Andrea Belicchi replaces Michela Cerruti for Macau

Italy’s Andrea Belicchi will replace Michela Cerruti for the TCR International Series finale at Macau, with the former GT racer making his return to the championship after having being absent from the grid since the first round in Bahrain.

29-year-old Cerruti hasn’t raced since Oschersleben, after she was forced to stand down after suffering with a renal infection. The team’s second Alfa Romeo Giuiletta has remained empty since the Thailand round of the championship, though the car has travelled out to Asia.

Belicchi has been drafted in to help the team and car builders Romeo Ferraris with the development of the 1.75-litre powered hatchback, joining Czech driver Petr Fulín in the Guia Race 2.0T, who makes his Macau debut this year with the squad.

The 40-year-old sportscar veteran raced at Macau last year for Target Competition in the team’s SEAT León Cup Racer, before starting the 2016 season with the Italian outfit in the Opel Astra TCR, before that programme was halted after one race.

Belicchi’s made one further outing this year, also with Target, in the TCR Germany series, driving a Honda Civic TCR at the Red Bull Ring in July, finishing second on his debut.

Belicchi has been entered in car #23 next to Fulín’s traditional race number #22.