their primary

For more info: www.tcr-series.com

A four-way fight to decide the Drivers’ Championship


The battle for the second TCR International Series Drivers’ title will be decided this upcoming weekend on Macau’s street circuit.

Two pairs of teammates – James Nash and Pepe Oriola of Craft-Bamboo Lukoil and Stefano Comini and Jean-Karl Vernay of Leopard Racing – will face in a four-way fight, representing two brands, SEAT and Volkswagen respectively.

Nash has a lead of 17 points over last year’s champion Comini. In third place, a further 16 points adrift, is Oriola while Vernay lies fourth, 39 points off the lead. Both Oriola and Vernay have acknowledged that the title is all but beyond them and so both have pledged to help their teammates, but Macau is widely regarded as being a complete lottery and impossible to predict and so the pair aren’t out of the fight just yet…

Just as in 2015, when Comini was crowned the category’s first ever champion, the final races are set to provide some thrilling battles.

Track activity will start on Thursday morning with a 30-minute Free Practice; a second Practice session will follow on Friday, while the Qualifying session split into Q1 (25 minutes) and Q2 (15 minutes, for the twelve fastest in Q1) will be run on Saturday in the early morning.

The two back-to-back races will take place on Sunday morning; the finishing order of Race 1 will determine the grid for Race 2.

For more info: www.tcr-series.com

Rounds 1 & 2 – Rustavi International Motopark, Georgia – 1 / 2 April 2017

PREVIEW




The TCR International Series kicks off in Georgia

An historical event for local motorsport fans


The third season of the TCR International Series kicks off this weekend at Rustavi International Motopark, in an event that makes history for Georgia’s motor sport.

In fact, TCR brings international racing to the Country for the first time ever, to the delight of the many local fans.




The event is supported by the governmental agency MIA Force the president of which, Archil Talakvadze said: "With this race meeting, Georgia claims its position on the world map of automobile racing. This will be a spectacular season opener for those who wish to attend exciting action on the track and discover the stunning landscapes, ancient culture and hospitality of Georgia at the same time."

TCR promoter Marcello Lotti commented: “We are proud and honoured that the Government of Georgia has chosen TCR as the first international series ever to visit their beautiful country. I have personally discovered Georgia’s sights and the warm hospitality of its people when I was in Tbilisi last year, so I am sure that Rustavi will become one of the favourite destinations of our teams.”




TCR competitors will hit the track for the first time on Friday for a two-hour free test session, while official activities will begin on Saturday with two thirty-minute Free Practices and a thirty-minute Qualifying; all drivers will run during Q1 and the fastest twelve will be allowed to participate in Q2.

The first two races of the 2017 TCR International Series will take place on Sunday in the early afternoon.




TCR in Rustavi – the event at a glance




Lap distance: 4.14 km

Race distance: 15 laps

Start: standing

Grids: determined by Qualifying results (Q1+Q2) with top-10 reversed for Race 2




Timetable:
Saturday, 10:00/10:30 - Free Practice 1
Saturday, 12:10/12:49 - Free Practice 2

Saturday, 15:00/15:35 - Qualifying (Q1 + Q2)

Sunday, 13:35 - Race 1

Sunday, 15:35 - Race 2


all times: GMT +4

After a pretty long summer break TCR is back on track in Buriram, Thailand, on August the 27th and 28th. This is a glimpse of what happened in the last two races in Sochi.
For more info: www.tcr-series.com

Watch the Live Streaming of 2016 TCR round 19

Jaime Puig, FIA Touring Car Commission Manufacturers' Representative, speaks about Buriram International Circuit.

For more info: www.tcr-series.com

2016 TCR run rounds 17 and 18 took plcae in Singapore as support race of F1. For more info: www.tcr-series.com

For more info: www.tcr-series.com

Pepe Oriola fastest in Sepang Practice

Pepe Oriola posted an impressive fastest lap in the 30-minute Free Practice at Sepang International Circuit, a session that was disrupted twice by the red flag and that saw last year’s TCR lap records smashed thanks to the fact that the track was completely resurfaced.
Right after the start, Mikhail Grachev was forced to pit with a puncture to the front left tyre.
Loris Hezemans was the first to break the 2:19 wall, setting a provisional fastest lap of 2:18.458 that was immediately improved by Kevin Gleason’s 2:18.041 and Oriola’s 2:17.968.
Minutes later Andy Yan spun off at Turn 1 and beached his Volkswagen Golf car onto the gravel trap.
Oriola improved again to 2:17.459, while Stefano Comini and James Nash climbed to second and third with laps of 2:17.939 and 2:18.008, but then the session was red-flagged with twenty minutes left on the clock, as the marshals were not able to move Yan’s car.
When practice resumed, Oriola improved further to 2:16.491 and then to 2:16.241; Jean-Karl Vernay posted a provisional second fastest lap of 2:16.850 with Gianni Morbidelli third ( 2:17.390) and Nash fourth ( 2:17.716).
The red flag was waved a second time to recover William O’Brien’s Volkswagen from a gravel trap and the session resumed one more with eight minutes left on the clock. Attila Tassi and Comini were able to improve: a lap of 2:17.492 placed the young Hungarian in fourth, while Comini was classified fifth ( 2:17.524).
TeamWork Motorsport’s Kevin Tse was the fastest of the TCR Asia drivers in 11th position ( 2:19.008), while newcomers Roberto Colciago, Mario Ferraris and Nicky Pastorelli posted the 12th, 14th and 18th fastest laps respectively.
Both Russian drivers lamented technical issues: intercooler for Grachev, gearbox for Sergey Afanasyev; the former re-joined in the final minutes, while the latter was only able to complete three slow laps, one less than Rafaël Galiana whose car suffered from lack of power. Tin Sritrai too completed only three laps because of a power steering failure.
Just before the end of the session Davit Kajaia stopped on the track, as he ran out of fuel.
The Qualifying session will kick off tomorrow at 08:40 local time.