TCR will have three parts to its balance of performance regulation

The new-for-2015 TCR International Series will feature a balance of performance model, which will seek to equalise the difference between the various car models, with a benchmarking test taking place in Spain between the first five car models ready at the end of this month, with series boss Marcello Lotti now explaining how the different cars will be balanced.

The five models confirmed so far include the Ford Focus ST, the Honda Civic Type-R, the SEAT León, the Volkswagen Golf GTI and the Opel Astra OPC, with more set to follow during the season.

With all of the cars based on the production models, it’s necessary, stresses Lotti, to have balance of performance, which will be based on the same approach used within SRO’s GT3 category, though there’s less of a difference expected in terms of performance range within the TCR category than there was in GT3.

“You cannot avoid to have balance of performance, especially in this concept as it’s a production car,” said Lotti to TouringCarTimes. “One thing that makes me not worry too much about this though, is look at what happened in GT3. There was not much of a problem at the beginning, then more of a problem in the middle when a lot of manufacturers came in with very different cars, but after it started to work.

“They had completely different cars, in terms of weight, cylinder capacity, turbochargers…we have cars that are the same weight, same engine, all 2.0 litre turbos, so we think it will not be so complicated to balance the performance.”

Lotti explained that the balance of performance categories were devised by the TCR series’ technical committee, comprised of engineers from the car builders and manufacturers as well as the series’ technical delegate.

“First, the ride height will normally be 80mm, which can be varied to 10mm less to 20mm higher, so up to 100mm.

“The other is 70kg of weight, and the third is a restrictor. We cannot put 35mm or 35.4mm or 35.2mm because it’s a road engine, so they’re all different, so instead we’ll start on 100% of the production restrictor, and then adjust it to 95% and 90%.”

Explaining how often the balance of performance will be evaluated, Lotti explained that the “from the beginning we’ve decided with the competitors and the manufacturers to adjust in case we’ve made a mistake, but after (things have settled down) the balance will be reviewed every three full events.”