The son of Bathurst 1000 winner Jason Bargwanna will pilot a Ford Mustang in the stock car series this year and will make his debut at Race Tasmania on March 22-23 as part of a 32-car grid.
Bargwanna has been a staple of TCR with Garry Roger Motorsport driving a Peugeot 308 but will switch to a Ford Mustang at Symmons Plains.
It’ll be a proper family affair, running under the Bargwanna Motorsport banner in a move that harks back to his formative years in the sport.
“Trans Am is a really cool category,” said Bargwanna.
“It’s been alongside TCR for the last few years and I got to watch Dad win a Trans Am race, which excited me a lot.
“The Trans Am route just made sense for us, especially with Dad being Jimmy Golding’s engineer last year.
“The cars are loud. They’ve got big V8s, they move around and the racing is awesome, so I’m stoked to be even thinking about racing it.
“It’s exciting to race under the Bargwanna Motorsport banner again. It’s been a while since we’ve done that.
“I’ve been a GRM driver for the last four or five years, but it reminds me of my time in Excels and Formula Ford when Dad loaded up the truck with me to go to the track, while Mum helped out too.
“It’s going to be fun, challenging and we have a lot to learn, but that’s part of the game.”
Bargwanna will drive the car that Dylan Thomas took to the TA2 Muscle Car Series title in 2023.
It will carry #97 on the door, a number that his grandfather Harry campaigned. Jason Bargwanna briefly carried #97 too.
He famously failed to start the 1997 Bathurst 1000 with the Holden Young Lions alongside Mark Noske after crashing in Sunday’s morning’s warm-up.
The Ford Mustang that Ben Bargwanna is a far cry from the Holden VS Commodore that his father drove.
“I think keeping our expectations realistic is the right way to go and Round 1 we’re going in fairly blind,” said Bargwanna.
“Deep down I believe we can do a good job and win, but whether that’s straight away I don’t know as it’s hard to answer until we get out there on track.”
As for TCR? Bargwanna isn’t ruling out a return but sees his immediate future in Trans Am.
“TCR has been my home for the past few years. It’s a passion of mine and I love it,” he said.
“I love everything it’s offered and has been able to provide to me by racing overseas against the best of the best alongside some really cool things in my years of TCR.
“It’s a category that holds a place in my heart and it always will.
“It’s not that I’m ever ruling out having another go at TCR again, but Trans Am is a new challenge and this is where we are at for the moment.”
