Photo: TCR Media

Team Engstler slims down to three cars as TCR Middle East title fight heats up

Team Engstler confirmed they will only run three cars in the second TCR Middle East round due to be held at Abu Dhabi. Both Filip Sladecka and TCR International Series regular Mat’o Homola will not take part in the race, after being part of the team in the Dubai curtain raiser.

The team will instead retain both race winners Brandon Gdovic and Luca Engstler, with Gdovic going into the second event of the championship leading the standings.

“I’m looking forward to getting on track at Yas Marina for the first time and hopping back in the TCR Volkswagen Golf with Liqui Moly and Team Engstler,” said Gdovic. “Hopefully I can have two more good races in Abu Dhabi and maintain my points lead and maybe end up with another win or two.”

Team-mate Luca Engstler’s focus is on learning more about touring cars, as the German makes the switch from single-seaters to touring cars, following in the footsteps of his father Franz.

“After Dubai I focussed on school once again, but its only a few days and we can race again”, said Engstler. “My expectations are the same like three weeks ago: I want to learn as much as possible. Abu Dhabi is again a new track for me so we will see how it goes.”

Engstler also praised Gdovic, saying he is a worthy championship leader and a good team-mate to learn from: “Brandon (Gdovic) did a great job in Dubai and he’s a worthy championship leader. To drive against him is an honour for me, because he has so much experience and I can only learn from him.”