories, it was billed as the headliner ahead of Trans Am and S5000.<\/p>\n

After a breakout first season, the series suffered the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and did not go ahead in 2020 but returned with a truncated 2021 calendar.<\/p>\n

The series arguably peaked across 2021 and 2022, though many believe taking the series off free-to-air network Seven for a deal with subscription streaming service Stan Sport in partnership with Nine was its death knell.<\/p>\n

\"Two-time<\/p>\n

Two-time TCR Australia Series winner Josh Buchan.<\/p>\n

Suggestions that TCR could be a serious rival to Supercars were wide of the mark, Buchan said \u2013 and ultimately left the series facing the same fate as the Super Touring era of the 1990s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember when it came out, everyone wanted to be in it,\u201d said Buchan of TCR.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole argument of: it\u2019s going to take over, it\u2019s going to do this, it\u2019s better than this \u2014 that was unhealthy for it and it\u2019s unhealthy now for every category because they shouldn\u2019t be fighting against one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey hold their place. Supercars and TCR are completely different animals, and they have completely different endgames. That whole argument is part of the reason that people pick sides and want one to work and the other not to.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere should be a world in which they both coexist because TCR is a platform to go overseas and to be hooked up with a manufacturer, and that\u2019s just something that you really can\u2019t do in anything else other than GT-land.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was never going to take over Supercars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Full-time entries began to slide after 2022 and the financial support that the former Australian Racing Group (ARG) management had pumped into the category\u2019s early years to bankroll some cars had dried up.<\/p>\n

The Rogers family eventually took sole ownership of ARG but began offloading its suite of categories.<\/p>\n

TCR was among the last to go by the end of 2024, which left its new custodians scrambling to organise a 2025 calendar.<\/p>\n

TCR could have featured on the Supercars undercard twice, but ultimately axed those plans due to travel costs.<\/p>\n

In the end, just one round was held locally at The Bend as part of the TCR World Tour while Macau bizarrely counted toward the series. Buchan and teammate Ryan MacMillan were the only Australians to race at Macau.<\/p>\n

\"Josh<\/p>\n

Josh Buchan won the final TCR World Tour race at the Macau Grand Prix in 2025.<\/p>\n

What comes next is anyone\u2019s guess. Charlotte White, who had been charged with managing the category, said The Bend would work with the global promoter and Motorsport Australia to find a place for the cars to race.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Buchan said he will be forever grateful for the series and the opportunities it provided him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a smash and bash touring car category with good drivers who, for whatever reason, couldn\u2019t gather the funds to go Supercars racing,\u201d said Buchan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a heap of Supercars guys through it, and it gave opportunities for guys like me to compete against guys like them and give myself credibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat something that\u2019s really hard to get until you somehow spend enough money to get to the top, whatever the top looks like.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s not gonna come back, 100 percent the category is going to be missed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a fantastic time in car racing and I was lucky with a manufacturer, but it gave me a direct line to being potentially a factory driver through my exploits last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can forever say I\u2019ve won at Macau.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have nothing bad to say about TCR as a category and what it\u2019s done for me and everyone who\u2019s supported me along the way in that journey too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gave me an opportunity to be a professional. I grabbed it with both hands and I\u2019m still driving a season after my TCR stint has finished, for now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buchan will join Ferrari team Zagame Autosport in GT World Challenge Powered by AWS alongside Cameron Campbell.<\/p>\n


\"\"\/
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