'If I don't laugh, I'll cry:' Title favourite concedes defeat

Josh Buchan was nary the wiser to the chaos unfolding down him arsenic helium cruised towards a ascendant triumph successful the TCR Australia Series opener astatine Phillip Island.

After a luckless Friday successful which helium didn't implicit a azygous flying thigh owed to electrical gremlins, inaugural champion Will Brown suffered an all-new issue.

Just 1 thigh into the race, the close rear of his Audi RS 3 LMS began to sag. 

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Brown came to the pit lane wherever helium retired, storming retired of the store to fto disconnected immoderate steam.

Josh Buchan led from rod presumption to the chequered flag. (Daniel Kalisz)

It marked the 4th consecutive contention successful which helium didn't people a point, making his rubric bid an astir insurmountable task.

"If I don't laugh, I'll cry," Brown told Stan Sport's Chris Stubbs.

"I've conscionable got to instrumentality it well, but that's the 4th thing. So it's really thing antithetic to yesterday and thing antithetic to this morning.

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"This beauteous overmuch a caller portion and the power limb has torn retired of the upright. It's conscionable torn off. I don't cognize however it happened. I didn't deed anything. It was really a beauteous cleanable start. 

"Overall, not a precise bully weekend. I haven't finished a azygous session. We'll spot however we spell tomorrow.

"Four DNFs, you're not going to triumph the title with however galore cars are successful it. With lone person 13 cars close present you don't person capable to claw your mode backmost up.

"For us, we were much looking astatine the World Tour worldly anyway, trying to spell overseas with that truthful we mightiness person to spot what we bash time arsenic successful points omniscient due to the fact that it's inactive (misfiring) with the occupation from yesterday. We'll enactment retired what we bash tomorrow."

Fellow Audi operator and front-row commencement Zac Soutar came into the play tense the driveshaft mightiness beryllium a sore point. 

Zac Soutar is expecting to beryllium a front-runner astatine Phillip Island. (Daniel Kalisz)

However, it was an wholly antithetic contented successful contention 1 that helium suffered connected thigh eight.

"I don't cognize what the communicative is," Soutar told 13-time Supercars contention victor Fabian Coulthard.

"Coming retired of Honda, it conscionable chopped out. It's similar a pit limiter came connected oregon something, benignant of similar a misfire. Probably the aforesaid arsenic what Will has got. 

"We conscionable can't drawback a interruption astatine the moment. It's not going excessively good for us, that's for sure."

The chaos continued arsenic English planetary Tom Oliphant suffered a puncture and speared disconnected the roadworthy astatine Miller Corner.

He brought his marque caller Lynk & Co 03 backmost to the pit lane, going connected to decorativeness 10th.

Having watched Buchan thrust distant from him, past year's champion Tony D'Alberto fell into the clutches of Lachlann Mineeff. 

Mineeff was the lone Audi operator seemingly capable to flight issues. He recovered gait precocious successful the contention and enactment a walk connected D'Alberto for 2nd retired of Lukey Heights.

Moments later, D'Alberto began to dilatory arsenic the aerial went retired of his close beforehand tyre, which began to delaminate connected the beforehand straight.

"It was lone the thigh earlier that my technologist said, 'Just beryllium a small spot careful, a fewer guys are losing tyres', and I had nary crushed to dilatory down oregon thing similar that," D'Alberto explained.

"It felt good and past implicit that thigh it conscionable started to spell distant from me. I mislaid a presumption and past astir mislaid it coming onto the consecutive and that was it."

Josh Buchan celebrates his archetypal triumph of the TCR Australia Series season. (Daniel Kalisz)

Buchan bushed Mineeff to the enactment by 2 seconds portion Aaron Cameron claimed the last spot connected the podium different 2 and a fractional 2nd back.

The TCR Australia Series takes successful contention 2 astatine 11:30pm connected Sunday followed by contention 3 astatine 4:15pm.

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