Zac Soutar bagged a maiden TCR Australia win in a red-flag interrupted race three at Symmons Plains, as race-long leader Josh Buchan was given a post-race time penalty.
The race was marred by an almost 40-minute interruption when Brad Shiels made contact with Dylan O’Keeffe at the final corner after four laps, which pitched O’Keeffe’s Peugeot backwards into the tyre wall, which had to be repaired before racing could resume.
The grid for the final race had been set by the aggregate points scored in the first two races, which meant that Buchan would start from pole position in his Honda, with the Audi of Will Brown alongside.
When the lights went out, Brown made a poor start which allowed Soutar to draw alongside on the approach to Turn 2, but Brown attempted to move back towards the outside line.
Contact was made between the duo, which spun Brown’s Audi off the circuit and into the gravel, requiring recovery under a two-lap safety car period.
Racing resumed on lap four with Buchan leading Soutar and Tony D’Alberto, as Shiels made a strong restart to gain three places through the first half a lap.
However, Shiels was then up behind O’Keeffe through the final corner and as the Hyundai driver tried a switchback he took to the kerbs and it unsettled his car, causing him to make contact with the rear of O’Keeffe’s Peugeot.
That pitched O’Keeffe backwards into the barriers and out of the race with damage, with the red flags then flying after a couple of laps behind the safety car when it became clear the tyre wall would take some time to repair.
Almost 40 minutes later racing resumed, but only for seven laps due to the time-limited nature of the schedule.
Buchan comfortably led all of the remaining laps, but the HMO Customer Racing driver was given a five-second time penalty for weaving when the safety car lights went out, and he couldn’t quite open up enough of a margin to officially secure his maiden win.
That meant Soutar, who was just over three seconds behind at the chequered flag, took a first win in the series, ahead of fellow Honda racer D’Alberto in second.
Jordan Cox claimed the final podium position in third, whilst Buchan was demoted to fourth after the application of his penalty.
Despite losing the win, Buchan still leaves Symmons Plains as the championship leader on 188 points, with a four-point margin of Soutar in second.
Shiels took the finish in fifth, ahead of fellow Hyundai racer Nathan Morcom in sixth.
Race one winner Jay Hanson was seventh in his new-spec Audi, in front of Ashley Seward Motorsport’s Michael Caruso in eighth.
The top ten was completed by the Peugeot of Aaron Cameron and the MPC Audi of Liam McAdam.
HMO’s Bailey Sweeny had been running in ninth on the final lap, but the rookie ended the race in the gravel and was not classified.
Ben Bargwanna retired from the race before lap one due to ab rake issue, whilst James Moffat was unable to take the start as a result of damage from his race two crash.
Race results
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP | GD |
| 1 | 110 |  |
Zac SOUTAR | Team Soutar Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 16 | 42:22.8573 | 56.267 | 4 | |
| 2 | 50 | |
Tony D’ALBERTO | Honda Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 16 | 0.932 | 56.472 | 3 | |
| 3 | 33 | |
Jordan COX | Swyftx GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 16 | 1.548 | 55.994 | 5 | |
| 4 | 30 | |
Josh BUCHAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 16 | 1.599 | 55.935 | 1 | |
| 5 | 333 | |
Brad SHIELS | Royal Purple Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 16 | 2.183 | 56.343 | 9 | |
| 6 | 11 | |
Nathan MORCOM | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 16 | 4.323 | 56.637 | 6 | |
| 7 | 9 | |
Jay HANSON | AWC MPC Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 16 | 4.554 | 56.617 | 10 | |
| 8 | 10 | |
Michael CARUSO | Ashley Seward Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 16 | 5.333 | 56.470 | 11 | |
| 9 | 18 | |
Aaron CAMERON | Team Valvoline GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 16 | 5.665 | 56.351 | 15 | |
| 10 | 97 | |
Liam MCADAM | Forza Brakes Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 16 | 7.214 | 56.375 | 17 | |
| 11 | 89 | |
Braydan WILLMINGTON | Braydan Willmington Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 16 | 8.520 | 56.748 | 16 | |
| 12 | 14 | |
Lachlan MINEEFF | Purple Sector | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 16 | 8.935 | 56.851 | 19 | |
| 13 | 999 | |
Will BROWN | MPC Team Liqui Moly | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | + 1 LAP | 55.936 | 2 | |
| 14 | 24 |  |
Fabian COULTHARD | Stan Sport Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 15 | + 1 LAP | 00.001 | 14 | |
| 15 | 44 | |
Eddie MAGUIRE | Melbourne Performance Centre | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | + 3 LAPS | 57.600 | 18 | |
| R | 130 | |
Bailey SWEENY | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 15 | DNF | 56.445 | 7 | |
| R | 8 | |
Dylan O’KEEFFE | Schaeffler GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 3 | DNF | 00.001 | 8 | |
| R | 71 | |
Ben BARGWANNA | Burson Auto Parts Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 12 | |
| NS | 34 | |
James MOFFAT | LCMT+ Racing GRM | Renault Mégane RS TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 13 | |
| NS | 41 | |
Kody GARLAND | Valvoline Racing GRM | Renault Mégane RS TCR | – | DNS | N/A | – |