Photo: TCR World Tour

Into the unknown for the FIA TCR World Tour in Misano season opener

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There are plenty of unknowns as the 2026 FIA TCR World Tour season starts at Misano in Italy this weekend with new regulations, drivers, cars and teams.

Reigning team champion Cyan Racing has switched manufacturer and model for 2026, going from the successful Lynk & Co 03 TCR to the new Geely Preface TCR while retaining the same driver line-up.

Reigning drivers’ champion Yann Ehrlacher will once again partner last year’s runner-up Thed Björk, Santiago Urrutia and Ma Qing Hua.

While there is no doubt on that Cyan Racing knows how to make the Preface a winner in world touring cars, the question is how quickly they will do so.

The Preface is one of the few d-segment cars in TCR and the increase in size will no doubt be a challenge for the Swedish team, along with ironing out the unknowns of a newly constructed race car.

Main rivals BRC Racing Hyundai meanwhile heads to the 2026 season with a proven race car as the Hyundai Elantra N TCR enters its sixth year of service.

The Italian team heads to the season opener on the back of a dreadful 2025 season, its worst since 2021, with Néstor Girolami as their best placed driver down in sixth place.

The team will run the updated Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR which was introduced after their disastrous first race weekend of 2025 in Mexico, a car which runs with 100% power compared to the 97,5% of its predecessor.

While Girolami is gone from its reduced two-car line-up, there is no doubt that Mikel Azcona and Norbert Michelisz are two of the main contenders to the title if the team steps back up to its usual form.

GOAT Racing made a late comeback for the season opener with a single Honda entry for last year’s bronze medalist and experienced touring car driver Esteban Guerrieri.

The Argentinian driver will race the whole season, although it has not yet been confirmed how the team setup will look beyond Misano.

Another former front-runner to return to the world touring car scene is Frenchman Jean-Karl Vernay who joins Aurélien Comte in a two-car entry of SP Compétition.

Vernay last raced for Hyundai back in 2021 when he finished third overall and will no doubt be one to watch as Comte showed glimpses of serious pace with the Cupra last year.

And the Cupra duo are two of the drivers who will for the first race benefit from the new Balance of Performance system which will be unique to the FIA TCR World Tour.

The Cupra and Honda will run 10kg lighter in the FIA TCR World Tour compared to other championships as the BoP calculation relies solely on the performance of the cars in this championship.

Two other models to currently benefit from the new system is the Hyundai Elantra N TCR of Gabriele Covini (-20kg) and the two JSB Compétition Elantras of Julien Briché and Raphäel Fournier, as well as the yet to be announced Audi entry of TCR UK team Vannin Motorsport.

Other changes to the regulations for 2026 includes that the fastest lap of Race 1 means one place up in Race 2.

There are plenty of drivers among those not entered for the full season who could surprise the field this weekend, including TCR Europe front-runners Viktor Andersson (Cupra), Jenson Brickley (Cupra) and Ruben Volt (Honda).

Misano is new grounds for the FIA TCR World Tour, marking the first time the Italian circuit hosts world touring cars, having previously hosted TCR Europe and TCR Italy rounds.

The season opener weekend starts on Friday with two free practice sessions, followed by qualifying and the first race on Saturday and the second race on Sunday.

2026 FIA TCR World Tour entry list

10 – Viktor Andersson (SWE) – Monlau Motorsport – CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
12 – Gabriele Covini (ITA) – BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
24 – Julien Briché (FRA) – JSB Compétition – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
27 – Ruben Volt (EST) – ALM Motorsport – Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
72 – Ramiro Zago (ARG) – MM Motorsport – Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
81 – Damiano Reduzzi (ITA) – Trico WRT – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
88 – TBA – Vannin Motorsport – Audi RS 3 LMS
105 – Norbert Michelisz (HUN) – BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse – Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR
107 – Aurélien Comte (FRA) – SP Compétition – CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
111 – Thed Björk (SWE) – Geely Cyan Racing – Geely Preface TCR
120 – Teddy Clairet (FRA) – ALM Motorsport – Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
145 – Raphäel Fournier (FRA) – JSB Compétition – Hyundai Elantra N TCR
155 – Ma Qing Hua (CHN) – Geely Cyan Racing – Geely Preface TCR
168 – Yann Ehrlacher (FRA) – Geely Cyan Racing – Geely Preface TCR
169 – Jean-Karl Vernay (FRA) – SP Compétition – CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
181 – Santiago Uurrutia (URU) – Geely Cyan Racing – Geely Preface TCR
186 – Esteban Guerrieri (ARG) – GOAT Racing – Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR
196 – Mikel Azcona (ESP) – BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse – Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR
246 – Jenson Brickley (GBR) – ALM Motorsport – Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR

Misano schedule

Times in CEST

Friday
12:15 – Free Practice 1 (30 min)
17:15 – Free Practice 2 (30 min)
Saturday
08:30 – Qualifying
16:20 – Race 1 (15 laps)
Sunday
11:05 – Race 2 (15 laps)