Audi shoot to the top of the weight scales for Japan
The Audi RS 3 LMSs will join Hyundai as the most-ballasted cars after the latest compensation weight calculations were published by the FIA for next week’s Race of Japan at Suzuka.
The Audi RS 3s were the pace-setting car last time out around the streets of Wuhan, with Team WRT’s Gordon Shedden securing the Sunday pole position and final race victory, while Comtoyou Racing’s Frédéric Vervisch set the fastest racing lap of the weekend.
With Hyundai dominating the previous weekend’s races at the Ningbo International Speedpark in China, the average lap times from Slovakia and the two China events sees the South Korean and German manufacturers awarded the maximum possible ballast weight next weekend in Japan of 60kg, with the Hyundai i30 N TCR technically the heaviest car as the Audi has a -10kg delta as part of the TCR organisation’s Balance of Performance measures.
The Honda Civic TCRs of Münnich Motorsport and Boutsen Ginion Racing will carry 40kg of weight, an increase of 30kg from the last round, while the Cupra TCRs jump up 30kg from base weight after a few strong weekends, with Pepe Oriola now having launched himself to fourth in the championship standings.
The Volkswagen Golf GTI TCRs have dropped 10kg and are now down to +10kg of compensation weight, while the Peugeot 308TCRs and Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCRs remain ballast-free.
