Hyundai’s i30 N has added another trophy to its already impressive cabinet, winning the 2019 TCR Australia Series championship with rising star Will Brown and HMO Customer Racing.
Brown secured the title provisionally in the penultimate round of the championship at Sandon Raceway last weekend (21-22 September), after a dominating performance throughout the season.
Despite having never raced a front-wheel drive touring car Brown quickly mastered the i30 N TCR to notch six race wins and six more podium finishes; the most race wins for any driver and car.
Rivals hot hatches from Alfa Romeo, Audi, Holden, Honda, Renault, Subaru and Volkswagen all competed in the new series, but none could match the i30 N for speed and consistency.
Such was Brown and Hyundai’s dominance the duo can go to the final round of the series at South Australia’s The Bend Motorsport Park in November aiming to add to his win tally.
“It’s awesome to wrap it up with a whole round to spare,” Brown said. “The team at HMO Customer Racing and i30 N have been faultless. I can’t thank the package I’ve had enough.”
Brown credited the work done by Hyundai Motorsport developing the car as a competitive customer race car as crucial to his success.
“I think that Hyundai Motorsport in Europe have done such a great job of building the cars it’s made our job so much easier,” Brown said.
“They basically wrote a book on how to set-up the car, so that makes it really easy for us to go to each race and be quick.”
Hyundai Motor Company Australia Chief Executive Officer, JW Lee, congratulated Brown on his remarkable season.
“Will Brown and HMO Customer Racing have done a fantastic job in the TCR Australia Series.
“It’s a credit not only to them, but also everyone at Hyundai Motorsport in Germany who designed and engineered the i30 N TCR, to claim this special achievement.”
The i30 N TCR is the first customer touring car built by the German-based Hyundai Motorsport.
Since its debut in 2018 it has scored more than 50 race wins around the world in various TCR series in Europe, Asia, the USA and now Australia.
It also claimed the 2018 FIA World Touring Car Cup, winning both the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships.
The TCR entry is based on the road-going i30 N, the award-winning hot hatch from Hyundai’s N Performance division.
While the racing car is purpose built alongside Hyundai’s WRC entries in Germany it shares a lot in common with the road car, including its 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine.
The final round of the 2019 TCR Australia Series will be held at The Bend Motorsport Park 15-17 November.
