Melbourne Performance Centre has been given extra motivations ahead of the inaugural TCR Australia season, with the Audi RS 3 LMS awarded the prestigious TCR Model of 2018. 

The Victorian racing team were the first team to import a car to Australia for the new series with the Audi RS 3 LMS their weapon of choice. 

Based on the model’s performance in the past 12 months around the world, the Audi was edged out other TCR favourites, including the Honda Civic Type R which was the runner-up and the Hyundai i30 N which finished fifth. 

Managing Director of Melbourne Performance Centre, Troy Russell was proud the Audi was voted the best model out of the six cars.    

“Having been associated with Audi for many years through MPC’s GT3 customer racing program, we know how good the Audi product is, so it’s no surprise that it has taken this great award,” Russell said.

“As soon as we found out that TCR was coming to Australia, we wanted as much information as possible because we were really keen on the class. It’s perfect for Australia and we really think it’s going to be a strong category.

“We’ve had some really good interest and we are looking forward to confirming a number of cars for the 2019 series, both with the Audi RS 3 LMS and the Volkswagen Golf GTI.”

With a variety of models in the running for the World Sporting Consulting’s (WSC) TCR Model of 2018, the points were allocated to the cars for race around the world.

The points total was then adjusted after different factors were considered including series level, numbers of cars competing as well as the number of brands.

During 2018, the Audi RS 3 LMS model competed in 17 TCR series, claiming 43 race wins over the course of an incredible 684 race starts. 

Head of Audi Sport customer racing Chris Reinke was thrilled with the award and what it meant for the manufacturer. 

“It’s a great honour for Audi Sport that the RS 3 LMS has won this prestigious worldwide classification out of the 12 manufacturers of TCR cars,” Reinke said.

“What is of particular significance is that this award respects not only the sporting, but also the commercial success. 

“Beside the on-track success, Audi Sport sticks to the true spirit of customer racing and has already built more than 160 TCR cars being fielded by customers around the world. 

"It’s a testament to the success of WSC’s worldwide TCR category, whose number of series is still growing.”  

With both the Audi and Honda finishing first and second, the Australian series has a lot to look forward to in 2019. 

The seven-round TCR Australia Series kicks off its inaugural season as part of the Shannons Nationals on 17-19 May at Sydney Motorsport Park.