FIA TCR World Tour resumes in South Korea after three-month break
The FIA TCR World Tour is back this weekend at Inje Speedium in South Korea following a three-month break since Vila Real, with the top two drivers separated by just two points.
Santiago Urrutia of Geely Cyan Racing headed into the summer break as the points leader after a strong first half of the season, ten points ahead of BRC Hyundai rival Mikel Azcona.
Azcona, who suffered technical issues in the last Vila Real race to finish 12th, will only carry 10kg of compensation weight this weekend while Urrutia will carry 30kg.
Most weight of all will be carried by Urrutia’s team-mate Yann Ehrlacher who will run 40kg following his strong weekend in Portugal where he won the first race.
Ehrlacher has still plenty of catching to do as he is fourth on 186 points after a troublesome start to the season, trailing former champion Norbert Michelisz, who is third, by 12 points. Michelisz will carry 30kg just as Urrutia this weekend.
Cupra team SP Competition expands to three cars for this weekend as the previously injured Jean-Karl Vernay is back alongside regular driver Aurélien Comte and Viktor Andersson, who claimed his first podium in Portugal.
A total of nine local entries will join this weekend’s races, including experienced drivers Lo Sze Ho (Hyundai), Junesung Park (Hyundai) and Diego Moran (Honda).
The South Korean weekend also sees the return of the three-race format, with qualifying and the first race held on Saturday while Sunday will feature Race 2 and Race 3.
The grid for the first two races are set via the qualifying results, with the top ten drivers reversed for Race 2. Race 3 meanwhile will have its grid formed by the total points scored from the first two races.
Last year’s races at Inje Speedium saw guest driver Josh Buchan winning the first race, Azcona the second and Thed Björk the third.
Inje Speedium schedule
Times in KST (CEST +7H)
Friday 2/10
14:30 – Free Practice 1
17:00 – Free Practice 2
Saturday 3/10
10:10 – Qualifying
15:30 – Race 1
Sunday 4/10
10:40 – Race 2
16:30 – Race 3
FIA TCR World Tour entry list Inje Speedium
10 – Viktor Andersson – SP Competition – Cupra Leon VZ
18 – Jeongmin An – Russell Motorsport – Hyundai Elantra TCR
20 – Li Jia Jun – PGsica Blue Racing – Audi RS 3 LMS
21 – Bayern Yip Way Hei – Evolve Racing – Hyundai Elantra TCR
23 – Diego Moran – ATE Racing by D23 – Honda Civic Type R
28 – Lo Sze Ho – Evolve Racing – Hyundai Elantra TCR
77 – Tu Ya Te – Z.Speed – Hyundai Elantra TCR
82 – Yul Lee – Russell Motorsport – Hyundai Elantra TCR
85 – Wu Jiu Cheng – Zhongshan SRC – Audi RS 3 LMS
97 – Junesung Park – Solite Indigo Racing – Hyundai Elantra TCR
105 – Norbert Michelisz – BRC Racing – Hyundai Elantra TCR
107 – Aurelien Comte – SP Competition – Cupra Leon VZ
111 – Thed Björk – Geely Cyan Racing – Geely Preface TCR
155 – Ma Qing Hua – Geely Cyan Racing – Geely Preface TCR
168 – Yann Ehrlacher – Geely Cyan Racing – Geely Preface TCR
169 – Jean-Karl Vernay – SP Competition – Cupra Leon VZ
181 – Santiago Urrutia – Geely Cyan Racing – Geely Preface TCR
196 – Mikel Azcona – BRC Racing – Hyundai Elantra TCR
