Photo: TCR Italian Festival

TCR World Tour grid bounces back to 21 cars as it joins TCR Europe in Hungary

By

The TCR World Tour and TCR Europe converge for a third time this year at the Hungaroring this weekend, for what is actually the fourth round of both.

TCR Europe’s Pau round last month did not count towards the TCR World Tour, and last weekend there was a TCR Italian Festival organised at Vallelunga especially for inclusion in the TCR World Tour.

Only 16 cars turned up for that, but all the TCR Europe-connected TCR World Tour rounds have attracted more than 20 entries and that has continued into the trip to Hungary.

There are eleven TCR Europe-focused drivers on the grid, with three drivers who are in the top ten in the standings absent from the action. Isaac Smith, currently sixth in the points, has been replaced at Volcano Motorsport by Daniel Tkachenko. The Ukrainian came third in TCR Spain last year.

Also missing are RC2 Racing Team duo Felipe and Rubén Fernández, currently eighth and tenth in the standings.

There is also no sign of Team Clairet Sport and their driver Ben Bargwanna, but Aggressive Team Italia is up to three cars as Michael Karlsson and local driver Levente Losonczy are joined by Kevin Ceccon. Karlsson missed Pau, while Losonczy only joined the team for round three at Spa-Francorchamps but is a TCR Europe-scoring entrant.

The contingent of TCR World Tour-focused drivers is led by BRC Racing’s Norbert Michelisz, who in his Hyundai Elantra N TCR is 25 points clear of Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher, his nearest rival. The top 12 in the standings are all present, with nine of those being full-timers.

In addition to Tkachenko, who is scoring points towards TCR Europe, there is one other debutant. Estonian teenager Ruben Volt will look to learn from 2022 World Touring Car Cup runner-up Néstor Girolami at ALM Motorsport, and both will be the same spec Honda Civic Tyre R FL5. He usually raced in TCR Italy, and came fourth in the points last year.

Four drivers carry the most ballast this weekend through TCR Europe and the TCR World Tour’s compensation weight system.

From the former it’s Comtoyou Racing pair John Filippi and Tom Coronel who are both laden with 40kg, with Filippi winning last time out in the series at Spa, while BRC Racing’s Michelisz and Mikel Azcona also get 40kg each after finishing one-two in Race 1 at Vallelunga.

More significantly, several of the TCR World Tour frontrunners will race with no ballast at all at the Hungaroring. This includes Ehrlacher, Girolami and Comtoyou’s Rob Huff, who won the most recent race to rise to third in the standings.

There will be two half-hour practice sessions on Friday, qualifying takes place at 10:55 local time (CEST) on Saturday before Race 1 at 17:05, then Race 2 is at 12:05 on Sunday.