Photo: TCR Media

Franz Engstler happy to take on Audi challenge

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Franz Engstler scored a very good seventh position in his Liqui Moly Team Engstler Audi TT. The German driver, who is also the team owner of the outfit, shared his thoughts about his ambitious project in the TCR Series, as well as the outlook of the concept itself.

“Audi did a great job with this car,” proudly said the German. “We went to Malaysia without any testing, but the team also worked really well, and step by step we understand the car more and more. Hopefully by the next two or three races we will be fighting at the front. We are working very hard, but it takes time.”

Speaking of the choice of running a car not designed for the TCR Series, Engstler conceded it was not the obvious choice, but he is happy he took on the challenge: “It was not an easy choice, but I’m really happy that Audi gave us the chance to drive this beautiful car. It is still a cup machine, it was not built especially for the TCR Series, and this is a point we must never forget about.

The construction is exactly the same as the TT cup, so it is very different compared to what cars are, like Honda for instance. Of course Audi is the premium brand of Volkswagen, so I’m happy that my sponsor and I were able to work with them. It’s really fun to run this project!”

Engstler praised the whole TCR concept, speaking out his strong belief that it will be successful in the coming years: “The TCR will be the touring car championship of the future, I’m absolutely sure. The rules are great, but there’s more than that, because it is clever that we have regional and national championships, which allow us to have a second-hand market. That is very important from a team’s point of view, because we are not doing it just for the fun of it, we are also in a business.

The International Series is what my sponsor needed, and there are a lot of brands who have already joined the championship and more coming up, so that’s perfect. I’m already getting a lot of feedback, several teams would like to run the Audi in regional championships under the TCR rules. It is also good for the manufacturers, to develop a customer racing basis. Building a different car for each country would make no sense.”

Franz Engstler scored 16 points so far in the championship, and currently sits tenth.