Photo: TC3

TC3 announces first cars, teams, regulations and events

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The TC3 International Series has announced the first cars, its first team and the number of events ahead of its inaugural season in 2015.

The series has today confirmed that it will be competed across 12 events, with five in Europe, four in Asia and three in the Americas in 2015. A complete calendar is to be released later this month.

2013 FIA European Touring Car Cup Single-Make Trophy champions Target Competition becomes the first team to confirm entry in the series and will run SEAT León Eurocup cars in 2015.

“When I first heard about TC3, I thought it was a good opportunity to compete in international motorsport at a high level, with good cars and at not a very high budget. We will take part with the SEAT León Eurocup cars and we will enter two or three cars in the TC3 International Series,” said team manager Markus Gummerer.

UK-based team Onyx Race Engineering has also confirmed they are developing the Ford Focus for the championship, after being forced to abort their plans to develop the Ford Fiesta for the TC1 class in the FIA World Touring Car Championship.

TouringCarTimes understands that at least two more marques are also already being built for the 2015 TC3 International Series, with another WTCC squad also behind one of the cars.

“I think that when I first heard about TC3, I was a little sceptical,” said Onyx team principal Mike Earle. “It’s like my mother used to say, ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.’ But as we’ve worked along with it over the months, it’s clear that TC3 can deliver exactly what it set out to deliver. It’s sparked a lot of interest from some major motor manufacturers, which is great because they all produce performance–enhanced vehicles that can be used for the series. They need a lot of modification to turn them into racing cars, but it’s a good starting point.”

A first view of the technical regulations has been released with the following main points:

Eligible cars: WSC list for 4/5-door saloons
Body shell: Reinforced production body shell; wheel arch modifications allowed to accommodate tyres
Minimum overall length: 4.20 metres
Maximum overall width: 1.95 metres
Engine: Turbo-charged petrol or diesel up to 2.0-litre
Torque: circa 410Nm
Power: circa 320 Bhp
Lubrication: Wet sump
Exhaust: Homologated catalytic converter using production parts
Traction: On two wheels
Gearbox: Production or TC3 International Series sequential; production paddle shift accepted
Front Suspension: Production lay-out; parts free design
Rear Suspension: Original design of production car with reinforced components
Brakes: Front: max 6 piston calipers, brake discs max diameter 380mm; Rear: max 2 piston callipers
Production ABS accepted
Wheels: Maximum dimensions of rim: 10″ x 18“
Aerodynamics:
Front splitter: 2014 SEAT León Eurocup
Rear wing: FIA Appendix J Art. 263 2014
Ground clearance: Minimum 80 mm
Power/Weight Ratio: Subject to the WSC Balance of Performance

The series organisers have also released a summary of the sporting regulations as well with the race weekend setup featuring two races, with standing start, of minimum 60 kilometers, using the qualifying and race format which was used by the WTCC in 2013.

Qualifying will be split into two parts, Q1 of 20 minutes for all cars and Q2 of 10 minutes for the top 12 cars of Q1. The grid for the first race will be based on the combined results of Q1 and Q2. The first ten drivers of the combined Q1 and Q2 results will started in reversed order for the second race.

Success ballast will be used with 30 kilos to the winner of the previous meeting, 20 kilos for second place and 10 kilos for third.

Points will be awarded to the top ten drivers in both races according to the FIA scale of 25 points for first, down to one point for tenth position.