Pedro Cardoso inks Scuderia Chiarelli drive

The Scuderia Chiarelli team has announced the signing of former South American F4 champion Pedro Cardoso for the 2023 TCR South America season.

The 23-year-old Brazilian – who lifted the F4 crown back in 2015 – will be at the wheel of a Hyundai Elantra N TCR as he makes his debut in the series having spent recent seasons running in Stock Cars.

“I am very happy to enter TCR South America,” he said, “I think it is the category of the future, both in Brazil and in the world.

“My goal is to get into international motorsport in the near future, so this is the right path and I feel like I picked a great team, both with Scuderia Chiarelli and Hyundai.

“In the year that I was South American Formula 4 champion, I was able to race on some of the tracks where we are going to compete this year, so I think everything is aligned.

“I thank my sponsors for their trust in another year of working together.”

Team boss Carlos Chiarelli welcomed the addition of Cardoso to the line-up, with the team set to run just one car for the opening events before the TCR Brazil campaign – which will run alongside TCR South America – kicks off at Interlagos in June.

“We have great expectations this season with the arrival of Pedro to the team,” he said. “I feel he is motivated to have a good championship and be a contender in the fight for the title.

“Pedro has already raced on some of the tracks on the calendar and that is an important advantage. Also, Hyundai’s approach to the team is another crucial factor for 2023 as we will have factory engineers accompanying us at some stages.

“We opted to keep just one car until the start of TCR Brazil, so that we can put all our attention on development and head into the year-end contest strong. I am very excited with the arrival of Pedro and with the approach of the motorsport division of Hyundai. He came at a good time for us.”