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WORLD AND LIFE
TCR 2017
NEWS
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DRIVERS TEAM
The TCR International Series has made
a thrilling start for its third season,
with two events plenty of action at
the Rustavi International Motorpark
in Georgia and the Bahrain
International Circuit.
The fact that the Georgian weekend
was the first-ever international
motorsport event in the Country
meant there was huge interest from
local fans and media. Their hero Davit
Kajaia repaid that attention by
qualifying on pole position for Race 1
and duly delivered a lights-to-flag
victory that had the capacity crowd
cheering him on with every lap. The
win also gave the Romeo Ferraris-built
Alfa Romeo Giulietta its maiden TCR
victory, while the fact that the Italian
cars are run by the GE-Force team
from Georgia gave the fans yet
another reason to celebrate. Hungary’s
Ferenc Ficza finished second in the
Zele Racing SEAT León while Stefano
Comini successfully defended third
place on the final lap of the race to
give the Audi RS3 LMS and Comtoyou
Racing their first podium finish.
In Race 2, TCR newcomer Giacomo
Altoé started from pole position in
one of WestCoast Racing’s Volkswagen
Golf GTi cars, thanks to the reversed
top-ten grid. The 16-year old was
quickly overtaken by Pepe Oriola and
his new Lukoil Craft-Bamboo
teammate Hugo Valente, however,
with Altoé eventually finishing in
tenth place. Oriola held off Valente to
win, keeping intact his record of
winning at least one of the opening
pair of races each year, while Hungary
again had reason to celebrate; in fact
Valente was demoted by a penalty
and 17-year old Attila Tassi was
promoted to second ahead of Jean-
Karl Vernay.
Both of the races at Rustavi delivered
plenty of action. The first, on a wet
track, saw a four-car battle for the
podium places that was only settled
on the final dash for the finish line,
while the second race witnessed a
thrilling series of clashes that
decided the majority of the top ten
positions. Leaving Georgia, Kajaia
held a six-point advantage over Tassi
in the Drivers’ series with Oriola a
further point adrift.
From the changeable weather in
Georgia, the series headed to the
forty-degree heat of the Middle East
for Rounds 3 and 4. Bahrain was the
first of two race weekends in 2017
where the TCR International Series
supports Formula One and the heat
was always going to be an issue for
both drivers and cars.