TCR Japan confirms closure ahead of 2025

The organisers of the TCR Japan series have announced that the series will close after the 2024 season due to lack of entries.

The 2024 season was the sixth season of the series but numbers were low, with one round featuring only four cars and the Motegi season finale attracting an entry of only seven.

“The TCR Japan Series, which our company has been hosting, will officially end at the end of this season,” said Yoshihisa Ueno, president of Japan Race Promotion, to Auto Sport Japan.

“We have been informing all the related parties for some time, but now we would like to inform everyone that it will officially end.”

The series launched in 2019 with 15 full season entries, but grids have decreased since then – particularly after the COVID pandemic hit right after the first season.

“We established a new company (to run the series) in 2018 and have been running it as the TCR Japan Series since 2019,” said Ueno.

“It was initially revived as a ‘multi-make sprint touring car’ series, the first in 21 years since the JTCC (Japan Touring Car Championship).

“We had some very successful seasons, but then the COVID-19 pandemic caused a decrease in entries from overseas, and we had to scale down in various ways, so we decided to end the series at the end of the six-year contract.

“We learned a lot, but I think that being able to complete the contract properly means that we have fulfilled our role as professionals in running races. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the entrants, teams, and all those involved.”