TCR International Series

Last updated
TCR International Series
TCR International Series logo.jpg
Category Touring cars
RegionInternational
Inaugural season 2015
Folded 2017
Tyre suppliers Michelin
Last Drivers' champion Flag of France.svg Jean-Karl Vernay
Last Teams' champion Flag of Hungary.svg M1RA

The TCR International Series was an international touring car championship. The championship was promoted by World Sporting Consulting (WSC), founded by former World Touring Car Championship manager Marcello Lotti. [1] It was marketed as a cost-effective spin-off of the WTCC, targeted at C-segment hatchbacks production-based touring cars. The title TCR follows the naming convention now used by the FIA to classify the cars that compete in touring car racing, with TC1 referring to the top tier as used by the FIA WTCC and TC2 referring to the legacy cars which principally compete in the FIA ETCC.

Contents

On 6th December 2017, FIA's World Motorsport Council announced that the series will merge with World Touring Car Championship and European Touring Car Cup starting in 2018.

History

On 15 July 2014, Lotti revealed further details on the TCR series. [2] On the same day it was announced that the TCR series will award a Drivers' Championship title and a Teams' Championship title. The number of teams will be limited to eight and the number of competitors to twenty-four. It was also announced that the series will run alongside Formula One at selected events.

On 21 July 2014, more details about the series became available: [3] the race weekend format will be structured like the WTCC, with two free practice sessions and a two part qualifying session, followed by two races on Sunday. The first event would take place in Italy in March, but when a provisional calendar for the 2015 season was released on 31 October, [4] it became clear that the first event will take place at the Sepang International Circuit on 29 March. Lotti confirmed the technical principles of the SEAT León Cup Racer, which is also set to be adopted in the Single-Make Trophy category of the European Touring Car Cup in 2015, will be used by the TCR Series.

On 29 July 2014, former WTCC driver Pepe Oriola said in an interview with TouringCarTimes that he hopes to compete in the new series, because he was set to drive for the Onyx Race Engineering team in the 2014 WTCC season with their new Ford Fiesta TC1 car for the last part of the season, before the project was abandoned with no support for homologation from Ford. [5]

On 15 September 2014, the TCR organisation announced the first cars, teams, regulations and events of its inaugural season in 2015. [6] Target Competition became the first team to confirm entry in the series and will run SEAT León Eurocup cars in 2015. Onyx Race Engineering has also confirmed they are developing the Ford Focus for the championship.
A week later Paolo Coloni Racing announced plans to enter the championship in 2015. [7] Team principal Paolo Coloni, son of F1-team founder Enzo Coloni, is known for its accomplishments in the GP2 Series in 2005 and in 2009 to 2012. The team will confirm at a later date their planned car and driver line-up.

On 31 October 2014, a provisional calendar for its inaugural season was released. [4] It will consist of twelve weekends, four in Asia, five in Europe, two in South America and one to be announced.

On 7 November 2014, the fourth team was announced: the Swedish STCC team WestCoast Racing will join the series with three Honda Civics build by JAS Motorsport. On 20 November Liqui Moly Team Engstler announced they will participate with Volkswagen Golfs and Franz Engstler will be driving one of the VWs.

On 5 December 2014, the series was approved by the FIA and renamed TCR International Series instead of using the original TC3 International Series name.

On 27 January 2015, Marcello Lotti announced three new teams for the inaugural season: Zengő Motorsport, Proteam Racing and Campos Racing. [8] On 13 February Jordi Oriola announced he will be driving a Target Competition SEAT at Valencia and Monza [9] and Mikhail Grachev was confirmed on 17 February at Engstler Motorsport. [10] In the end of February and in March almost half of all the drivers were confirmed, but just one week from the first round in Sepang Onyx Race Engineering, Paolo Coloni Racing and Proteam Racing have not confirmed a single driver. On 20 March the TCR International Series organisation announced the first TV deals for the inaugural season. [11] On 29 May 2015, David Sonenscher announces the TCR Thailand Series, starting from 2016. [12]

Seasons

Technical regulations

On 15 September 2014, technical regulations for the category were announced. [13] On 22 January 2016, minor changes were applied. [14]

Eligible cars: 4/5-door vehicles
Body shell: Reinforced production body shell; wheel arch modifications allowed to accommodate tyres
Minimum weight: 1250 kg for cars with production gearbox, 1285 kg for cars with racing gearbox (both including the driver)
Minimum overall length: 4.20 metres
Maximum overall width: 1.95 metres
Engine: Turbo-charged petrol or diesel up to 2.0-litre
Torque: 420 Nm
Power: 350 PS
Lubrication: Wet sump
Exhaust: Homologated catalytic converter using production parts
Traction: On two wheels
Gearbox: Production or TCR International Series sequential; production paddle shift accepted
Front Suspension: Production lay-out; parts free design
Rear Suspension: Original design of production car with reinforced components
Brakes:

Wheels: Maximum dimensions of rim: 10″ x 18″
Aerodynamics:

Champions

YearDrivers' ChampionsTeams' Champions
DriverTeamCarTeamCar
2015 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Stefano Comini Flag of Italy.svg Target Competition SEAT Logo from 2017.svg SEAT León Cup Racer Flag of Italy.svg Target Competition SEAT Logo from 2017.svg SEAT León Cup Racer
2016 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Stefano Comini Flag of Luxembourg.svg Leopard Racing Volkswagen logo 2019.svg Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR Flag of Hong Kong.svg Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil SEAT Logo from 2017.svg SEAT León TCR
2017 Flag of France.svg Jean-Karl Vernay Flag of Luxembourg.svg Leopard Racing Team WRT Volkswagen logo 2019.svg Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR Flag of Hungary.svg M1RA Honda.svg Honda Civic Type R TCR

Scoring system

These points have been based on the FIA's points system used in the FIA Formula One Championship. [6]

Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th 
Points251815121086421

See also

Notes

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    References

    1. ↑ "Former WTCC boss Marcello Lotti behind new TC3 series". TouringCarTimes.com. Hudson, Neil. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
    2. ↑ "Marcello Lotti reveals further details on TC3 series". TouringCarTimes.com. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
    3. ↑ "Initial view of new TC3 series race format and calendar". TouringCarTimes.com. Hudson, Neil. 21 July 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
    4. 1 2 "TC3 International Series releases its provisional calendar for 2015". TouringCarTimes.com. Hudson, Neil. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
    5. ↑ "Pepe Oriola eyeing up opportunities in new TC3 series". TouringCarTimes.com. Hudson, Neil. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
    6. 1 2 "TC3 announces first cars, teams, regulations and events". TouringCarTimes.com. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
    7. ↑ "Paolo Coloni Racing announce plans to enter 2015 TC3 series". TouringCarTimes.com. Hudson, Neil. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
    8. ↑ "TCR boss confirms Zengő, Proteam and Campos will compete this year". TouringCarTimes.com. Casillo, Pietro. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
    9. ↑ "Jordi Oriola confirms partial programme in TCR with Target". TouringCarTimes.com. Hudson, Neil. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
    10. ↑ "Mikhail Grachev joins Engstler Motorsport". TouringCarTimes.com. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
    11. ↑ "TCR announces TV deals for inaugural season". TouringCarTimes.com. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
    12. ↑ "Thailand to start national TCR championship in 2016". TouringCarTimes.com. Casillo, Pietro. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
    13. ↑ "TC3 announces first cars, teams, regulations and events". TouringCarTimes.com. 15 September 2014.
    14. ↑ "2016 TCR International Series' technical regulations" (PDF). tcr-series.com. 22 January 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2016.
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