British Touring Car Championship race winner Tom Oliphant will race in TCR Australia this year, after agreeing a deal with Ashley Seward Motorsport to race an Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR.
Oliphant, 32, moved to Australia last year in order to support his Australian fiancée Genevieve in her career down under.
He made a one-off return to the BTCC at Thruxton when he stood in for Will Powell at Team HARD, but otherwise did not race.
Oliphant has signed a multi-year deal which will also see him contest the 2024 TCR Australia season with Ashley Seward Motorsport.
The Brit spent four years in the BTCC, making his début in a Mercedes-Benz in 2018 before moving to West Surrey Racing in a BMW for 2019, where he spent three seasons.
Finishing twice on the podium in his first year with Team BMW, Oliphant won his first race in 2020 on his way to sixth overall in the championship – his best overall classification.
“I’m absolutely over the moon to announce I’m down under and I’ll be racing in the TCR Australia Series,” said Oliphant.
“It’s been a dream of mine to race in Australia and I’ll finally get to live it out in 2023. TCR Australia is obviously a very, very competitive category with drivers such as Will Brown making a career in the class and it will be great to be competing against them. I see it as a real challenge and I’m looking forward to every moment.
“I’m very proud to be joining Ashley Seward Motorsport. The team do an incredible job and I was impressed when I met with them in Melbourne recently.
“The Alfa Romeo is a proven race winner and I’m proud to also be representing Autoglym in Australia. It’s such a big brand with great heritage.
“I’m excited to race at Symmons Plains as my first round. It looks a really interesting track and I’ve watched a lot of video, so I can’t wait to get started.”
Ashley Seward, Team Principal, believes that the team can once again challenge for the title in 2023, having previously fought for the title with Dylan O’Keeffe.
“It’s great to welcome Tom to our team, alongside Autoglym in our Alfa Romeo TCR,” said Seward.
“Tom has proven to be a leading contender in touring cars overseas, as well as other racing categories, and to have him choose TCR Australia is a real feather in our cap.
“There’s no doubt that the competition will be very competitive this year. There are some very strong driver and car combinations, and we feel that we have the right ingredients to make a strong tilt for the title.
“I also would like to thank Michael Caruso for his efforts last year. He was terrific to have as part of our team and I hope we can work together again in the future.”