The Bathurst driver headed into the three-race round hopeful of securing his maiden TCR podium given his good record at the Mount Panorama circuit, but that hope turned to frustration.

Despite being hampered when trying to set a one-lap flyer, when Shiels returned to the pits during Saturday's first qualifying session sitting 10^th on the timesheet, he was set to progress to a second qualifying period exclusively for the top 10 drivers.

That's not what happened.

"I was on my absolute flyer, with these tyres you've only got a window of one lap where they're at their best, and I come across one of the Audis over the top and I had to follow him all the way down the hill and into The Chase," the Royal Purple Racing driver said.

"So that meant I ruined my fast lap, I was down about seven-tenths of a second. I should have ended up fourth or fifth, but I just hung onto 10^th and I thought that was all good because I'd still make it through to Q2 and have a crack at another time.

"When I was in the pits, Michael Caruso was in the wall and it was a yellow sector across the top. But two cars, Bailey Sweeny and Dylan O'Keeffe, did a lap time through a yellow sector and I got bumped out of the 10.

"I thought I was safe because he was in the wall and no-one could go faster, it's the rules. I was guaranteed 10^th, you can't do your best lap through a yellow sector, but race control were asleep and those guys got let through and I got knocked out of the 10 and that was it."

Shiels was left fuming - "I was so cranky" - as he missed the second qualifying session and had to settle with starting 12^th on the grid for race one in his Hyundai.

There was more frustration in that race as he placed 11^th, 0.4 seconds behind Caruso in 10^th.

Had Shiels been able to pass Caruso and taken 10^th spot, he would have been on pole position for race two which had a reverse top 10 grid.

"I just didn't have the speed to get one more spot, so that was another frustrating thing," Shiels said.

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Shiels went on to place eighth in races two and three to be ranked 10^th outright for the weekend. It left him 12^th in the championship after three rounds.

"I was just a frustrating weekend, the car has been fast but we just haven't been in the position to show it," he said.

"In that last race got Caruso and D'Alberto pretty easy, but we made a change to the car last night [Saturday] to try and make it quicker, but I think we went the wrong way.

"I actually overtook Aaron Cameron [round winner] in the second race and held in front of him, so we've got the same car speed really. It's just hard when you're stuck in the pack, you burn your tyres up trying to race other people.

"It would have been a very different thing if we had qualified better."

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