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Kody Garland keeps his eye in prior to Supercheap Auto TCR Australia resumption
Valvoline Team GRM rookie Kody Garland returned to the track recently, but not in his regular Renault Megane RS TCR rather something slightly more compact.
Garland returned to his roots by racing a kart in Round 2 of the NSW KZ2 Super Series hosted by the Hunter Valley Kart Club.
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The idea to compete came after a discussion between Garland and his father around the fire, which subsequently gained momentum.
“I’ve had a quite a good past in karting, we made it to the top and ran there for a couple of years before the move to cars was ignited,” he reflected.
“Dad and I were around the fire one night, the idea to race karts came out and I was getting pretty itchy feet!
“I had a look and there was race in Newcastle for the shifter KZ, so I thought stuff it why not?”
With the support of CRG Australia and St George Kart Centre in addition to regular TCR supporters Valvoline and MTA, Garland qualified within the top five, but a broken throttle cable ended his run in the pre-final.
Returning for the final to start seventh, he scythed his way through the field to take the win.
“I didn’t go there expecting results and trophies, I just wanted to get the reflexes going again,” said Garland. “We got organised, went down and it was a great day.
“I haven’t driven a kart for five years so I was pretty happy to come back and achieve that.
“My old man gets as much enjoyment as I do out of it.”
Garland is excited to continue his maiden Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series campaign at Queensland Raceway as it is an equal footing for most drivers as many either haven’t raced there in the category before or changed model since the last visit in 2019.
Also, confidence has built up after a top 10 finish at Sydney Motorsport Park.
“Stepping into a category like TCR, there is a lot of things to learn and I feel like I’ve done a lot of that,” said Garland.
“Although the results weren’t there in Sydney, I feel there was promise as in that final race I came through from 21st to ninth, so we’ve got the pace, but we just need to roll out with it and that’s been our biggest issue.
“That’s all just part of the learning and as rounds gone on we can roll out in the top 10, then move up from there.”
The next round of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series joins the SpeedSeries at Queensland Raceway on August 5-7.