A BRAND-NEW Audi race car will be on display at the Phillip Island Shannons Nationals event this weekend.

But it isn’t an entry in the 500km Australian GT race to be held on Sunday – Instead, it’s the first TCR-specification Audi RS 3 LMS to be seen down under.

TCR is a global Touring Car formula positioned to be a more entry-level category sitting beneath the existing European hierarchy that tops out at the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).

Essentially a Touring Car version of GT3 racing, the category is based around customer entries rather than factory teams with several manufacturers homologating vehicles for competition.

Audi was the latest to join the party with the RS3 LMS, developed by the factory Audi Sport organisation responsible for the R8 LMS and the R8 GT4.

TCR cars weigh 1250kg and produce approximately 330hp from two-litre, turbocharged engines, and there’s already domestic series’ in a host of European markets racing alongside the main TCR International series.

The RS3 LMS at Phillip Island is part of Audi Sport Customer Racing’s fleet this weekend and will be on display at the circuit.

It ran at Phillip Island earlier this week at an Audi customer and media drive day, with several members of the media enjoying the experience:

Coming to an Aussie racetrack near you @audisport #rs3LMS #canihaveone pic.twitter.com/rWqBjNYw2T

— Mike Sinclair (@petrolhedonist) May 23, 2017

All my racing mates are now jealous @audisport #rs3LMS @PICircuit #frontdrivefun @motoringcomau pic.twitter.com/oH3chfvq3i

— Mike Sinclair (@petrolhedonist) May 23, 2017

The car is also now being used in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship this year.

Say hi to my rocket for #STCC ??#Audi #RS3LMS #PWRjuniorteam pic.twitter.com/V5bF2xcdl3

— Mikaela A-K (@MikaelaAhlinK) April 22, 2017

THE RACE TORQUE COMMENT: 

TCR cars look better in person than they do in photos, with the DTM-style flares and the aero styling making the RS3 LMS look pretty purposeful.

There’s also no questioning the build quality because the Audi example has all the nice details that the much more expensive and high-level R8 GT3 cars have, including a steering wheel festooned in buttons, lovely gearshift paddles and carbon fibre in all the right places.

They’re affordable, too, with the top-level Audi customer car retailing for EU129,000 – or a shade under 200K in Australian bucks.

Obviously though, the million-dollar question is ‘where does it race?’.

There have been pushes to start a domestic TCR formula in Australia but anyone with a basic understanding of the sport knows the last thing we need here is another category in an already crowded marketplace.

We’ve already got three tiers of Supercar racing, each with solid grids that at the moment are all stable and competitive.

After all, you can buy a relatively current Supercar to run in the Kumho V8 Touring Cars for $100K and run it for less than that if you’re so inclined.

Some have also called for TCR to replace the current Supercars but it’s pretty clear it would also be an enormous backwards step in terms of appeal, both at a corporate level, to TV execs and probably a big chunk of paying fans who like cars with more than 600hp.

Anyway, we tried Euro-style Touring Car Racing here in the 1990s and early 2000s and though Super Touring had its moments, it didn’t last.

As a formula, Supercars is a step or two up the professional rung from TCR which is positioned to be more entry level racing.

At this point in time, it seems like the best and most logical place for TCR cars would be in the Australian GT Trophy Series.

Now in its second year, GT Trophy is an appealing place to race, with plenty of track-time at key Shannons Nationals rounds and an existing multi-class structure that caters to GT4 and MARC Cars Australia entries already.

Adding a TCR class to that grid would make sense for those who want to bring them down under and race them.

There would also be an argument to add them to the grids at key endurance races, as they do at the Nurburgring 24hr and Creventic races in Europe.

Otherwise, it looks like it would make a pretty handy track day weapon indeed.

WORDS & PHOTOS: Richard Craill