Photo: ACI Sport

How TCR Italy grew into a healthy championship

After a slow start to its life as a full TCR-based series, TCR Italy, also known as the Italian Touring Car Championship, has grown both in numbers and in spectacle to become one of the top TCR national series. Italian TouringCarTimes writer Pietro Casillo investigates how.

Pit Lane Competizioni’s Nicola Baldan had just made it to the top of the standings this year before the championship stopped for the summer break. The SEAT driver’s fourth win of the season, coupled with an engine issue for rival Eric Scalvini’s Honda Civic TCR, gave the Veneto-based driver a five-point advantage with three races to go.

The fight has been entertaining from the word go, as Scalvini took three wins out of four races at Adria and Misano, with Baldan taking the remaining victory. At the following two events, though, Baldan continued this form, whereas the Honda driver endured a couple of tough weekends at Monza and Mugello, despite scoring two podiums.

Scalvini’s bad fortunes started when he got a drive-through penalty at Monza during the first race, initially dropping out of the points before making up enough ground to cross the line in fifth. The second heat gave him a podium courtesy of a second place, a result he encored in the first race at Mugello.

The MM Motorsport driver was luckier this time around though, as a red flag allowed him to finish on the podium despite a catastrophic – and rare – engine failure on his Honda Civic TCR. A new engine was fitted in a rush, allowing the driver from Brescia to take the start of the second race, but despite a remarkable effort, the Japanese car looked like it was down on power.

As for Baldan, a cautious drive at the season opener at Adria, as well as a failure in the second race at Misano while he was in second place, meant the Pit Lane Competizioni driver also has also had his own “injuries” so far this season.

Opel driver Kevin Giacon won a race last time out at Mugello, the Gruppo Piloti Forlivesi driver proving he could have played his own part in the title fight. Giacon scored no points in the first three races, and missed the first event of the season at Adria due to health issues. Giacon also had a huge crash at Misano, and two tyre failures at Monza. This has effectively ruled him out of the chase for the ultimate glory, but he still proved he has the speed to challenge for podiums and wins.

Harsh criticism silenced after grid size increase

TCR Italy had struggled with grid sizes last year. Amazingly, not even eventual champion Roberto Colciago took part in all of the events of the series, with the only driver to do so being CRC’s Daniele Cappellari. The whole idea of reviving an Italian-based touring car series was looked at with scepticism, as TCR Italy was regarded as little more than an amateur series in 2016, with Colciago being the only high-profile driver in the championship.

Those critics were partially silenced by the champion’s outstanding performance at Sepang in the International Series, which proved that his dominant season last year, in which he won eight races out of 12, was due to the fact that he simply belonged to a higher level. There is no question last year’s championship was low on entries, but the potential was there, as this year’s championship battle shows.

Some even claimed that the single-make series organised by SEAT Motorsport Italia was the only way to go, and the championship would be dead even before it started. Although the León Cup Italia is a good championship and it is fun to watch, TCR Italy is a different beast. A larger budget required to race at a high level is balanced by the career prospects it offers, which makes both championships a good choice, depending on the needs of the drivers.

How the championship improved its fortunes

TCR Italy no longer shares the grid with TCS, a championship in its own right which runs with a different rule-set, which was a good move as they both deserve their own attention. The Italian touring car scene actually provides drivers with an opportunity to take on the challenge of racing in a lower-budget series, which allows drivers to get acquainted with high-powered machinery before progressing on to TCR or just having fun with interesting cars to drive such as the SEAT León Cupra ST.

The split allowed TCR Italy to align with other major national series, particularly TCR Germany, which has its own spot on the ADAC GT weekends. The support offered by the national ASN, which organises the championship through its ACI Sport structure, means the series also has the Italian Championship grade, which adds to the positive qualities of the championship. TV coverage is also included in the package, which helps with sponsors, so much that several huge brands have joined the championship to support drivers.

Also, the TCR name and brand is now featured in the official logos, making it clear it is not just a class of a bigger Italian Touring Car Championship, but a proper step in the TCR world. This alone attracts more people, both in terms of drivers and spectators, especially TCR fans.

What should be fixed – time for a split from the TCT class?

TCR Italy does have a sub-class, the TCT class, which includes the Peugeot 308 MI16, which probably belongs to the TCS grid. TCT cars are interesting to watch but, being a separate class, they should probably be left out of the TCR grid. A TCR-only field would only add to the prestige acquired by the championship this year, especially now that more and more younger drivers look up at it as a good step to give a serious shot at a touring car career, rather than sticking to junior formulae for years.

One of the most positive sides of the TCR concept was always the ladder structure which can eventually take a driver to the International Series. Give a driver some hope and he will hold on to it. In that sense, TCR Italy is a very good choice for young guns, as well as single-make trophy drivers who have enjoyed success at the wheel of their cars and want to take their careers one further step ahead.

Italy gets back to enjoyable and healthy touring car racing

The Italian touring car scene had not been so lively for years. Attempts to revive the golden era of closed-wheel racing lasted until 2008, but despite high-profile names like Alex Zanardi and Roberto Colciago winning the championship in 2005 and 2006 respectively, both grid sizes and the show were not to the level expected from a country which ultimately gave birth to the current World Touring Car Championship.

The spectacular racing brings the fans’ minds back to the old Super Turismo days, which used to be the heart of touring car racing in Europe together with the British Touring Car Championship in the glorious Super Touring days.

More of that, please!