TCR World and life

10 INTERVIEW 18 months after the launch in Barcelona, ETCR competition is about to begin. Would you like to summarize how ETCR has progressed from its inception to the racing phase? “Actually, nearly 30 months have gone by since the idea was born. Our company that has a long-standing experience in motorsport and specifically in Touring Cars, couldn’t ignore the new trend towards alternative energies that is having an impact on the automotive world. Car manufacturers are in the process of readdressing their efforts towards cleaner mobility and for many of them this is being reflected in motorsport activities as well. It’s an irreversible process and we are working to make Touring Car competition one of the pillars of this future of motorsport. In October 2018, we unveiled the first prototype that had already been through several test sessions. That was the beginning of the operative phase, when we entered into details of the technical regulations with the aim of building racing cars that could be run by customer teams. Our main goal was to retain the principle that had made TCR successful, meaning that ETCR cars must be run at affordable costs to compete in regional and national series as well. We have finalized all this and the ETCR kit is being successfully integrated. We are now ready for the fine-tuning through the official tests that will begin in the next couple of months.” How can ETCR fit into motorsport and amongst the many racing series that are being launched to promote new and cleaner energies? “Our company’s attitude has always been one of delivering what we have announced. This was proved during the launch of the ETCR concept 18 months ago, when we were able to show the first two racing cars; one was on static exhibition, but the other was perfectly running. Because for us, it is important to break cover only when we are actually ready, even if this involves lots of resources allocated for technical development. Today there are lots of projects on paper for new electric motorsport series, but for the time being the only reality is Formula E that has its own character and is reserved for single seaters. We have a different approach, bringing into the arena Touring Cars that come from the production lines. These – Formula E and ETCR – are the only global players in the field now. We expect others will come and I think there’s enough space for us all.” WSC Group has gathered a bunch of prestigious partners and suppliers around ETCR; how much this will benefit the category? “We have worked hard to associate ETCR with companies that are leaders in their respective branches of activities. This is because we wanted to be sure that – with the help of their expertise – we would be able to deliver a product up to our expectations in terms of both safety and performance. And we believe we have reached this goal.” WSC Group has granted Eurosport Events the license to organise the PURE ETCR series - just like WTCR for the TCR category. What will be role of PURE ETCR within the whole ETCR project?