Fabian Coulthard earned a maiden victory in TCR Australia at Phillip Island, as the Wall Racing driver charged from seventh on the grid to victory ahead of the GRM Peugeot of Ben Bargwanna.
The partial reverse-grid race saw the Honda of Michael Clemente line up on pole position, after he had secured tenth place in Saturday’s opening race.
Whilst Bargwanna put early pressure on, Clemente led the initial laps, although he was quickly handed a five-second time penalty for being out of position in his grid box at the start.
Coulthard, meanwhile, had charged up to fourth by the Turn 4 hairpin, which then became third when he passed Lachlan Mineeff’s Volkswagen around the outside at the Turn 10 MG hairpin.
Coulthard took Bargwanna for second on the next lap, before passing Clemente for the lead on lap three with a clean move at Turn 3 on the approach to the hairpin.
Misfortune then struck Clemente, as he slowed on lap six with a fan belt issue, dropping him out of the race.
Once in the lead, Coulthard managed his gap to the chasing pack to ensure he had a trouble-free run to a first victory, with Bargwanna taking second – his second outright podium in the series and first of the year.
The podium was completed by Tony D’Alberto’s Honda, with his third visit to the rostrum this year meaning he assumes the championship lead ahead of race three.
Jordan Cox brought his GRM-run Peugeot home in fourth, having challenged D’Alberto for the final podium with a clean pass at the MG hairpin on lap seven before D’Alberto immediately retook the place and held firm for the remainder of the race.
Dylan O’Keeffe dispatched Mineeff for sixth on lap four, which became fifth when Clemente retired, a position he held until the chequered flag.
Race one winner Jay Hanson brought his Audi home in sixth, ahead of Will Brown in the older-spec RS3 LMS in seventh.
Mineeff would have finished eighth, but he was handed a post-race five-second penalty for blocking and unsporting conduct, dropping him to 12th.
Likewise, HMO Customer Racing’s Bailey Sweeny would have then been ninth on the road, but he too was penalised for the same reason, this time by ten seconds, dropping him to 16th.
Those penalties meant that Ashley Seward Motorsport’s Michael Caruso was classified in eighth, up from 17th on the grid, with the top ten being completed by HMO’s Nathan Morcom and the independent Hyundai of Brad Shiels.
Aaron Cameron ran in fourth early in the race, before a blown turbo hose forced him into retirement after just three laps.
Zac Soutar had led the championship heading into the race, but on lap six he was punted off the circuit at the Turn 4 hairpin by Sweeny, dropping him down to just 17th by the finish.
Josh Buchan, who had led the series heading into the Phillip Island event, also struggled to recover from his race one retirement, the Hyundai driver classified in 19th and with a post-race 30-second penalty, having only crossed the line in 13th.
For race three, where the grid is formed based on points scored in races one and two, Coulthard will line-up on pole position, ahead of Hanson, Cox, O’Keeffe, D’Alberto, Bargwanna, etc.
Race results
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP | GD |
| 1 | 24 |  |
Fabian COULTHARD | Stan Sport Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 16 | 26:22.3004 | 1:38.059 | 7 | |
| 2 | 71 |  |
Ben BARGWANNA | Burson Auto Parts Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 16 | 0.507 | 1:37.997 | 1 | |
| 3 | 50 | |
Tony D’ALBERTO | Honda Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 16 | 5.629 | 1:38.299 | 4 | |
| 4 | 33 | |
Jordan COX | Swyftx GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 16 | 6.124 | 1:38.127 | 9 | |
| 5 | 8 | |
Dylan O’KEEFFE | Schaeffler GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 16 | 6.541 | 1:38.060 | 8 | |
| 6 | 9 | |
Jay HANSON | AWC MPC Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 16 | 7.048 | 1:37.954 | 10 | |
| 7 | 999 | |
Will BROWN | MPC Team Liqui Moly | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 16 | 7.375 | 1:37.682 | 18 | |
| 8 | 10 | |
Michael CARUSO | Ashley Seward Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 16 | 16.615 | 1:38.408 | 17 | |
| 9 | 11 | |
Nathan MORCOM | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 16 | 16.878 | 1:38.354 | 19 | |
| 10 | 333 | |
Brad SHIELS | Royal Purple Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 16 | 17.504 | 1:38.648 | 14 | |
| 11 | 22 | |
Iain MCDOUGALL | Melbourne Performance Centre | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 16 | 20.116 | 1:38.520 | 13 | |
| 12 | 14 | |
Lachlan MINEEFF | Purple Sector | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 16 | 20.770 | 1:38.826 | 3 | |
| 13 | 89 | |
Braydan WILLMINGTON | Braydan Willmington Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 16 | 22.264 | 1:38.990 | 15 | |
| 14 | 41 | |
Kody GARLAND | Valvoline Racing GRM | Renault Mégane RS TCR | 16 | 22.877 | 1:39.130 | 16 | |
| 15 | 97 | |
Liam MCADAM | Forza Brakes Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 16 | 25.893 | 1:38.702 | 20 | |
| 16 | 130 | |
Bailey SWEENY | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 16 | 26.274 | 1:38.484 | 11 | |
| 17 | 110 | |
Zac SOUTAR | Team Soutar Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 16 | 35.724 | 1:38.320 | 6 | |
| 18 | 34 | |
James MOFFAT | LCMT+ Racing GRM | Renault Mégane RS TCR | 16 | 46.078 | 1:38.543 | 12 | |
| 19 | 30 | |
Josh BUCHAN | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 16 | 49.391 | 1:38.634 | 21 | |
| R | 15 | |
Michael CLEMENTE | Michael Clemente Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 5 | DNF | 1:38.232 | 2 | |
| R | 18 | |
Aaron CAMERON | Team Valvoline GRM | Peugeot 308 TCR | 3 | DNF | 1:38.432 | 5 |