Last month in TCR: April 2024

With the popularity of TCR as a category around the world, it can be difficult to keep up with all the different series that utilise the regulations. Even the most dedicated of fans are likely to be unaware of one or two championships, let alone more casual fans. So, I’ve decided to launch a new series of articles to help keep track of them: Last month in TCR.

It’s a self-explanatory premise. Each instalment will cover all the TCR championships – plus events with TCR classes – that raced that month. These aren’t going to be full-on race reports; think of it as a summary of the major headlines from every corner of the TCR world. With that, let’s dive into all things TCR in April.

TCR World Tour: Round 1, Vallelunga

Returning for its second season with newly added FIA accreditation, the TCR World Tour opened its season with the sole European round on the calendar. This year’s slightly larger full-season field (up from nine to 11) was joined by the Coppa Italia Turismo grid at Vallelunga, and provided an entertaining weekend of action.

2023 champion Norbert Michelisz picked up where he left off; qualifying on pole, taking victory in the first race, and banking points in the second to leave Italy as the championship leader. Hyundai debuted a new 2024-spec version of their Elantra N TCR, and couldn’t really have asked for much more from the new car. Teammate Mikel Azcona scored a pair of fourth places to put himself second in the standings, while Néstor Girolami in the final Elantra recovered from a disastrous start in the first race to win race two. While they weren’t necessarily in a class of their own, the new 2024 Elantra certainly appears to be the car to beat at the moment.

A new team for 2024, GOAT Racing also enjoyed a successful opening to their World Tour campaign. Marco Butti and Esteban Guerrieri both had good weekends, each earning a third place to put themselves third and fourth in the standings respectively. It was hard to gauge the pace of the FL5 Civic last year with only one full-season entry, in addition to some inconsistent results in other TCR events. However on the evidence of Vallelunga, things look very promising for GOAT Racing. An excellent driver pairing and a thoroughly competitive car offers plenty to be excited about.

Lynk & Co Cyan Racing had a relatively quiet start to the season by their high standards, though Yann Ehrlacher and Santiago Urrutia still managed a second place each to begin their trophy haul for the year. Ehrlacher suffered a difficult second race, while teammates Thed Björk and Ma Qing Hua scored decent points but ultimately had largely uneventful weekends. While far from a terrible start to the year, it definitely wasn’t as strong as the team would’ve liked. Urrutia leads the way in the standings for the team, sitting in fifth place.

Taking over as the Audi representative on the grid this year is Volcano Motorsport, a team with plenty of pedigree in TCR competition at a high level. Given the “pseudo-works” status of the other teams, the Spanish outfit were always likely to be the underdogs this year; and Vallelunga rather confirmed that. John Filippi banked decent points and got about as much as he could from the weekend, as the Audi never quite looked on the level of the other cars. Sami Taoufik’s return to tin tops was one to forget, with a pair of retirements hopefully getting his misfortune out the way ahead of his home race next time out in Marrakech.

TCR Europe: Round 1, Vallelunga

Also launching its season at Vallelunga, TCR Europe continues to suffer from the rather sparse grids that characterised last year. Just 12 cars took to the track, and while the quality of the field is high it’s hard to ignore that sharp decline in numbers in recent years. Much like in the World Tour, it was all about the newest car on the grid in TCR Europe.

Having been quietly announced over the winter, the new Cupra León VZ made its presence felt in dominant fashion. 2022 champion Franco Girolami and 2017 TCR Europe Trophy champion Aurélien Comte completely controlled the weekend, sharing the wins with a one-two in both races. Pole position and both fastest laps also went to the Cupra, in what was a thoroughly impressive weekend for the new car.

Ignacio Montenegro followed up his TCR Spain Winter Series success with a solid opening to his TCR Europe campaign. Third in the opening race and sixth in race two puts him third in the standings as the highest placed non-Cupra. Nicola Baldan was one of only two drivers not running a Cupra León VZ or Honda Civic FL5, and managed a pair of top five finishes to end the weekend fourth in the championship. A podium for Felipe Fernández in the second race was something of a surprise result, but it capped off an impressive weekend and was thoroughly deserved.

TCR South America: Round 1, Interlagos

Interlagos was the setting for the start of the TCR South America season, as 16 two-driver teams tackled the sole endurance event on this year’s calendar. Last year’s champion Ignacio Montenegro and co-driver Juan Manuel Casella started the weekend in style with pole position, but were disqualified from the race. It was a rough weekend for the whole Squadra Martino Honda team in truth, with all three of their other entries failing to finish.

Having qualified second, Raphael Reis and Lucas Foresti took full advantage of the pole-sitter’s misfortunes to claim victory in their Cupra León VZ. Guilherme Reischl and Guilherme Salas finished third in their León Competición to earn W2 Pro GP – and Cupra – a double-podium result. Second place went to Pedro Cardoso and Celso Neto of PMO Racing, a great effort to get their Peugeot 308 in the fight against some much newer machinery.

With five examples on the grid the Toyota Corolla GR Sport was the most popular car, but had a fairly uneventful weekend. Cobra Racing Team enjoyed a solid round with fourth and sixth for their two entries, while Paladini Racing had all three cars in the lower end of the top ten. PMO Racing’s second Peugeot finished among the Paladini Toyotas, while their leading Lynk & Co of Lucas Fecury and Arthur Leist completed the top five.

TCR Australia: Round 3, Phillip Island

After the frustrations of Symmons Plains with the opening race not awarding points, Tony D’Alberto looked to get his title charge back on track at Phillip Island. Having stuck it on pole however, it turned into a disappointing weekend for the 2022 champion. An incident with Wall Racing teammate Brad Harris in the opening race undid his good work in qualifying, and the rest of the weekend was an exercise in damage limitation.

Despite that less than ideal first race, Brad Harris went on to enjoy a thoroughly impressive weekend with victories in race two and three; enough to end the round as the lead Honda in the standings. Race one went to Hyundai driver and reigning champion Josh Buchan, who bounced back from a DNF in the second race to take another podium in the finale to keep his title challenge ticking along nicely.

The other primary title protagonists had relatively quiet, but effective weekends. Ben Bargwanna sits top of the standings after a hat-trick of top fives, including a second place, seven points ahead of Zac Soutar: who also scored a second place. Buchan is third, just one point ahead of Clay Richards, while Jordan Cox endured a difficult weekend and dropped ground in fifth.

TCR Brasil: Round 1, Interlagos

Running as part of TCR South America, there isn’t much to say about the TCR Brasil season opener. Only two of the South America entries – one Cobra Racing Team Toyota and one Paladini Racing Toyota – weren’t entered for TCR Brasil points, so the results were very similar. Later in the season the calendar diverges a little from TCR South America to make things more interesting, but for now Raphael Reis and Lucas Foresti lead the way in both championships.

TCR Denmark: Round 1, Padborg Park

Padborg Park welcomed TCR Denmark’s opening round, and once again it looks as if the story of the season will be the battle between four-time reigning champion Kasper Jensen and Mike Halder. Jensen’s dominance of the championship since its launch has been nothing short of incredible, but Halder has consistently looked to be one of few drivers capable of challenging him.

Both drivers are in FL5 Honda Civics this season – though racing for different teams – and there was very little to split the pair over the three races. They locked out the top two steps on the podium all weekend, while Jensen qualified on pole and set the fastest lap in each of the three races. A win apiece in the first two races set the stage for a third race that started quietly, but finished with a bang. Jensen led for the bulk of the contest, but an opportunistic lunge late on allowed Halder to snatch victory.

Behind the two title hopefuls, Hondas continued to assert their dominance. FL5 Civics filled the podium in races two and three (Philip Lindberg finishing third in both instances), with Michael Markussen and his Cupra León VZ the sole intruder in the first race. In fact, the second race saw Hondas finish in each of the top five positions; quite a feat, even with the brand being by far the best represented on the grid.

TCR Eastern Europe: Round 1, Balaton Park

TCR Eastern Europe visited the recently opened Balaton Park circuit in Hungary for its season opener, providing exactly the sort of action we’ve come to expect from the series. WTCR race winner and reigning champion Maťo Homola kicked off his year with an impressive haul of points, winning the opening race and finishing third in the second to end the weekend as the championship leader.

Teammate Adam Kout also enjoyed a strong weekend, finishing second in the first race - completing a one-two for the Janik Motorsport team - and fourth in race two. Hungarian teenager Attila Bucsi backed up his exceptional debut performance in last season’s final round with another very impressive showing, as he won the second race of the weekend. Kout and Bucsi sit level on points in second and third in the standings, and look like they could pose a real challenge to Homola’s title retention.

Another eye-catching young driver was Martin Kadlečík, who finished second in race two in his first weekend racing a TCR car. Having enjoyed huge success racing Clios, his performances at Balaton Park certainly suggest he’s an exciting talent to look out for. Last season’s championship runner-up René Kircher - only 23 years old himself - also had a strong weekend, with third and fifth place finishes putting him fifth in the standings, one point behind Kadlečík.

TCR European Endurance: Round 1, Balaton Park

The first ever round of the TCR European Endurance series ran alongside TCR Eastern Europe at Balaton Park, though attracted a lean field. Six entries were registered, with Eric Brigliadori and Turgut Konukoğlu securing a dominant victory. Each round consists of two one-hour legs, with the combined results determining the results of the weekend. These legs ran alongside TCR Eastern Europe, and two of the European Endurance entries opted to drop out early at the end of the Eastern Europe race; leaving just four cars circulating. The concept of the series seems promising, but it desperately needs more entries if it is to survive.

TCR Mexico: Round 1, Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

New for 2024, TCR Mexico began its inaugural season with two races in Mexico City. Julio Réjon and Rodrigo Réjon shared driving duties in their Cupra León Competición, claiming a victory each to start their year in style. Hugo Bonilla scored a brace of podiums in his FK7 Honda Civic, while fellow Honda driver Horia-Traian Chirigut claimed a podium in the opener before retiring from the second race. The final entry - Mario Domínguez and Sergio Legorreta’s Volkswagen Golf – retired early from both races.

TCR Taiwan: Round 1, Lihpao

Honda continued its frankly remarkable dominance of the TCR Taiwan series, locking out the podium in both races. Since the launch of the championship in 2022 every single race has been won by a Honda driver, which is a record that is likely unmatched anywhere in the world of TCR. Gavin Huang debuted the FL5-generation Civic in the series, qualifying on pole and showing strong pace all weekend to earn a pair of second places; plus the championship lead. The victories were shared by reigning champion Shi Shiwei and Gao Zilong in their FK7 Hondas, while Huang Sijia was the sole Class B entry.

TCR UK: Round 1, Brands Hatch

TCR UK looks set for another exciting title battle, with several drivers showing strong pace at Brands Hatch. Leaving the event at the top of the standings is Callum Newsham, the young Scot having enjoyed an excellent season opener. After a first series pole position, Newsham narrowly missed out on the podium in an entertaining opening race, but followed this up with second in race two and a first TCR UK race win in the closer.

Adam Shepherd continued to impress, second in the standings following a trio of podiums including victory in race two. His launch in that second race was undoubtedly the single best of any TCR driver this month; having started eighth on the grid he somehow went into the second corner in the lead. Reigning champion Carl Boardley didn’t quite have the pace to fight for a win, but crucially managed to bag a healthy haul of points to avoid losing much ground.

Joe Marshall earned a podium in the sole Gen II Audi RS 3 on the grid, with two further top five finishes enough to leave him fourth in the standings. TCR Europe regular Viktor Andersson joined the grid to help Pro Alloys Racing get their Lynk & Co dialled in, and proceeded to give the car its first ever TCR UK race win in the first race of the season. Given his comparative lack of experience with Brands Hatch, Andersson gave a very good account of himself and contributed plenty to the exciting battles at the front of the field.

British Endurance Championship (Touring Class): Round 2, Snetterton

With the expansion of the BEC’s Touring class to include non-TCR cars, such as NGTC and S2000, there were hopes it would lead to healthier grid sizes in the class. Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to have made much of a difference; just one team entered the class at Snetterton. Chris Bialan and Simon Mason retired their Cupra León TCR relatively early in the race, but were credited as the class winners and took the championship lead. Hopefully as the year progresses we’ll see some healthier entry numbers, as there are plenty of TCR cars in the UK.

TCR Russia Round 1 (Fort Grozny), Coppa Italia Turismo Round 1 (Vallelunga), NLS (TCR Class) Rounds 1-4

There were a few more championships that raced in April that aren’t yet in the site’s archive, which we’ll group together here. Dmitry Bragin added to the Cupra León VZ’s ever-growing trophy collection with a victory in the first round of TCR Russia, while Mikhail Simonov claimed the other race win to prove the old León Competición still has what it takes.

Joining the TCR World Tour at Vallelunga, the Coppa Italia Turismo provided some welcome depth to the grid. Aside from the World Tour entries Audi RS 3 Gen II drivers set the pace in both races, with Filippo Barberi and Sandro Pelatti taking a win each. Also notable were the efforts of Philipp Mattersdorfer, who scored a podium in his Opel Astra up against primarily far newer machinery.

Finally, the first two weekends (and four rounds) of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie were held in April. Norwegian Audi squad Møller Bil Motorsport claimed victory in the first round, while Target Competition’s Robert Wickens suffered a scary accident that he thankfully emerged from largely unharmed. With only two entries, the second round’s most notable feature was that it was won by a driver line-up featuring Johan Kristoffersson. Rounds three and four were all about Hyundai, with 2022 WTCR champion Mikel Azcona leading his team to a pair of victories. The brand’s other two entries finished third and fourth in round three, and second and third in round four to complete a highly productive weekend of racing.

And there we have it, that was April 2024 in the world of TCR. Hopefully you found it interesting, and maybe learned about a new championship or two to keep an eye on. It’s easy to see how people struggle to keep up, but hopefully this guide has helped untangle things a bit. It’s only going to get busier as more series get their seasons underway though, so I’ll be back next month to recap May.

Oh, and of course: the majority of these championships are in the site’s archive, so you know where to look if you want to see race results, championship standings, stats, and all that good stuff.

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