Zac Soutar has come away from the fourth round of the 2024 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series season on top of the standings in what was a weekend full of firsts for the Victorian.
Picking up two wins during this month’s Race Tailem Bend, it was the first time Soutar had won twice in the same weekend, while also recording his first victory in the Audi under the Tufflift Racing banner.
Despite the round being the productive weekend for Soutar, it wasn’t entirely trouble free with Friday’s wet practice sessions proving ineffective before clutch issues provided more drama on the Saturday.
Qualifying in fourth place, a stall off the line due to a failed clutch saw Soutar tumble down the order. A solid race from the Victorian helped him work his way up the field a little bit – eventually finishing the opener in a respectable ninth place.
With the second race of the round run as in top-10 reverse order, Soutar found himself starting on the front row and made no mistake when the lights went out, as he took the lead from Ben Bargwanna on the opening turn.
Leading the way for the rest of the race, Soutar ended up stretching the lead out to seven seconds to seal his first win in more than two years.
Soutar’s newfound fortune remained in his favour for the final race of the round, as he started from P3 and made an excellent launch off the grid to slot into second place instantly.
Applying a heap of pressure on Jordan Cox after the safety car restart, Soutar ended up taking the lead midway through the outing and remained there for the remaining laps – eventually crossing the line with a victory of four tenths.
Following on from the mix weekend, the new series leader was thrilled with his highly successful Sunday.
“It’s been a fantastic weekend for the team. I’m just so relieved to finally be able to bring home some race wins for the whole Tufflift Racing crew,” Soutar said.
“My heart sank when I realized my clutch had failed at the start of Race 1. There was a moment there when all of the cars passed me off of the line that I figured our weekend and championship was over. I guess it’s a testament to never giving up as we were able to recover to 9th place, which set us up for the double victory on Sunday.
“A huge thank you goes out to my team and family. They never ever give up and were able to give me a rocket of a car, and I’m so pleased for everyone that we’ve been able to have a great weekend.”
The next round of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series will be part of the Shannons SpeedSeries’ Race Queensland at Queensland Raceway on 12-14 July.
