Brett Peters believes the main improvement Gulf Western Oils Touring Car Masters needs is to simply expand the field with a handful of additional cars.

The Touring Car Masters grid has been stuck in the mid-teens since early 2020, four rounds in total so far, a reduction from the 20s or so ago.

This development comes in the midst of unrest and debates within the paddock on the direction of the category and on technical questions concerning the parity and compliance of certain cars with the regulations.

Some of these concerns were highlighted in a blunt email that was sent to category management just after the final round, in which a competitor suggested that TCM be treated as the ‘bad half-sister’ of the Australian Racing Group. .

Shortly after, it emerged that Category Administrator and Technical Advisor Paul Taylor had resigned, despite being seen to enjoy broad support from competitors, and the decision would not be directly related. to the email.

Peters Motorsport presents two cars in TCM, a 1969 Camaro driven by Ryal Harris and a 1974 Torana driven by Ryan Hansford, which became the pioneers of the series.

The team manager is still extremely positive about the series, despite the recent tragedies, but would like to see the size of the pitch bounce back.

“I think TCM is still as popular as ever,” Peters told Speedcafe.com.

“The race is of very high quality; he just needs a few more cars.

“The reasons why these cars are not racing, I don’t know them personally, and I hope TCM management will pick up the phone and call them; “Why don’t you run?

“Because with half a dozen more cars, the show will be very good. It’s good now, and just these few extra cars fill in some of the gaps.

Peters cars at Sydney Motorsport Park. Photo: Australian Racing Group

Peters Motorsport is a business, and is participating in the series in order to generate a return because of the exposure it achieves for its business partners.

TCM just has the trick with Supercars this year, namely February’s Repco Mount Panorama 500; another at Boost Mobile Race Tasmania, run by ARG’s largest shareholder, Barry Rogers; and the rest on the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships bill which is dominated by the ARG categories.

One change that Peters has explicitly expressed a preference for is for the pendulum to swing back towards a more marked balance between Supercars and Motorsport Australia / ARG events.

“What we have for this year is what we have,” added Peters.

“I know from our business partners what we would like for next year – and there are moves underway for management to get feedback from us – I think the best place for TCM is is shared between Supercars and ARG.

“It’s good for the competitors and hopefully going into some Supercar events when we’re on the ARG events it will bring the fans to that side. [Supercars] to watch TCM cars on [ARG events].

“I think it’s good for all parties that we’re separated in between, and that’s what I’m going to suggest.

“Our business partners, for them it’s obviously about the brand, being on TV, and I think Fox and Kayo have their advantages, but free-to-air too, and I’d like to think that TCM can do it. a bit of both.”

The fourth round of the 2021 Touring Car Masters season will take place at Morgan Park on June 25-27.