Photo: TCR World Tour

Portuguese heatwave next for FIA TCR World Tour on the streets of Vila Real

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The FIA TCR World Tour field will face a Portuguese heatwave this weekend with temperatures expected to exceed 36 degrees centigrade, as world touring cars returns to streets of Vila Real for the first time since 2022.

Lynk & Co Cyan Racing driver Yann Ehrlacher heads to Portugal in the points lead following a solid previous race weekend at Monza, despite carrying the maximum 40 kilos of compensation weight.

The Frenchman will drop 10 kilos ahead of Vila Real but says that he is not expecting to fight for the pole position.

“Hopefully we can have a good weekend in Portugal, but I don’t think the performance will be enough to fight for the pole to be honest. But I think it should be alright to be in the top five and score enough points,” said Ehrlacher to TouringCarTimes.

GOAT Racing Honda driver Esteban Guerrieri is Ehrlacher’s main title rival and the Argentinian driver will arrive at Vila Real without any compensation weight following a tough Monza weekend where he lost points to his French rival, despite having just 10 kilos of compensation weight.

Guerrieri trails Ehrlacher by 16 points and has got Lynk & Co driver Santiago Urrutia, who won at Vila Real in 2022, just eleven points behind in third, with the Uruguayan driver also running compensation weight-free this weekend.

Thed Björk is next up in fourth place, 30 points from team-mate Ehrlacher, and had an average weekend at Monza despite no compensation weight. The Swede will carry 30 kilo this weekend.

BRC Hyundai drivers Néstor Girolami and Norbert Michelisz have climbed to a joint fifth place in the drivers’ standings after their abysmal start to the season in Mexico, with reigning champion Michelisz scoring a victory in the first race at Monza.

Michelisz will carry the maximum 40 kilos of compensation weight this weekend while Girolami will run 20 kilos and Mikel Azcona 0 kilos.

“I don’t expect a very easy race because of the compensation weight and also because of the heat we can expect,” said Michelisz.

“But I feel we have made really good progress since the start of the season and I’m quite confident. I would like to score a lot of points and I have the feeling we can be competitive even though we will carry some additional weight.”

SP Compétition driver Aurélien Comte will once again be one to watch this weekend with no compensation weight. The Cupra driver charged through to take his first FIA TCR World Tour win in the second race at Monza and could have made it a double win until a puncture stopped him in the first race.

The field will include six guest entries for a total grid of 17 cars this weekend, including local entries Michel Fernandes, Daniel Teixeira and Manuel Fernandes jr. Viktor Andersson and Marco Butti continues from the previous European rounds and are joined by GOAT Racing driver Dušan Borković.

The race weekend at Circuito Internacional de Vila Real will feature two races of 60 kilometres each on Sunday, with two practice sessions and qualifying on Saturday.

Vila Real time table

Times in WEST

Saturday 5/7
09:30 – Free Practice 1
12:40 – Free Practice 2
16:40 – Qualifying

Sunday 6/7
12:00 – Race 1
17:05 – Race 2

FIA TCR World Tour – Vila Real entry list

10 – Viktor Andersson – MA:GP – Lynk & Co 03 TCR
11 – Marco Butti – GOAT Racing – Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
14 – Michel Fernandes – J. Santos Competição – Peugeot 308TCR
59 – Daniel Teixeira – JT59 Racing Team – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
62 – Dušan Borković – GOAT Racing – Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
77 – Manuel Fernandes jr – SP Compétition – Cupra Leon VZ TCR
105 – Norbert Michelisz – BRC Hyundai – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
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 – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
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 Racing – Honda Civic FL5
196 – Mikel Azcona – BRC Hyundai – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
129 – Néstor Girolami – BRC Hyundai – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
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 Racing – Honda Civic FL5
196 – Mikel Azcona – BRC Hyundai – Hyundai Elantra N TCR