TCR season three: the battle commences in Georgia

The third season of the TCR International Series gets underway this weekend in an all-new territory for motorsport. The Rustavi International Motorpark in Georgia plays host to six different manufacturers and a relatively sparse but high quality grid of 16 cars, as Swiss star Stefano Comini seeks to prove he can win the title again with another team and car.

Audi on the grid with the champion

And that’s where the story starts. This time last year, Comini had made the move to a new team, joining the Belgian WRT squad who made the move to join the championship and became the lead Volkswagen squad, running the then relatively young Golf GTI TCR.

The 27-year-old has effectively made the same move again, though this time seemingly not by choice; blasting his former team’s decision to inform him just three weeks before the start of the year that the one car they’ll run all year will be driven by his former team-mate Jean-Karl Vernay – and that they also owe him part of his salary for his efforts.

Now with another Belgian team, Comini will drive the Audi RS 3 LMS, the only one of these to be entered for the full season. Effectively the same car as the Golf GTI and SEAT León TCR under the hood, but with a more pleasing aero-package and an Audi premium price tag, the 130,000 EUR car with Comini involved will be a firm bet for championship success, but he still has many of the same rivals as last year who will be eager to beat him.

Three potential champions at Craft-Bamboo with SEAT

The biggest threat will likely come from the three Lukoil-backed SEATs of Craft-Bamboo Racing. Disappointed to miss out at the last-minute in 2015, they tweaked their line-up in 2016, bringing in their former WTCC charge James Nash, and right up until Macau it looked like they had the formula sorted, but a misthrow of the die in qualifying scuppered their championship aspirations for the second year in a row.

Now, the only team with a full-year three-car entry, the team have bolstered their line-up again, adding ex-factory Lada driver and the fastest privateer from the 2015 WTCC season, Hugo Valente. The Frenchman joins Nash and regular race winner Pepe Oriola. This trio should almost certainly secure them another teams’ title, but whether the three can work together against the more one-sided programmes up against them will be the main question.

Jean-Karl Vernay now team leader at Team WRT

Team WRT will return without Comini, running two brand new Golf GTI TCRs this year. However, only one car will compete for the full season, with the other car being added at Spa-Francorchamps, meaning in effect, Jean-Karl Vernay is their only chance for the title. And it’s a good chance – the Frenchman had a rocky start to 2016 as he found his way in the category, by the end of the year he was as quick as his team-mate Comini, and should he carry that momentum forward he’ll be in with a firm shout.

Gianni Morbidelli will hope VW switch will bring him better luck

WRT will have a fight to be the top Volkswagen programme however, with WestCoast Racing completing their divorce with Honda builders JAS and switching to the German marque. The team have kept their lead driver Gianni Morbidelli, who will be doubling up as coach for the team’s young new signing Giacomo Altoe, but Morbidelli’s goal will be that elusive title which many expected was to be his in the series’ first year in 2015.

Italian experience still the strategy for Honda, now with M1RA

Honda haven’t dropped off the grid however, and will be back in an all-new guise, with former B3 Racing team manager Dávid Bári now running the M1RA team, with Honda factory driver Norbert Michelisz’s name attached to the programme. The team will run with close support from Honda factory engineering firm JAS Motorsport, with Giancarlo Bruno engineering touring car veteran Roberto Colciago, another experienced Italian who will no doubt put on an interesting battle with his equally experienced countryman Morbidelli.

The team will also run 17-year-old Attila Tassi, entering his second season and looking to gain from the experience of his team-mate Colciago and new mentor Michelisz during the course of the season.

Opel mix youth and experience with top Belgian squad

The brands continue to line-up on the grid, with another Belgian squad making its way onto the international stage after a few outings in the highly competitive TCR Germany series last year, and narrowly missing out on the inaugural TCR Benelux title. This team is DG Sport Compétition, and they will be the only outfit to run the Opel Performance Center-built Astra TCR.

Pierre-Yves “Pil” Corthals will drive for the team, with the experienced Belgian paired up with the fast Slovakian Mat’o Homola. It’s a championship level line-up, but though the Opel is a proven race winner in TCR Benelux, whether it’s able to take the fight to the might of the Volkswagen-Audi Group cars remains to be seen.

The sixth marque on the grid for the start of the season will be Alfa Romeo, with Mulsanne Racing now transforming into GE-Force during the off-season. With full technical support from Italian touring car powerhouse Romeo Ferraris, the team will enter two cars for the full season, with Georgia’s own Davit Kajaia starting the year at his home race alongside 2015 ETCC drivers’ champion Dusan Borkovic, with the Serbian finding his feet with a new team this year after the closure of B3 Racing.

More to come as the season plays out

A seventh brand will join the grid in Belgium, with the private Austrian-built Kia Cee’d TCR being run by its geographical Hungarian neighbours Zengõ Motorsport, while a factory developed Hyundai is likely to sneak its way onto the grid by the end of the year, perhaps with another Italian veteran, Gabriele Tarquini, behind the wheel.

The third season of the TCR International Series is a true mix of manufacturer models amongst highly competitive independent teams and drivers, with at least half a dozen drivers who could easily be champion at the season finale at the Yas Marina Circuit, but there’s a long eight months with 20 races to find out.

TCR International Series – Race of Georgia Entry List

No – Driver – Nat – Team – Car
1 – Stefano Comini – SUI – Comtoyou Racing -Audi RS 3 LMS
2 – Jean-Karl Vernay – FRA – Leopard Racing Team WRT -Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR
5 – Roberto Colciago – ITA – M1RA -Roberto Colciago
7 – Hugo Valente – FRA – Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing -SEAT León TCR
9 – Attila Tassi – HUN – M1RA -Honda Civic TCR
10 – Gianni Morbidelli – ITA – WestCoast Racing -Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR
15 – TBC – TBC – GE-Force -Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR
16 – Davit Kajaia – GEO – GE-Force -Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR
18 – Duncan Ende – USA – Icarus Motorsports -SEAT León TCR
21 – Giacome Altoe – ITA – WestCoast Racing -Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR
23 – Pierre-Yves Corthals – BEL – DG Sport Compétition -Opel Astra TCR
54 – James Nash – GBR – Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing -SEAT León TCR
62 – Dusan Borkovic – SRB – GE-Force -Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR
70 – Mat’o Homola – SVK – DG Sport Compétition -Opel Astra TCR
74 – Pepe Oriola – SPN – Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing -SEAT León TCR
99 – Ferenc Ficza – HUN – Zele Racing – SEAT León TCR

TCR International Series – Race of Georgia Timetable

Friday 31st March
12:30 – Testing

Saturday 1st April
10:00 – Free Practice 1
12:10 – Free Practice 2
15:00 – Qualifying

Sunday 2nd April
13:35 – Race 1 (15 laps)
15:35 – Race 2 (15 laps)

* All times local time (GET) – [CET +2 hrs]