SEAT Motorsport Italia keen on TCR Italy development
The TCR concept is spreading all over the world on the back of the launch of the new TCR International Series this year. One of the countries which have accepted and started launching the concept is Italy, with the Campionato Italiano Turismo Endurance creating a dedicated class.
The TCR division however only features one SEAT León Racer, with a different specification compared to the ones used in the International Series.
TouringCarTimes met up with team manager Tarcisio Bernasconi to discuss the future of the category in one of the most prestigious countries in motorsport, off which the FIA World Touring Car Championship originated.
“The concept is very interesting, especially as the SEAT brand is represented particularly well in the International Series,” said Bernasconi to TouringCarTimes. “The León Racer is a perfect fit for the championship, as the results show, and I think the category itself has a very bright future ahead.”
Despite the commitment of SEAT Motorsport Italia, the new born category is still awaiting more entrants: “At the moment CSAI (the Italian ASN) has created a class in the CITE, but it’s still very early days. We are the only entrants, in fact we have been part of the championship for a long time, and figured that once again the Italian championship would be the perfect host for our version of the León TCR.”
The Italian declination of the Spanish car is quite different compared to its International Series counterpart: “We decided to fit a racing sequential gearbox to the car, as well as bigger brakes. The format of the championship (which features two 48′ + 1 lap races) has different requirements compared to the shorter TCR International Series races, and therefore we needed to work on some changes. The TCR León in Italy is now homologated in these Italian specifications.”
Bernasconi is now hoping the ASN will help the series to succeed in the near future: “Like I said the concept is very interesting, and I sincerely think it can bring touring car racing in Italy back to the golden days of the Super Touring era. It’s still quite early and new cars are being developed, so we are looking forward to having more competitors. CSAI will have to take care of TCR and make sure it will no longer be a class in a championship but rather a series of its own, once there are enough entrants.”
The León Racer recently won the race outright at Pergusa in Race 2, after failing to finish in the first heat, which was the first retirement of the season for the Spanish car, caused by a broken driveshaft on the due to the high kerbs of the Sicilian track.
