Cody Burcher will make his FIA TCR World Tour début next weekend at The Bend Motorsport Park, racing an Ashley Seward Motorsport-run Lynk & Co 03 TCR.
Burcher, a race winner in GT4 Australia, will join the grid in the front-wheel drive car, of which he has limited experience of racing.
He is already a promising young talent, however, as the Australian is the reigning Super3 Series champion and has already scored a pole position in his first season of racing in Super2, the feeder series to the top-tier Supercars series.
Burcher currently sits seventh in the Super2 standings, with two events left to run.
“It’s awesome to get the opportunity to join the TCR grid with the ASM team,” said Burcher.
“For me it’s completely new – the first time driving the Lynk & Co will be the Thursday before the event – so I’m not going in with too many expectations.
“Just like any time you race, you want to go in there, be competitive and battle for wins and podiums, I’m going to soak up all the team’s knowledge between now and then to hit the ground running.
“The Bend is a great venue to host the world’s best touring car drivers due to its European nature.
“My front-wheel-drive experience is limited, racing in the Excels [late 1990s Hyundai Excels] previously, but I’m excited for the challenge ahead.
“It’s one of those opportunities you have to take, to have a field of drivers from the other side of the world to add to the depth of talent in Australia is great.
“It’s an expansion of the relationship with Ash forged from Monochrome GT4 Australia and he’s a racer. Ash is super passionate and you don’t have the success he’s enjoyed across multiple categories without that experience paired with a drive to win.”
Ashley Seward Motorsport has been present since the first season of TCR Australia in 2019, and Team Owner Ashley Seward is expecting Burcher to perform well on his TCR bow.
“It’s great to have Cody in our Lynk & Co for the return of the TCR World Tour to Australia,” said Seward.
“Cody is part of our family of drivers and has done a terrific job with Tim Leahey in the BMW M4 GT4 this year, and we have no doubt that he’ll do a solid job in his TCR début.
“We had a very strong end to 2024 with Dylan (O’Keeffe) and there’s nothing to say that the car will be any less competitive against some of the world’s best touring car drivers.”