Preview: The TCR International Series begins this weekend
The brand new touring car championship, TCR International Series, starts this weekend in Sepang, Malaysia, as part of the FIA Formula One World Championship support package.
The curtain raiser is full of uncertainty on the sporting side, as many of the cars will be seen for the first time on track together in the first Free Practice session, which starts at 12.40 Malaysian Time on Friday. On the other hand, the championship has all the ingredients to be very interesting to watch, not only for the show but also for the future of the touring car world.
For many years, the FIA European Touring Car Cup and the Seat León Eurocup were the route to take for a career in touring cars, but now there is a new alternative in TCR, with a number of top drivers and proven race winners with experience from the WTCC, ETCC, Renault Megane Cup and SEAT Eurocup all taking part.
The TCR International Series is a full world series, touching three continents and with a high driving standard. A very important part of the concept, developed by Marcello Lotti, the man who launched the WTCC back in 2005, features low cost cars and a balance of performance, a de facto budget cap and some five manufacturers to start with, right from the word go.
Specifically designed for customers, it is going to encourage manufacturers – or constructors – to build their own cars and sell them. The technical regulations are designed to ensure no performance advantage is gained, and with a car budget cap of 100,000€ it is quite natural that nodoby will try to create an over-complicated – and therefore more expensive – car, as it will be immediately hit by the Balance of Performance, making the extra investments completely useless. Being a customer-based championship, this is probably the most important feature for the success of the concept worldwide.
Speaking of which, several national/regional series are also in development which will act as feeder series to the International Series.
Let’s go back to where the fans want to turn their attention to, though, and that is on the track. A very interesting line up of drivers has committed to the championship, with surely more to come. An already interesting size of 17 cars, featuring Audi, Seat, Honda, Opel and Ford, will appear on the grid come Sunday.
Several high profile names are included in the entry list, starting from the teams. Out of the seven in contention, five of them come from the FIA World Touring Car Championship, and all of them have won at least a race in the WTCC. WestCoast Racing are a high profile team from Sweden, winning several titles in the highly competitive local touring car series, whereas Target Competition are renowned for their efforts in the León Eurocup.
There is no obvious bet for for a drivers’ champion. Former WTCC race winners Franz Engstler, Gianni Morbidelli, Michael Nykjaer, Pepe Oriola and Jordi Gené are obviously drivers with a proven racing CV which makes them the stars of the series. There is much more than that, though.
Sergey Afanasyev, a former F2 and Auto GP stars, is one of the Lukoil protegés and has shown good promise in single seaters. The Russian will be at the wheel of one of the Craft-Bamboo Lukoil Seats. Campos Racing’s Igor Skuz has been a protagonist in the FIA ETCC, as have Liqui Moly Team Engstler duo Mikhail Grachev and young Lorenzo Veglia, although the latter in the smaller S1600 class. Kevin Gleason has good experience in GT and cup racing, and has shown good potential in testing alongside WestCoast team-mate Gianni Morbidelli.
Besides Michael Nykjaer, Target Competition will field GT star Andrea Belicchi alongside Swiss Stefano Comini, who famously dominated the Renault Mégane Eurocup in 2011, certainly two drivers to watch out for. Hungarian Ferenc Ficza will be at the wheel of the single-car entry from Zengo Motorsport, again at the wheel of a Seat León.
The last driver announced for the Sepang curtain raiser is Italian Diego Romanini, who won the Italian GT2 championship in 2012 and drove in several different touring car series, including the WTCC in its very early days as well as, more recently, the EuroV8 Series. The Camaiore-based driver will be at the wheel of the single Ford Focus prepared by Proteam Racing, who are planning to expand up to three cars during the season.
The TCR International Series promises excitement at low costs for drivers and teams, making it not only interesting to watch but also to take part in, due to the sustainable nature of the business model. All fans will be looking forward to seeing the cars finally in action this weekend, which features two Free Practice sessions, Qualifying and two nine-lap races this weekend.
Entry List
No – Driver – Nat – Team – Car
6 – Franz Engstler – GER – Liqui Moly Team Engstler – Audi TT Cup
7 – Lorenzo Veglia – ITA – Liqui Moly Team Engstler – SEAT León Cup Racer
8 – Mikhail Grachev – RUS – Liqui Moly Team Engstler – Audi TT Cup
10 – Gianni Morbidelli – ITA – WestCoast Racing – Honda Civic TCR
17 – Michel Nykjaer – DEN – Target Competition – SEAT León Cup Racer
20 – Igor Skuz – UKR – Campos Racing – Opel Astra OPC
21 – Jordi Oriola – SPN – Campos Racing – Opel Astra OPC
23 – René Münnich – GER – WestCoast Racing – Honda Civic TCR
24 – Kevin Gleason – USA – WestCoast Racing – Honda Civic TCR
25 – Stefano Comini – ITA – Target Competition – SEAT León Cup Racer
33 – Andrea Belicchi – ITA – Target Competition – SEAT León Cup Racer
55 – Ferenc Ficza – HUN – Zengo Motorsport – SEAT León Cup Racer
72 – TBA – TBA – Proteam Racing – Ford Focus RS
74 – Pepe Oriola – SPN – Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil – SEAT León Cup Racer
77 – Sergey Afanasyev – RUS – Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil – SEAT León Cup Racer
88 – Jordi Gené – SPN – Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil – SEAT León Cup Racer
99 – Frank Yu – HKG – Craft-Bamboo Racing – SEAT León Cup Racer
Timetable
Friday 27th March
12:40 – Free Practice 1
16:45 – Free Practice 2
Saturday 28th March
12:30 – Qualifying
15:30 – Race 1 (9 Laps)
Sunday 29th March
12:35 – Race 2 (9 Laps)
All times Malaysian Time
