John Filippi “more motivated than ever” after taking early TCR Europe points lead
John Filippi may have finished ninth in the first race of the TCR Europe season, but he was elated to take the points for victory.
The opening round at Algarve also served as the inaugural event of the TCR World Tour, of which the full-time drivers there are not entered for TCR Europe points. It was those drivers who led the way in qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday, but Filippi still impressed to battle past his Comtoyou Racing team-mates Tom Coronel and the debuting Kobe Pauwels to be the top TCR Europe-scoring finisher in the race.
“You know, it’s a great opportunity for us to be on the same Tarmac as the World Tour, to see a little bit our reference, our pace with these guys, with the same tyres,” Filippi said to TouringCarTimes afterwards.
“It’s a thing that we are missing, for me, personally missing last year to see such great drivers on the track and see where I can improve myself. It’s always motivating.
“So this is a point, and also fighting with my team-mate was also a great moment. I’ve known Tom for a long time, Kobe was a good driver, I was surprised this winter when I tested with him, and I knew from the first day that there would be a big competition for this title. It was a great race.”
Filippi was racing an Audi RS 3 LMS II TCR for the first time, having driven SEATs, Chevrolets and Citroëns during his World Touring Car Championship career, driving a Cupra in the World Touring Car Cup in 2018 and then piloting Renaults, Cupras and Hyundais over his three previous seasons in TCR Europe.
In 2020 he was series runner-up with Target Competition, taking his first win in the season finale, then last year cam tenth in the standings with Sébastien Loeb Racing and added a second win at Monza. The move to Comtoyou for 2023 has already lifted his spirits, and his targets for the season ahead.
“Right now I’m quite happy because when you join a champion team, who won a race here last year, you come for wins, for podiums, to have success. And to have this victory in the first race made me feel more cool now for the rest of the season. And I think I’m more motivated than ever right now.”
Filippi said he pushed “from the beginning to the end” in Saturday’s race, despite reaching the limits of his tyres late on.
“I think we have to work a little bit on the car still, also myself, because the front-left tyre was suffering a lot. So I think I have to check with the guys and engineers, and check the data to see how I can save a little bit more the tyre for the end of the race if I have to fight more tomorrow, for example.”
For Race 2, scheduled to start at 11:30 on Sunday, Filippi will start from twelfth place.
