Honda driver Néstor Girolami joins TCR World Tour grid with ALM Motorsport

Néstor Girolami will be on the inaugural TCR World Tour grid with Estonian team ALM Motorsport, racing the brand-new Honda Civic Type R TCR FL5 model developed by JAS Motorsport.

The Argentinian driver is so far confirmed for the European events of the TCR World Tour calendar, with the remaining five rounds ‘yet to be determined’.

“I’m extremely proud to continue my journey with Honda and confirm this programme in the TCR World Tour,” said Girolami.

“I am very grateful to JAS Motorsport for the opportunity to represent them and to develop and race the new Honda Civic Type R TCR in a brand-new programme. We’ve made some improvements over the old car and I’m sure we can be extremely competitive. With the expertise of ALM Motorsport and technical support from JAS, I think this we can achieve some very good results in the TCR World Tour.”

The 33-year-old, who finished as runner-up in the now defunct FIA WTCR last year, has been appointed ‘Official Race Driver’ for JAS Motorsport, who will provide technical support to ALM Motorsport for the TCR World Tour programme.

“We are delighted to sign Nestor Girolami as an official race driver for JAS Motorsport,” said Mads Fischer, JAS Motorsport TCR project leader.

“Over the past few years he has made an enormous contribution to the success of the Honda Civic Type R TCR on-track, has been vital in the early testing phase of the all-new car that will debut this year and has helped support our customer racing teams on track.

“It is also exciting to confirm that the new FL5 Civic Type R TCR will be a part of the new TCR World Tour and that ALM Motorsport will be the driving force behind the European events Nestor contests. ALM have been extremely loyal partners of JAS since 2018, won a major title in their first year as a Honda team and been very important in providing an environment for some of our Development Drivers to grow and thrive.”

ALM Motorsport has raced in TCR Italy since 2021, fielding three Hondas last year for Estonian drivers Mattias Vahtel, Ruben Volt and Antti Rammo – all of whom return for 2023.

“We are very pleased to compete in the TCR World Tour with JAS Motorsport, the new Honda Civic Type R TCR and Nestor Girolami,” said Martin Laur, team principal of ALM Motorsport.

“From our first year as a customer of JAS Motorsport we have worked hard to win races and championships and to strengthen our working relationship. Every time we’ve stepped up to a higher level of competition, we have improved our level of performance and been able to race at the front.

“The TCR World Tour will be the highest level we’ve competed at in circuit racing and to have been chosen for this programme is not only exciting for us as a team, but for motor racing in Estonia too. We can’t wait for Portimao.”

Girolami’s entry brings the number of so far confirmed entries for the TCR World Tour opener in Portugal next weekend up to ten, head to the TouringCarTimes Grid Projections to get an overview of the entries.