Category | Touring cars |
---|---|
Country | Europe |
Inaugural season | 2016 |
Tyre suppliers | Hankook |
Drivers' champion | Franco Girolami |
Teams' champion | ALM Motorsport |
Official website | https://europe.tcr-series.com/ |
Current season |
The TCR Europe Touring Car Series is an annual touring car racing event that is held at various locations across Europe. The series is run in accordance with the TCR Touring Car regulations with production-based cars that are front-wheel drive and powered by 2.0-litre turbocharged engines. [1]
On 15 October 2015, Marcello Lotti revealed plans for a European Series including one round from each TCR European championship (Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Russia and Benelux), starting from 2016. [2] On 26 February 2016, the European Trophy was launched, with six rounds (Spanish championship was excluded for not having an own series and Benelux series had two rounds). [3] Subsequent change was made during the course of the season to include additional round from the German series.
In 2017, the one-off event format with two races was adopted. For 2018, it was upgraded to TCR Europe Series with seven events, five of which were run in support of the International GT Open. In 2019, the series continued to have seven events all over Europe with approximately 30 cars and was run in support of the International GT Open. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the 2020 season was postponed to the end of August and the series was run with support from the SRO Organization with a starting grid of 25 cars. [4]
In 2022, the series plans to run two events in support of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. [1] [5]
Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a 4.657 km (2.894 mi) motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stands with a capacity of 140,700. The circuit has FIA Grade 1 license.
The Hungaroring is a 4.381 km (2.722 mi) motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone wanted a race in the USSR, but a Hungarian friend recommended Budapest. They wanted a street circuit similar to the Circuit de Monaco to be built in the Népliget – Budapest's largest park – but the government decided to build a new circuit just outside the city near a major highway. Construction works started on 1 October 1985. It was built in eight months, less time than any other Formula One circuit. The first race was held on 24 March 1986, in memory of János Drapál, the first Hungarian who won motorcycle Grand Prix races. According to a survey put together by the national tourism office of Hungary, Mogyoród ranks third among Hungarian destinations visited by tourists, behind the Danube Bend area and Lake Balaton, but ahead of Budapest. The circuit has FIA Grade 1 license.
The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it has hosted the German Grand Prix, most recently in 2019. The circuit has very little differences in elevation. The circuit has an FIA Grade 1 licence.
The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from 1970 to 1987. It was later shortened, rebuilt and renamed the A1-Ring, and it hosted the Austrian Grand Prix again from 1997 to 2003.
The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating 4.011 km (2.492 mi) motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.
The Circuito do Estoril or Autódromo do Estoril, officially known as Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva, is a motorsport race track on the Portuguese Riviera, outside of Lisbon, owned by state-run holding management company Parpública. Its length is 4.182 km (2.599 mi). It was the home of the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix from 1984 to 1996. The circuit has an FIA Grade 1 license.
Circuit Ricardo Tormo, also known as Circuit de Valencia and officially named Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo, is a 4.005 km (2.489 mi) motorsport race track located in Cheste and built in 1999. The track is named after Spanish, two-time world champion Grand Prix motorcycle racer Ricardo Tormo (1952–1998), who died in 1998 of leukemia. It has a capacity of 165,000 and a main straight of 0.876 km (0.544 mi).
The Thruxton Circuit is a 2.356 mi (3.792 km) motor-racing circuit located near the village of Thruxton in Hampshire, England, United Kingdom, about 30 mi (48 km) north of Southampton.
The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the 1970s. Since 2000, it has been annually used by the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, the premier Germany-based touring car racing series. The length of the simple track with two hairpin turns and a chicane has been set to 2.300 km (1.429 mi) since 1972, after various lengths were used in its early years.
The Motorsport Arena Oschersleben is a 3.696 km (2.297 mi) long race track with a width of 11–13 m (12–14 yd) and elevation changes of 23 m (75 ft). The circuit is located in Oschersleben, Börde, approximately 30 km (19 mi) from Magdeburg, Germany. Its fairly flat contours create a smooth, fast circuit.
The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec cars modified from production road cars.
The Guia Circuit, or Circuito da Guia, is a 6.120 km (3.803 mi) street circuit located at the southeast region of the Macau Peninsula in Macau. It is the venue of the Macau Grand Prix and Guia Race of Macau. The circuit consists of long straights and tight corners, and features the characteristics of a typical street circuit - narrow, bumpy and limited overtaking opportunities. However, there are two special features that can rarely be found in other street circuits - variation in altitude and an ultra long main straight that allows top speed of 260 km/h (160 mph) on Formula Three cars. As a result, the circuit is recognised as one of the most challenging circuits in the world in terms of both driving and tuning, as cars have to maintain competitive speed to overcome hill-climbing, twisty corners and long straights in a single lap.
Automotodróm Slovakia Ring is a 5.935 km (3.688 mi) motor racing circuit in Orechová Potôň, Dunajská Streda District in Slovakia, approximately 30 km (19 mi) away from Bratislava Airport. It was built between 2008 and 2009.
W Racing Team is a Belgian auto racing team founded in 2009 by engineer and former head of Volkswagen Motorsport René Verbist, racing driver Vincent Vosse, and entrepreneur Yves Weerts. Between 2010 and 2022 the team campaigned Audi R8 LMSs in several international sports car series. In 2010 the team won the Belcar Drivers' and Teams' Championships, while in 2011 they won the Spa 24 Hours. After winning multiple titles in various GT championships, WRT is considered to be one of the best teams worldwide in GT racing. In 2019 and 2020 WRT ran two Audi RS5 Turbo DTMs in the highly competitive DTM championship. In 2021 WRT added a full time LMP2 program, by entering an Oreca 07 in both the FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series, and won the LMP2 class of the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans. From 2023 on WRT switched their partnership in GT racing from Audi to BMW and will run the BMW M4 GT3. The team will also run two factory backed BMW M Hybrid V8s in the FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar category from 2024.
The 24H Series is a sports car racing and touring car racing series developed by Creventic and with approval from the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It features GT3-spec cars, GT4-spec cars, sports cars, touring cars and 24H-Specials, like silhouette cars. The calendar consists only of 24-hour and 12-hour races. 2015 was the first season with drivers battling for championship points and titles. It also marked the first season with official FIA International Series’ status.
The 2017 TCR International Series was the third and the last season of the TCR International Series.
Luca Engstler is a German racing driver currently competing in the DTM. Like his father Franz Engstler he made his name in the touring car scene, winning the TCR Asia Series in 2018 and 2019 and taking the 2021 TCR title in Germany.
A TCR Touring Car is a touring car specification, first introduced in 2014 and is now employed by a multitude of series worldwide. All TCR Touring Cars are front-wheel drive cars based on 4 or 5 door production vehicles, and are powered by 1.75 to 2.0 litre turbocharged engines. While the bodyshell and suspension layout of the production vehicle is retained in a TCR car, and many models use a production gearbox, certain accommodations are made for the stresses of the racetrack including upgraded brakes and aerodynamics. Competition vehicles are subject to balance of performance (BoP) adjustments to ensure close racing between different vehicles.
The 2019 TCR Europe Touring Car Series was the fourth season of TCR Europe Touring Car Series, and second held as a standalone series. The season began at the Hungaroring in April and ended at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in October.