2025 FIA TCR World Tour season kicks off on new territory in Mexico

The 2025 FIA TCR World Tour season kicks off in Mexico this weekend and while the majority of front-running drivers and teams remain the same as in 2024, there are plenty of unknowns.

Late announcements from main title protagonists BRC Hyundai and Lynk & Co Cyan Racing unveiled unchanged line-ups in terms of drivers and cars.

Reigning champion Norbert Michelisz is once again joined by Mikel Azcona and Néstor Girolami behind the wheels of the competitive Hyundai Elantra N TCRs and the Italian outfit will no doubt challenge for the titles again.

The story is the same at Swedish rival team Cyan Racing where last year’s somewhat surprising runner-up Thed Björk is racing alongside two-time FIA WTCR champion Yann Ehrlacher, Ma Qing Hua and Santiago Urrutia.

The Lynk & Co 03 TCR FL is just like the Elantra more or less unchanged for 2025 and both cars are, while slightly aged, among the most competitive TCR cars out there.

GOAT Racing Honda is back with two cars, with experienced touring car racer Esteban Guerrieri once again leading the charge. New for 2025 is his team-mate Ignacio Montenegro, the reigning TCR Spain champion, who replaces Marco Butti.

The Honda squad is lacking the muscles of its Hyundai and Lynk & Co rivals but will no doubt mix into the top fight on occasions throughout 2025.

New to the FIA TCR World Tour field is SP Compétition, with the French squad fielding two Cupra Leon VZs for Aurélien Comte and John Filippi.

Filippi drove an Audi for Volcano Motorsport last year to finish eleventh and last of the FIA TCR World Tour regulars, while Comte made a one-off TCR World Tour appearance in 2023 and raced full-time in TCR Europe last year, finishing second overall for SP Competition.

The Cupra is no doubt competitive while it remains to be seen whether SP Competition is up for the task on taking on its more experienced rival teams on the global touring car scene.

The only changes to the Balance Of Performance for 2025 which affect the FIA TCR World Tour field is that of a weight decrease for the Cupras of 20kg while the Hyundais will run with an increase of 10kg compared to 2024.

The 11-car FIA TCR World Tour field will race together with 13 cars from TCR México during the season opener weekend in Mexico City.

Some of the TCR Mexico teams have several drivers entered for each car as per their national setup. Each team must nominate a driver to take part in qualifying and each of the three races.

The duo of Julio Rejon/Rodrigo Rejon (Cupra) is heading the TCR Mexico standings after the first two race weekends but will not take part in this weekend’s races.

The duo of Gerardo Nieto/Pablo Pérez de Lara (Audi) is placed second overall, nine points from the lead, and will be on the grid in Mexico City.

The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit is new to the FIA TCR World Tour calendar, featuring a 3904-metre lap and has been featured on the Formula 1 calendar since 2015, albeit with a slightly longer configuration.

The Mexican FIA TCR World Tour round features the same race weekend format as the races in Spain, Australia and South Korea, meaning a total of three races of 30 minutes + 1 lap.

The race weekend starts on Thursday with a shakedown and two practice sessions, followed by qualifying and the first race on Friday while Race 2 and 3 are held on Saturday.

Mexico time table

Times in CST (CEST +8H)

Thursday – 1/5
10:00 – Shakedown
14:00 – Free Practice 1
16:50 – Free Practice 2

Friday – 2/5
09:30 – Qualifying Q1
09:55 – Qualifying Q2 (Top 12 drivers)
15:00 – Race 1 (30 min + 1 lap)

Saturday – 3/5
11:30 – Race 2 (30 min + 1 lap)
17:20 – Race 3 (30 min + 1 lap)

FIA TCR World Tour – Mexico entry list

1 – Julio Rejón – ProRally Mothers – CUPRA Leon VZ
2 – Santiago Creel/Héctor Eascamilla – RE Motorsport – CUPRA Leon VZ
7 – Marco Montoya/José Hernández/Ignacio Sánchez – M&M Racing – Honda Civic FK7
12 – Gerardo Nieto/Pablo Pérez de Lara/Horia T. Chirigut – RE Motorsport – Audi RS 3 LMS
18 – Juan C. Peralta/Luis Díaz/Michel Jourdain jr. – Peralta Racing Team – CUPRA Leon VZ
33 – Andrés Orea/Jerónimo Guzmán/Todd Sloan – Orea Ross Racing – Hyundai Elantra N
34 – Carlo Zesati – Zesati Racing VP Garage 34 – Audi RS 3 LMS
35 – Jorge Abed/Mario Domínguez/Paul Abed – Apycsa Racing Team, – Audi RS 3 LMS
43 – Bruno Zesati/Humberto Zesati – Zesati Racing VP Garage 34 – Audi RS 3 LMS
44 – César Tiberio Jiménez – Orangino Racing Team – Hyundai Elantra N
45 – Franco Zanella/Santos Zanella – Z Racing Team – CUPRA Leon Competición
55 – Rodrigo Rejón – ProRally Mothers – CUPRA Leon VZ
88 – Juan Pablo Sierra/Pablo Cervantes – Centur Silen Racing – CUPRA Leon VZ
105 – Norbert Michelisz – BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse – Hyundai Elantra N
107 – Aurélien Comte – SP Compétition – CUPRA Leon VZ
111 – Thed Björk – Lynk & Co Cyan Racing – Lynk & Co 03 FL
112 – Santiago Urrutia – Lynk & Co Cyan Racing – Lynk & Co 03 FL
123 – Ignacio Montenegro – GOAT Racing – Honda Civic FL5
127 – John Filippi – SP Compétition – CUPRA Leon VZ
129 – Néstor Girolami – BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse – Hyundai Elantra N
155 – Ma Qing Hua – Lynk & Co Cyan Racing – Lynk & Co 03 FL
168 – Yann Ehrlacher – Lynk & Co Cyan Racing – Lynk & Co 03 FL
186 – Esteban Guerrieri – GOAT Racin – Honda Civic FL5
196 – Mikel Azcona – BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse – Hyundai Elantra N