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The TCR concept has provided Touring Car
racing with a very important
component that was missing until
two years ago.
The ‘pyramid’ structure of the
TCR Series allows drivers,
teams and manufacturers
to race with one set of
sporting and technical
regulations, from
national championships
to the International,
world class, series, all with
affordable machinery.
Motor racing in Spain and
Portugal was hit hard by the
financial crisis that started eight
years ago. The TCR concept has provided a
solution that could help the rebirth of the
sorely missed Touring Car championships in
both countries.
The CER (Spanish Endurance Championship)
adopted the TCR concept in its Class 1 this
season, with 12 cars competing on a regular
basis. The five meetings are long distance
races, where the Class 1 cars, mostly the SEAT
León Cup Racer, have dominated the series. On
a similar note, Portugal also took on the TCR
regulations for its national Touring Car
championship, featuring a five-race calendar,
each comprising two or four double headers,
and with eight regular participants.
There is still, a long way to go from the times
when there were 25 to 30 cars per meeting.
With a healthy variety of circuits and an
increasing number of entrants, helped by the
budding TCR Marketplace, it would make sense
for both the Spanish and Portuguese TCR
Series to merge to create a TCR Iberia, thus
offering a field of at least twenty cars and an
excellent launch pad for young drivers looking
to have a tin-top career.
With the exciting races provided by the TCR
concept, Touring Car racing in the Iberian
Peninsula would certainly be back to its old,
glorious days.
Tamara Aller
Touring Car journalist
and photographer
Tamara Aller is a Spanish journalist specialized
in Touring Car racing. A former a digital
operator at Sutton Motorsport Images, spent
five years as a Steward for the Spanish ASN. In
the last seven years she has focussed on
reporting about Touring Cars for various media,
online and printed, including MotoryRacing and
TodoRacing. She especially followed the WTCC
and the TCR Series since its inception and also
worked as a press officer for Pepe and Jordi
Oriola back in 2013. Tamara also has been the
DTM reporter for TouringCarTimes for the last
two years.
Could Spain and Portugal
join to form
a TCR Iberia series?