All eyes were on Sydney for the opening round of the Shannons Nationals.

A strong crowd, record live stream audience and free to air coverage of the first ever round of carsales TCR Australia Series ensured plenty witnessed history as the Shannons Nationals opened its 2019 season with a bang.

The three TCR races were well viewed on SBS, with 100,000 Australians tuning in to Saturday and Sunday’s live free-to-air television coverage.

The live stream hosted across a range of platforms saw 70,000 from around the world watch on as the carsales TCR Australia Series, Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia, Radical Australia Cup, Australian Prototype Series, CAMS PAYCE Formula 4 Australian Championship and the Veloce Alfa Romeo Challenge featured across the weekend.

This means more than 170,000 people tuned in on TVs or their mobile device for the opening round of the Shannons Nationals both in Australia and worldwide.

It was also one of the highest Shannons Nationals crowds in recent history, with just under 5,000 people attending the Sydney Motorsport Park opener.

Shannons Nationals Director Michael Smith said it was a terrific foundation on which to build, with a great line up of categories battling it out at Sydney Motorsport Park.

“We are absolutely delighted with the really strong interest in the opening round of the Shannons Nationals,” Smith said.

“Across all the categories involved in the weekend, there was plenty of fans tuning in online and on TV, as well as a record crowd in attendance at Sydney Motorsport Park.

“With some terrific ratings on SBS for the three TCR races, and record numbers for the live stream across both Saturday and Sunday, we believe this round sets a really strong foundation for an exciting year to come with room to grow that audience even more in 2019.

“With Phillip Island now just two weeks away, we’re really keen for the next round of the Shannons Nationals to get underway and with another strong list of categories lined up for the event, there will be plenty of interest yet again.”

Matt Braid, Director of Australian Racing Group, said the strong interest in the carsales TCR Australia Series was pleasing to see.

“We are very pleased with how our first event rolled out and the great support that we saw both at the track and via the livestream,” Braid said. 

“The size of the crowd was an encouraging first event for us, but what we were most pleased with was the diverse mix of attendees. The people there were younger with a greater depth of cultural backgrounds than I’ve ever seen before at a high-profile motorsport event.

“Sydney has given us a great launch pad for the rest of the season and we are really looking forward to Phillip Island and the rest of the TCR Australia Series.”

Tickets for Round Two of the Shannons Nationals at Phillip Island are now on sale via thenationals.com.au/tickets.