Oliphant Celebrates Superb Bathurst Podiums To Sign Off 2024 Season

Tom Oliphant enjoyed a fantastic conclusion to his second season in the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series as he scored a sensational pair of podium finishes in the final round at Bathurst this past weekend (09/10 November).

Oliphant produced a standout performance on his second visit to the world-famous Mount Panorama Circuit in New South Wales, piecing together his best ever TCR Australia weekend behind the wheel of his Hyundai i30 N TCR prepared by back-to-back champions HMO Customer Racing.

The British racer got reacquainted with the special 3.86-mile Bathurst circuit during practice on Friday and particularly impressed with his pace in the technical section over the top of the mountain. That translated into a good qualifying performance on Saturday, as he went sixth fastest overall.

Remaining sixth at the end of a busy opening lap in race one, Oliphant then pulled off a great move into the Forrest’s Elbow on lap two to grab fifth from Will Harris. Immediately edging clear of those behind, he focused soon turned to the other Honda Civic of Brad Harris ahead.

Oliphant put him under pressure through the second half of the race and while he couldn’t quite make a move on track, a post-race penalty for Harris ensured that the two-time TCR Australia race-winner came away with a fourth-place finish overall to kick off the weekend’s racing.

Lining up seventh on the reverse grid for race two, Oliphant made immediate progress to rise to fourth by the exit of turn two. Soon after a retirement for a driver ahead put Oliphant into the podium places, right in the middle of a multi-car battle that saw him looking to attack and defend at the same time.

Briefly slipping to fourth behind Brad Harris, it only took a handful of corners for the former British Touring Car Championship star to regain a place as a thrilling move down the inside at the high-speed Sulman Park left-hander netted him third ahead of Ryan Casha’s Peugeot.

With that podium finish under his belt, Oliphant was full of confidence as he started fourth for the final race of the season. Taking full advantage of issues for two drivers ahead, he was up to second place by the end of lap two and had his sights set firmly on the race leader.

Ramping up the pressure in the closing laps of the race, the 33-year-old driver gave it everything to try and get a famous win on the mountain but had to settle for second in the end. That result was his fifth podium finish of an impressive 2024 season, which included a win at Symmons Plains.

Tom Oliphant: “It’s been a fantastic weekend for me personally and the team. My goal coming into the final round was to really attack the track and drive the mountain properly, and to come away with my first Bathurst podiums as one of the fastest cars on track all weekend is a great feeling

“We were on the back foot initially as our car has less power than the second-generation TCR machines, which was hurting us on the two long straights, but we worked hard on the car setup and I was really able to really hook it up over the top of the mountain.

“I was able to climb up the order in all three races and pull off some good overtaking moves along the way. Once up to second in the final race, I pushed like hell for the win, right up against the walls putting in lap after lap at qualifying pace, which I loved.

“I’m proud to come away with second having given it everything. I’ve known all season that I had the pace to produce a weekend like this, so it’s great to have done it and shown everyone what we can do. It’s a perfect way to end the season.

“Congratulations to my team-mate Josh Buchan and HMO Customer Racing on winning the drivers’ title for a second consecutive season. A huge thank you to the team and Hyundai for all their great work this season, as well as to my personal partners WIN News, i98 FM and C91 FM for their fantastic support.”