Kobe Pauwels downplays TCR Europe title chances despite three wins
Comtoyou Racing’s Kobe Pauwels believes he is not a contender for the 2023 TCR Europe title, despite taking the points for victory in three of the eight races held so far.
That is more than any other points-scoring driver, as the grid was shared with TCR World Tour-focused entries at three of the first four rounds, although the season’s other winners have all taken overall victories.
Pauwels’ points-leading team-mate Tom Coronel and Target Competition’s Dušan Borković achieved the feat in Pau, where TCR Europe raced alone and Pauwels also took his first overall podium, while John Filippi won outright at Spa-Francorchamps.
In the most recent round at the Hungaroring, tenth and seventh in the two races were enough to get Pauwels the maximum points in TCR Europe. Staying out of trouble on the opening lap was key to Pauwels’ result, and therefore closing in on the title battle, in Race 2.
“I had a great launch, and then one of the Lynk & Cos stalled and I could narrowly avoid him. It was millimetres work, I believe,” he told TouringCarTimes.
“So I was scared I would crash into the back of him and ruin my own race, but luckily I did not and then turn one I chose the inside and then there was even more contact at the exit of T1. I always seemed to be choosing the right line, inside, outside, left, right, off-throttle, brake, throttle on, and it was all just going perfect.
“And I actually ended in P8 after the first two corners. Started from P14, so that’s already six positions gained. Then the safety car came out.
“Spa was my first safety car restart and my tyres were like ice cold, so [here] I was properly warming it up. Probably they were too hot now, but okay, it’s part of the learning process. And after the safety car I had a good restart. Tried to keep up with the front guys, but they were just a little too fast for us, and I had a big gap behind. So from then onwards it was just controlling the tyres and the brakes in case the people behind would come back at me, but they did not. It was just chilling out there.”
With three rounds to go, there are still 270 points available to score. That means 18 drivers mathematically remain in title contention, and Pauwels is close enough to the front to move ahead of team-mates Coronel and Filippi into the points lead next time out at Paul Ricard.
But when TouringCarTimes asked the 18-year-old touring car racing rookie if he considered himself a title contender, he replied: “No, unfortunately not.”
“The two DNFs we got, one in Spa with the broken radiator, and the other one in Portimao in the second race, killed the championship, really. By our own calculations we lost around 65, 70 points in those two races, and I’m only 50 behind Tom.
“So I’m making up the ground, but not enough races as it seems at the moment to catch back up. But compared to John, we did a very good weekend. We are now only six points behind, coming from a small 43 [behind] after Spa. Definitely P2 is up for grabs.”
Given his inexperience, and the fact that his strong start to 2023 puts him in contention to make the TCR World Rankings Final at the start of next year, will Pauwels look to contest other TCR races?
“I would love to, yeah. It’s my first year, so experience is what I need. We don’t think it will be the World Tour as it’s just too far, and too expensive, but we’re looking into some local championships like TCR Italy, which is also very strong.
“I assume I will be with Comtoyou [if we do]. I enjoy driving with them, I don’t see any reason why to leave them.”
