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Difficult early development leads to strong results for Josh Buchan in new Hyundai
Doubts surrounded the performance of HMO Customer Racing’s new weapon, the Hyundai Elantra N TCR were unfounded after a difficult testing program prior to the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International as Josh Buchan drove to third in the standings.
Buchan was impressed by the new model as he scored a podium in its second Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series race.
“Awesome,” Buchan enthused. “The car was very fast early on, the strength of it was shown, it’s fast out of the box and an easy car to drive, it’s very user friendly from a driving point of view.
“We’ve got plenty to learn, especially in those shorter races we’ve got to sharpen our game there. I think as a debut, the car got plenty of airtime thanks to our friends at Stan Sport and it was a good outing for it, good data for next year, I got a trophy and ended the year third, so I don’t really have much to complain about.”
Praising the crew at HMO Customer Racing for overcoming the early struggles, Buchan revealed the frustrations encountered during the early development.
“I’ve made it no secret that we had major dramas in testing,” he said.
“We had one day where we’d be half a second up the road from the hatch, but the next day we were getting smoked. We had good and bad days; we honestly came here not knowing what to expect.
“The team didn’t stop, we didn’t stop, we always believed in what we were doing and we got the result after a disappointing opening race.”
Heralding the new Hyundai as not only a step up for the category, but a commitment by HMO Customer Racing and the Korean marque, Buchan is excited for what the future will bring.
“I think it shows not only HMO is here to stay, but Hyundai as a brand locally believe in this series and as a company believe in this,” Buchan emphasised.
“I’m proud to represent the Hyundai and I’ll keep doing it as long as it will have me.”
Buchan will swap his Hyundai Elantra TCR for a Formula 5000 as he will once again drive the last Australian made chassis to win an Australian Grand Prix, the Matich A53 driven by John Goss at Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend.