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The 'underdog' who could provide biggest upset - CtrlF.XYZ

The 'underdog' who could provide biggest upset

2 years ago 153

Few could person picked Zac Soutar to beryllium the astonishment prima of past year's TCR Australia season.

His maiden run successful 2021 was acold from flashy. A season-best decorativeness of sixth was the item successful a twelvemonth wherever apical 10s were hard to travel by.

Then, astatine the 2022 play opener, Soutar came retired swinging.

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He took back-to-back apical six finishes astatine Symmons Plains earlier winning the weekend's last race, establishing himself arsenic a bonafide rubric contender.

More podiums came during the year, but the property of his Honda Civic Type R proved to beryllium a hindrance arsenic rivals successful newer cars edged past him successful the bid standings.

Sixth was wherever helium landed successful the standings, a marked betterment connected his 16th spot effort a twelvemonth earlier.

In the end, the squad decided to ditch the Honda successful favour of a caller Audi RS 3 LMS for 2023.

"The Honda we had was chassis 001, truthful it was the precise archetypal Honda FK7 that JAS Motorsport built, truthful it was getting rather old," Soutar told Wide World of Sports.

"It was 5 years aged and arsenic overmuch arsenic it's a large car and we've maintained it well, it was conscionable getting tired.

"So it was either refurbish that car oregon look astatine thing caller and unluckily the timing had it that we couldn't get a caller (FL2-spec) Honda successful clip for the archetypal round.

"We truly wanted to deed the crushed moving with a caller car and past astir the aforesaid clip the accidental to leap into an Audi travel up.

"The Audi that was disposable was going to marque it for the archetypal circular and that's conscionable the mode we went.

"Obviously there's strengths and weaknesses successful some the Honda and Audi. The Honda, connected its day, is simply a fantastic car and truthful is the Audi.

"So we couldn't truly spell incorrect either mode and arsenic I said, conscionable the accidental to leap into caller instrumentality was excessively bully to crook down and it made consciousness and the sponsors were each keen. So that's the mode we went."

Soutar is 1 of 3 drivers with caller cars expected to beryllium adjacent the front.

Will Brown besides has a caller Audi portion Josh Buchan has brought the latest Hyundai i30 N sedan to the Symmons Plains season-opener.

Given Soutar's comparative illustration to the likes of 2022 champion Tony D'Alberto and Supercars regular Will Brown, he's blessed to beryllium fixed the 'underdog' tag.

"I deliberation I decidedly clasp the underdog tag," helium said.

"Sometimes we tin find ourselves a small spot down the 8 shot and instrumentality a small spot longer to drawback up, but I deliberation present we're astatine a constituent – adjacent though it's a caller car – we've learned truthful overmuch and we tin beryllium close up with the large teams and we tin truly instrumentality it to them.

"Obviously it's not gonna hap easily, it's gonna beryllium precise tight, but the extremity for america is to effort and decorativeness evidently successful the apical 5 and arsenic often arsenic possible. We privation to beryllium determination successful the title combat astatine the extremity of the season, truthful that's the goal."

Perhaps what makes Soutar's achievements astir awesome is the make-up of his team.

Unlike the Wall Racing and Melbourne Performance Centre types, the Soutar squad is simply a household affair.

"Although it looks similar we've got a fewer radical here, they're each volunteers and they're each household and friends basically," Soutar explained.

"Basically it's made up of my dad, who is the squad principal, Ben is my mate from precocious schoolhouse and the engineer, my member is connected the machine and the remainder are conscionable doing unusual jobs.

"We're precise overmuch a household underdog team. Everybody is inactive precise skilled astatine what they bash and there's nary crushed wherefore we can't instrumentality the combat to whoever's astir us."

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