Bathurst 12H: TMR Australia preview

TULLOCH TARGETS BATHURST SUCCESS WITH TMR AUSTRALIA

HIS SUCCESS IN TRUCK RACING may well be unmatched by any driver in Australia or New Zealand, and his record in New Zealand domestic competition is exemplary - but that won't stop Kiwi racing icon Ian 'Inky' Tulloch trying to add to the record list when he tackles the Armor All Bathurst 12 hour with TMR Australia next weekend.

Tulloch, who hails from New Zealand's South Island, near Invercargill, will join Rod Salmon and Damien White in the #1 TMR Australia Lancer Evo X RS at Bathurst on February 12 - 14, and perhaps has his best shot ever at adding a Bathurst trophy to his mantel piece.

Tulloch fills a seat held in the past two years by Graham Alexander and two-time Bathurst 1000 champ Tony Longhurst - and both have gone on to win the event in their first attempt with the TMR outfit.

Naturally, the past results leave Tulloch confident that he can follow in their footsteps and win a third-straight 12-hour for the team.

"Having worked with TMR for two rounds (of the Australian Manufactures Championship) last year, I was really impressed with the performance of the car but also the way the team worked," Tulloch said.

"It was very professional but I was almost surprised with how well a Kiwi fitted in with this bunch of Aussies - it was like we had been working together for ages.

"I had planned to run my own car (Tulloch purchased his own TMR Australia-built Lancer Evo X RS in 2009) at Bathurst this year but after meeting Rod and Damien, and getting on so well with them, it wasn't a hard choice to agree to jump in with them.

"It is a fantastic team, the car is very fast and easy to drive, and we have a super strong driver line-up."

Inky's reputation as a racer was formed in New Zealand motorsport in the 1970s, where he dominated production and sports car racing and Hillclimb events in cars ranging from an XA GT Falcon to a Camaro Z28.

More recently his claim to fame is the almost complete domination of Trans-Tasman Truck racing in the late 1990s and early 2000s, winning four Australian and Four New Zealand Super truck titles. In the past four years he has contested the domestic NZV8 series with his own team, Tulloch Motorsport.

He has twice competed in the Bathurst 1000 - in 1987 and 1988 driving a BMW M3 and a Ford Sierra RS500, respectively, and says that despite all his experience the Mountain remains the biggest challenge of them all.

"In my entire career, some of the hardest racing I have ever done has come at Bathurst," He said.

"No one who hasn't driven it understands how steep, how fast and how blind the place is. It's like every other track rolled into one.

"I have raced in the 12 hour before with other teams and didn't achieve my objectives. I feel like I can do that with TMR next weekend and the results we had last year only encouraged me further."

TMR Australia will on Monday announce a new naming-rights partner for the No. 1 TMR Australia Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X RS to be driven at the Armor All Bathurst 12 hour by Rod Salmon, Damien White and Inky Tulloch.

The ArmorAll Bathurst 12 hour will be held on February 12 - 14.

-source: tmr aus