WTCR Barcelona Hosts the Pre-season Test Day
The teams that have entered in the inaugural season of the WTCR, the FIA World Touring Car Cup, are currently attending the official test, today at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
The full season entry list comprises 25 cars representing seven brands: Alfa Romeo, Audi, Cupra, Honda, Hyundai, Peugeot and Volkswagen.
The last-minute additions to an already impressive field were James Thompson in the third Honda Civic FK7 TCR run by the All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport and the pair of young Hungarians – Norbert Nagy and Zsolt Dávid Szabó – who will drive the two Cupra TCR cars campaigned by Zengo Motorsport.
The level of the drivers is incredibly high, as altogether they have won 7 World Touring Car Championships, 1 TCR International Series, 6 European Touring Car Championships or Cups, 1 TCR European Cup, 6 British Touring Car Championships, 4 Scandinavian Touring Car Championships, 2 Italian Touring Car Championships, 1 Spanish Touring Car Championship and a huge amount of touring car races worldwide.
At Barcelona the series’ promoter, Eurosport Events, also announced that the eighth race meeting of the series will take place in China, on Wuhan’s street circuit on 6/7 October.
Pirelli World Challenge
The Hyundai men make a clean sweep at COTA
The inaugural event of the TCR class in the Pirelli World Challenge at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, was dominated by Mark Wilkins and Michael Lewis in the two Hyundai i30 N TCR cars run by the Bryan Herta Autosport.
After setting the fastest laps in Qualifying – with Wilkins winning the pole position – the Hyundai men made two 1-2 finishes in the races. Lewis won on Saturday afternoon thanks to a better start, while Wilkins was able to beat his teammate on Sunday.
The Hyundai cars pulled away easily in Race 1 and inflicted large gaps to Ryan Eversley in the RealTime Racing Honda Civic and Martin Jensen’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta who settled for third an fourth places.
The early stages of the second race were more lively, as Jensen and Eversley were closely chasing the two Korean cars. However, on lap 2 Eversley locked the front wheels and hit the back of Jensen’s car. The Dane was forced to retire with a broken rear suspension, while Eversley was given a drive-through and rejoined at the back of the field. He managed to recover and eventually crossed the line in fourth position behind the Audi RS3 LMS of Anthony Geraci. Eversley was handed third after the race, because Geraci was demoted to fourth by a Stewards decision.
Double Indy 500 winner Brian Herta, the owner of the team that runs the Hyundai cars said: “I can’t be happier! Both our drivers did a great job during the whole weekend.”
After the opening event, Wilkins leads the standings with 50 points, two more than Lewis, while Eversley lies third, a further six points adrift.
The Pirelli World Challenge will resume at the Virginia International Raceway on April 28/29.
VLN
FEV Racing wins the opening round
Benedikt Gentgen and Arndt Hallmans have won the TCR class in the opening round of the VLN in the FEV Racing CUPRA TCR.
After setting pole position, the pair covered 26 laps of the Nordschleife during the four-hour race and was classified 42nd overall out of 157 starters.
Second place went to the Lubner Motorsport Opel Astra TCR shared by Rudolf Rhyn, Thomas Jäger and Thorsten Wolter, one lap behind, but 12 seconds clear of the third-placed Hyundai i30 N TCR of Gabriele Tarquini and Jae Kyun Kim, engineer at the R&D Centre of Hyundai Motor in South Korea.
The second Hyundai that Nicola Larini shared with Manuel Lauck, was classified 6th in the class after losing six laps in the pits for repairs after sliding off on oil dropped by another car and damaging the suspension.
The second round of the VLN will take place on 7th April.
WTCR
Lessennes to replace Monteiro until recovery
Tiago Monteiro will miss the start of the WTCR while his recovery from injury continues. The Portuguese has not raced since a high-speed testing incident last September.
Boutsen Ginion Racing’s test driver Benjamin Lessennes – the 2017 TCR Benelux champion – will deputise for Tiago, starting with this week’s pre-season test at Barcelona.
Monteiro said: “Though my physical condition has recovered well, the same has not yet happened with my vision and I cannot yet return to competition. I’m disappointed, as I wanted the effects of the accident to be behind me and to start for the new season. That’s not possible yet, but I will continue my recovery in the expectation that everything will return to normal soon.”
Lessennes commented: “I am very pleased to make my WTCR debut with Boutsen Ginion Racing, although I wish it had been in happier circumstances. I have some good experience of the new Honda Civic TCR from having tested late last year and recently at Zandvoort. I’m confident we can do a good job.”
TCR Europe
PCR Sport with Mikel Azcona
PCR Sport will take part in the 2018 TCR Europe Series and has signed Mikel Azcona to drive one of the team’s CUPRA TCR cars.
Azcona, 21-year-old from the Basque region, has raced in different one-make trophies with success. He was twice vice-champion in the Spanish Renault Clio Cup (2014 and 2015), once in the SEAT León EuroCup (2016) and in the Audi TT International Series (2017).
Azcona has recently tested the CUPRA TCR at Navarra and Barcelona: “This is a great challenge and I feel hopeful and excited… like crazy. I wish to thank my sponsors for trusting and supporting our project.”
The Spanish team is currently in negotiations with other drivers and plans to enter one or two other CUPRA cars in the European series.
TCR Asia preview
The fourth season kicks off this weekend at Sepang
The TCR Asia Series enters its fourth season this weekend, with a ten round calendar taking in some of the region’s best circuits.
The first event will see a return to the Sepang in Malaysia, a venue that has played host to TCR Asia since the very first race was contested back in September 2015. From Malaysia, the Series moves to Thailand’ Buriram for the first time since 2016, then back to the popular Bangsaen Grand Prix on the streets of Chonburi in mid-July, all three opening events held in conjunction with TCR Thailand. Then it will visit again South Korea for the first time since the season-opener in 2016 with TCR Asia joining teams contesting the maiden season of TCR Korea, whilst the final stop on the calendar will see a return to Shanghai for for the Series finale ahead of the invitational SIC888 endurance race the following day.
Arguably the favourites for the 2018 season are Liqui Moly Team Engstler and star drivers Diego Moran and recently crowned TCR Middle East champion Luca Engstler. The Volkswagen team has won the Driver’s and Team’s Championship for the last two seasons, but both 2016 title winner Andy Yan, and last year’s champion Kantadhee Kusiri have moved on, paving the way for a first-time champion this year.
Honda too will be well represented, with a number of cars. The R Engineering stable of Malaysia’s Lai Wee Sing will field former GT driver Akash Nandi and last year’s podium finisher Abdul Kaathir, although the late arrival of at least one new car may affect their entry into their home round. New to the series is the Maximum Racing, with two Honda Civic cars for Hongkongers Ivan Szeto Wing Shun and Le Sze Ho.
Fellow 2017 race winners Elegant Racing Team will be back, with two Seat León TCR entries for Alex Liu and Kelvin Wong, whilst TCR Asia regular Douglas Khoo is expected to be amongst the TCR Asia Cup contenders.
TCR UK preview
Thirteen cars from six brands to get the inaugural season underway
This weekend sees the start of the latest TCR national championship, TCR UK, which will take to the ‘Home of British Motorsport’ at Silverstone for two thirty-minute races on Sunday afternoon. Thirteen drivers in cars from six different brands will line up for the first two of the series’ fourteen races.
Among the cars to watch will be the Hyundai i30 N TCR of Lewis Kent, the first driver to sign up for the championship. There are two different Honda Civic models on the grid, with Finlay Crocker in a brand new Civic FK7 TCR and Ollie Taylor and Howard Fuller in the older Civic FK2 TCR model, run by Pyro Motorsport and Sean Walkinshaw Racing respectively. Laser Tools Racing has entered two Alfa Romeo Giulietta cars for its drivers Aiden Moffat and Derek Palmer Jr, while Darelle Wilson will drive a Vauxhall Astra developed by Germany’s Kissling Motorsport.
The recently launched SEAT sub-brand Cupra is represented by a number of cars competing in the DSG Trophy, in which the winner will receive a free upgrade to a sequential transmission in readiness for the 2019 season. Carl Swift and Stewart Lines are among the first drivers to battle it out for DSG honours.
Finally, there are a number of overseas teams and drivers who’ll make the trip to Silverstone. WestCoast Racing from Sweden has entered three Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR cars for siblings Jessica and Andreas Bäckman and former TCR International Series entrant Dan Lloyd, while Finland’s LMS Racing is running Olli Kangas in the Cupra TCR that finished third in the recent 24H event at Silverstone.
Jonathan Ashman, TCR Promoter, commented: “After the success of the TCR cars in the Pirelli World Challenge last weekend, now it’s the UK’s turn! The TCR success story keeps on growing and I’m delighted that we’re playing our part. The amount of interest we’ve received has been really encouraging and I’m confident we’ll see two exciting races at Silverstone this weekend.”
TCR Thailand preview
Chariya Nuya is ready to defend his title
The third season of TCR Thailand kicks off this weekend at Sepang. The series will be run on four race meetings, the first three of them in conjunction with TCR Asia.
The 2017 champion Chariya Nuya is ready to defend his title at the wheel of a Honda Civic run by the Billionaire Boys Racing. “I worked out on an intense programme to fit myself better than ever, because defending the title is more difficult than winning it the first time. I know that the other drivers and teams have prepared well and they all want to beat me, but the winner will belong to the team that has worked better and will make the least mistakes during the season.”
Competition for Nuya will come from a couple of newcomers: the 2017 Thai Super 2000 champion Pattarapol Vongprai who will also drive a Civic, for Vattana Motorsport, and Jakraphan Davee in an Alphafactory Racing SEAT León.
Fans’ favourite Nattanid Leewattanavaragul returns to the series in a SEAT entered by the Morin Racing Team; in 2017 she became the first lady driver to win a TCR race when she took victory at Bangsaen.
Super Taikyu preview
The field doubles in the second year
When Super Taikyu – Japan’s popular endurance championship – starts this weekend at Suzuka, eight cars will race in the TCR class. This means a 100% increase of the field compared to 2017, the debut season for the category in Japan.
The DOME team that placed its Honda Civic cars first and second in the final classification has entered three Civics, two new FK7 models and one FK2 from last year.
Team principal, Yoshinori Arimatsu said: “It is always a challenge to start the season with new cars, because we have to deal with two races at the same time: one for preparing the cars and then the actual race on the track. We’ve got the cars just ten days before the race weekend and immediately went to the shakedown. We could not judge the car since it was in the wet condition, but the general feeling was good and the new driver line up makes us confident. It will be tough, because the number of competitors has doubled compared to last year and they are all strong teams. I am sure that with the new cars we have the potential to defend the title, and we are ready for it!”
The DOME crews that are led by former F1 driver Shinji Nakano, will face four Audi RS3 LMS cars entered by BRP, Audi Team Mars and Audi Team DreamDrive, plus the Adenau-Racingline Volkswagen Golf GTI that showed its speed on its occasional appearances last year.
TCR Germany
Twenty-six drivers and seven brands in the entry list
The full season entry list for the 2018 ADAC TCR Germany includes twenty-six drivers at the wheel of cars from seven different brands: Audi, Cupra, Honda, Opel, Peugeot, Renault and Volkswagen.
With the switch of the 2016 and 2017 champion Josh Files to the TCR Europe Series, last year’s vice-champion Mike Halder will start as the top-seed in the series’ opening event at Oschersleben on 14/15 April. Halder has switched to the Team Honda ADAC Sachsen and will drive a new Civic FK7 run by Fugel Motorsport.
Among his stronger competitors are the 2018 TCR Middle East Champion Luca Engstler (Liqui Moly Team Engstler Volkswagen Golf GTI) and his teammate Florian Thoma, Niels Langeveld (Racing One Audi RS3 LMS), Harald Proczyk (HP Racing Opel Astra) and Benjamin Leucheter (Max Kruse Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI).
New to the series are three French models: two Vukovic Motorsport-built Renault Mégane cars in the hands of Alex Morgan (Wolf-Power Racing) and Franjo Kovac (Besagroup Racing Team) and one Peugeot 308 driven by Lukas Niedertscheider.
Twenty-tree drivers took part in the official testing at Oschersleben. Proczyk (1:31.995) topped the combined timesheet; he was followed by guest driver Petr Fulín (1:32.117) in the Vekra Racing Cupra, Engstler (1:32.172), Langeveld (1:32.181), Thoma (1:32.275) and Leuchter (1:32.345).
TCR Scandinavia
Alex Andersson joins Brovallen Design
The Brovallen Design team has signed Alex Andersson to drive one of its Audi RS3 LMS cars in the 2018 TCR Scandinavia.
The 25-year-old Swede is the reining champion of the Scandinavian Radical Cup.
“I thought it was time to take the step to TCR Scandinavia,” said Andersson. “I don’t have much experience in front-wheel drive cars, so I have to learn, but I hope I’ll be able to be in the top ten overall.”
A new promoter for TCR Benelux
RACB Sport and KNAF, the Sporting Authorities of Belgium and Netherlands, have appointed a new promoter for the TCR Benelux series that will kick off at Zandvoort on May 20 and 21.
“Some time was needed to put together all the pieces of the jigsaw, but eventually we made it!” explained Xavier Schène, General Director of RACB Sport. “It was important to preserve the TCR Benelux brand and to lay new foundations for its future. The new promoter, Cédric Hennau, arrived with his enthusiasm, motivations and ideas.”
Hennau is a familiar face in automobile sport, having worked for Team WRT and the organisation of different events like the WEC 6 Hours of Spa. “First of all I wish to thank RACB Sport and KNAF for this proof of confidence. This is a new challenge, but I know I can rely on the support from ICE, the company managed by Renaud Jeanfils who will be the ideal consultant, especially for coordination. My goal is to work on a long term, step by step,” he said.
The 2018 TCR Benelux will be run over five events, together with the TCR Europe Series. All the drivers who will take part in the events will be eligible to score points for the TCR Benelux as well.
“However, for claiming the TCR Benelux title a driver must either be of Belgian, Dutch or Luxembourgeois nationality, or run for a Benelux-based team,” clarified Hennau.
The TCR events of the week
31 March / 1 April – TCR Asia and TCR Thailand, Rounds 1 & 2 @ Sepang, Malaysia
31 March / 1 April – TCR UK, Rounds 1 & 2 @ Silverstone
31 March / 1 April – Super Taikyu Round 1 @ Suzuka
Live streaming at www.tcr-series.com and www.tcr-series.tv.
TCR Asia/TCR Thailand
Sunday: 10:05/10:40 Race 1 (04:05/04:40 CET)
Sunday: 16:00/16:35 Race 2 (10:00/10:35 CET)
TCR UK
Sunday: 14:00/14:30 Race 1 (15:00/15:30 CET
Sunday: 16:05/16:35 Race 2 (17:05/17:35 CET)
Sources: TCR PR