Target Competition expect Opel return in Sepang

Target Competition brought the new Opel Astra TCR to debut in Bahrain, during the TCR International Series curtain raiser. The team ran two cars for Jordi Oriola and Andrea Belicchi, with the Spaniard’s sixth place in the second race being the best result achieved by the German cars.

Opel have since decided to temporarily withdraw from the championship, in a bid to improve the car before bringing it back on track. Target’s Andreas Gummerer believes the Opels will be back on track towards the end of the season, most likely in Sepang for the second-to-last race of the TCR International Series.

“We think we are going to go back to running Opels in the last couple of races,” said team principal Andreas Gummerer. “They are developing the car and we trust we will have a very competitive machine in our hands when we do get it back. We will also use them for the last two races in TCR Germany.”

Target won the teams’ championship last year, as well as the drivers’ title with Stefano Comini, using SEAT Leóns. The team are currently using Honda Civic TCRs, as they ran one for Jordi Oriola in Italy and Austria, switching to three cars in TCR Germany for championship leader Josh Files, Mike Beckhusen and Jürgen Schmarl, winning Race 2 in Oschersleben with the Brit.

Despite withdrawing from the International Series, Opel enjoyed good results in TCR Benelux, with drivers Pierre-Yves Corthals and Fred Caprasse sharing an Astra for the inaugural race of the season at Spa-Francorchamps, taking two podiums and jumping up to fourth in the championship.

Opel would go back to the TCR International Series at Sepang on October, 2nd, and make their debut in TCR Germany on August, 21st, at Zandvoort.