TCR Australia will award qualifying points from the 2023 season, with a view to making the timed lap session more significant in the context of a race weekend.
The move will see the driver who achieves pole position gaining an additional ten points. Points will be awarded down to fifth, with the overall scale being 10-7-5-3-2. A similar system has been in place in other series, including TCR Europe from its full-season inception.
Every qualifying session over the course of the season will be eligible for the extra points.
A bonus point will also now be offered to the driver who posts the fastest lap in each of a weekend’s three races.
The changes mean a perfect score at each round would now consist of 153 points.
There are no changes to the race formats. The starting grid for race one is determined by qualifying positions. The grid for race two is based on the top ten finishing places in race one, but reversed.
For race three, the grid is based on the total points scored in races one and two of the weekend.
“The change will put more emphasis on qualifying to ensure every driver has an extra incentive to go as hard as they can in that session,” said Ben McMellan, Head of Category Operations at promoter Australian Racing Group.
“We want to see our drivers and teams always pushing the limits, in every session, and we feel this is going to add more spice to the most important sessions of a race weekend.
“For qualifying, it needs to have real meaning. Almost all of the qualifying sessions were broadcast on Stan Sport in 2022, and the plan is to keep that for 2023, so we want to ensure that it is an unmissable session – whether fans are watching the Stan broadcast or trackside.”
The opening round of the 2023 season takes place at AWC Race Tasmania on 24 – 26 February.